Statement

The Brennan Center and Justice at Stake submitted comments to the Tennessee Supreme Court urging adoption of proposed new judicial conduct rules, including a recusal rule on campaign spending. The comments were based largely on a Brennan Center report on recusal reform after Caperton, which identified the Tennessee proposal as one of the two most promising in the country.

The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law wrote to the New York Court of Appeals to express support for the proposal for heightened recusal standards recently submitted by the Fund For Modern Courts.

The Brennan Center has supported a complete elimination of the inequalities in sentencing for crack and powder cocaine offenses, and is hopeful that the Senate Passage of the Fair Sentencing Act (at a reduced, but not eliminated ratio) will not be the final chapter in the overall fight to bring about parity in sentencing and an ending to this type of discrimination.