Sandra Day O'Connor: Stop Electing Judges

Huffington Post by Gene Johnson | Sep. 14, 2009 (News Report)

Multimillion-dollar judicial campaigns make it difficult to know whether a judge is deciding a case based on the merits or on concerns about reelection, she said.
She noted that the founders of the country believed it crucially important that federal judges have the freedom to make unpopular decisions without worrying about poll numbers. It was only after President Andrew Jackson's election in 1828 that he persuaded states to begin adopting elections ... Full Story »

Posted by Dwight Rousu

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Subjects: Politics
Topics: Election Reform, Money and Politics, Elections
Member Tags: Judicial Branch, Judicial Elections
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Posted by: Posted by Dwight Rousu - Sep 15, 2009 - 1:23 AM PDT
Reviewed by: Dwight Rousu (review), Tanya J. Maurer (review)
Content Type: Article
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Edited by: Dwight Rousu - Sep 15, 2009 - 1:23 AM PDT

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Dwight Rousu
3.5
 by Dwight Rousu - Sep. 15, 2009

O'Connor highlights a major problem of rich corporations buying offices for judges. She omits the problem of them buying legislators and executives, and omits the solution of publicly financed elections. Johnson reports the conference adequately.

As a judge who appointed George W. Bush president with tortured legal illogic, O'Connor has intimate exposure to ways in which judges are influenced by who puts them in office.

Dwight posted this story.
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Tanya J. Maurer
3.8
 by Tanya J. Maurer - Sep. 15, 2009
See Full Review » (11 answers)

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