Reform Bills Advance in Wisconsin

Two important reform bills moved ahead in Wisconsin today, when an Assembly committee endorsed public financing for state Supreme Court candidates and backed a bill that would force special interest groups to disclose their financial sources for any electioneering ads.

Bert Brandenburg, Justice at Stake's executive director, said: “Wisconsin court elections have sparked some of the nation’s worst political bloodbaths in recent years. These bills would, in one stroke, make Wisconsin a national leader in keeping campaign cash out of the courtroom."

To see the full JAS statement, click here. To learn more about Wisconsin, see these reports in Gavel Grab.

JAS Cited in CNN Report

A CNN report, “Buying Justice,” looks at court reforms in the wake of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Caperton v. Massey. The video, below, quotes Bert Brandenburg, executive director of Justice at Stake, and Adam Skaggs of the Brennan Center for Justice. To learn more about the CNN report, and other stories on Caperton, visit Gavel Grab, Justice at Stake’s daily online journal, or visit our Caperton resource site. To read the transcript, click here. (PDF)

 In Memory of Judge Sandra Otaka

Justice at Stake is saddened to lose one of its board members, Cook County Circuit Judge Sandra Otaka, who passed away June 6.   She was a third-generation Japanese-American whose mother and grandparents were held in U.S. internment camps during World War II.  As a law student, she worked with a legal team to overturn the conviction of Fred Korematsu, a Japanese-American shipyard worker jailed in 1944 for failing to report to an internment camp.  Judge Otaka was the first Asian American Circuit Court judge to be elected to the bench. She was well-known in Chicago and national Asian-American circles, but served with only one national organization—the Justice at Stake Campaign.  She cared deeply about justice, and worked especially hard to promote diversity on the bench.  We miss her dearly, and extend our sympathies to her family and friends.  Her obituary can be found here.

VICTORY IN CAPERTON

In a 5 to 4 decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that it was unconstitutional for a state supreme court justice to hear a case involving the financial interests of a major donor to the judge's election campaign.

Justice at Stake's Bert Brandenburg issued the following statement:

“This is a tremendous victory. The Supreme Court said, ‘Enough is enough.’ Today’s ruling is a critical first step. But states that elect judges must get to work now, to keep campaign cash out of our courts of law.”

To see the entire Justice at Stake press release, click here.

For additional details, follow on the SCOTUS blog's live blog, as well as their quick summary of the decision. You can read the case opinion here.

JAS Op-Ed in Monitor Urges Caution on Bybee

Calls to impeach federal Judge Jay Bybee for his role in memos justifying the Bush administration’s torture polices have garnered increasing attention. But an opinion column by JAS Executive Director Bert Brandenburg in last week’s Christian Science Monitor warns that impeaching judges is “the atomic bomb of American politics” and could trigger an endless cycle of politically motivated impeachments. Gavel Grab, Justice at Stake’s daily online journal, has the full Monitor column, and the latest updates on the Bybee debate.

Parade Magazine, the most widely circulated magazine in America, features Justice at Stake in an article on Caperton v. Massey, and whether judges should avoid cases involving major election campaign supporters. The article, which also has a readers’ poll, shows the degree to which special interest money in the courts has become a mainstream concern to the American public. To see the full article, click here. To see poll results, click here.