WASHINGTON - Tens of millions of dollars are being spent to elect state court
judges, with much of the money coming from groups and individuals affected by
those judges' decisions.
The situation threatens the independence of the courts, Sen. John McCain and
other critics say.
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, which supports overhauling campaign-finance laws, released a report that found 10 interest groups ran issue ads mentioning 11 candidates for state supreme courts in 2002, double the number of groups that ran ads in 2000.
The study also found that judicial candidates with the most television advertisements, including those funded by outside groups, won in 10 of 11 races.
"This spending brings questions of a candidate's allegiance and, with respect to judges, whether or not they can be impartial on the bench," said Alfred Carlton Jr., president of the American Bar Association.
McCain, R-Ariz., predicted Wednesday that the next fight over campaign-finance laws will be over state judge elections. McCain said the first step should be for groups to disclose their donors.
"Ordinary Americans believe justice is for sale," said McCain, chief sponsor of a new law prohibiting national party committees from raising "soft money," unlimited contributions from businesses, unions and others.
"If we can't keep special interests out of the courts, where is the public's interest safe?" McCain added.
James Bopp Jr., general counsel for the James Madison Center for Free Speech, said he trusts judges not to be swayed by campaign contributions.
"Frankly, I respect judges more than apparently they do," said Bopp, who has argued that curbs on campaign contributions violate free-speech protections. "Judges take their oaths seriously and endeavor to judge cases based on the law and the facts before them."
In 2000, candidates for state supreme courts raised $45.6 million, up 61 percent, from $28.3 million two years earlier, according to Justice at Stake, a coalition of groups trying to change the way judicial campaigns are funded. Figures for 2002 are incomplete.
More than half of the donors are lawyers or business organizations, according to the National Institute on Money and State Politics, a research group.
And the figures don't count money spent by outside groups on issue advertisements designed to support or oppose a judicial candidate.
The Brennan Center said more judicial candidates are raising more money and
running more commercials than ever. Candidates for nine state supreme courts
took to the airwaves in 2002. In 2000, ads ran in only four states.
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