Are Political Parties Trying to Force Themselves Into America’s Courtrooms?
“Americans deserve courts that answer to the law, not party bosses.”
WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 21, 2012 — Justice at Stake Executive Director Bert Brandenburg issued the following statement regarding recent efforts by political parties in Florida and Iowa to influence nonpartisan judicial retention elections.
Today, the Florida GOP became the second state party in the last two months to call for incumbent state Supreme Court justices to be unseated for partisan purposes. (The Iowa GOP did so on August 1.)
Retention election systems were created decades ago—in Florida, Iowa and 14 other states— to focus on the competence, ethics and professionalism of high court justices, not partisanship and ideological threats. Thirteen of these states will hold retention elections for Supreme Court justices in November: AK, AZ, CO, FL, IN, IA, IL, KS, MD, NE, NM, OK & SD.
Injecting additional party politics into these contests signals a troubling new phase in the new politics of judicial elections—a recent multi-million dollar escalation of partisan and special interest pressure seeking to influence courtroom decisions.
Americans deserve courts that answer to the law, not party bosses.
If judges can’t make hard calls based on the law, without looking over their shoulder at threats of political retaliation, it will become harder for them to uphold the Constitution and protect people’s rights. Democrats and Republicans alike would do well to avoid injecting partisan politics into America‘s courtrooms.
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The Justice at Stake Campaign is a nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign working to keep America’s courts fair and impartial. Justice at Stake and its 50-plus state and national partners educate the public, and work for reforms to keep politics and special interests out of the courtroom – so judges can protect our Constitution, our rights and the Rule of Law. The positions and policies of Justice at Stake partners and board members are their own. For more about Justice at Stake, go to www.justiceatstake.org, or www.gavelgrab.org.
