judgesonmerit.org

In a recent column, Jen Huntley of the Reno News and Review reacts to the Caperton decision:

When I read about the Supreme Court decision requiring judges facing civil cases involving significant donors to their own election to recuse themselves, my first response was—this is a no-brainer! How could anyone be impartial in a decision where one of the litigants had donated millions of dollars to get them elected? More to the cynical point—why would anyone contribute that kind of money to get a judge elected unless one thought they might want that judge’s good favor somewhere down the line?

Huntley goes on to explain that she learned from discussing the case that the decision may lead to new problems, like an increasing number of recusal motions. She raises an interesting question about judges who try to recuse but later are ordered by a higher court to hear the case:

In Las Vegas, a judge attempted to recuse himself from a case involving a litigant who had contributed a small sum to the judge’s election. The Nevada Supreme Court instructed him to hear the case anyway.

We have an easy solution for both problems: get judges out of the fundraising business and eliminate the question of recusal in cases involving campaign contributors.  Huntley also seems to recognize that the electoral system is the root of the problem:

Caperton raises the potential for corruption that flows from the system of electing, rather than appointing, judges. Americans adopted the electoral system because it seemed less corrupt. But with election costs skyrocketing, interested donors have more opportunity to try to create a favorable judicial climate for themselves.

Electing judges doesn’t make sense.  Judges should not have to wrestle with whether to recuse because a contributor is in court.  And court-users and the public should not have to worry about whether or not the judge might be biased because of campaign contributors. The solution is clear: Merit Selection gets judges out of the fundraising business.  To us, that’s a no-brainer.

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