Election Law Commons^™

Judicial Diversity After Shelby County V. Holder, William Roth

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

In 2014, voters in ten of the fifteen states previously covered by the Voting Rights Act ("VRA") preclearance formula-including six of the nine states covered in their entirety-will go to the polls to elect or retain state supreme court justices. Yet despite the endemic underrepresentation of minorities on state benches and the judiciary's traditional role in fighting discrimination, scholars have seemingly paid little attention to how Shelby County v. Holder's suspension of the coverage formula in section 4(b) has left racial minorities vulnerable to retrogressive changes to judicial-election laws. The first election year following Shelby County thus provides a compelling …

Buying A Judicial Seat For Appeal: Caperton V. A.T. Massey Coal Company, Inc., Is Right Out Of A John Grisham Novel, Richard Gillespie

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Partisanship On An Apolitical Court: The United States Court Of Claims, Justin J. Green

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Check One And The Accountability Is Done: The Harmful Impact Of Straight-Ticket Voting On Judicial Elections, Meryl Chertoff, Dustin F. Robinson

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

States that elect judges are heir to a populist tradition dating back to the Jacksonian era. In the spectrum between independence and accountability, these states emphasize accountability. Systems vary from state to state, and even within states there may be geographic diversity or different selection systems for different levels of courts. Elections can be partisan or non-partisan, contested, or, as in merit-selection states, retention. Some states have dabbled in public financing of judicial elections. Reformers are most critical of contested partisan elections. Those are the elections where the most money is spent, the nastiest ads aired, and the dignity of …

Bush V. Gore: The Worst (Or At Least Second-To-The-Worst) Supreme Court Decision Ever, Mark S. Brodin

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Meaningful Information, Meaningful Retention, Jordan M. Singer

The Docket

Jordan M. Singer reflects on the uncertain future of judicial retention elections, in response to Todd E. Pettys's Judicial Retention Elections, the Rule of Law, and the Rhetorical Weaknesses of Consequentialism, 60 Buff. L. Rev. 69.

The Filibuster Of Judicial Nominations: Constitutional Crisis Or Politics As Usual?, Arthur L. Rizer Iii

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Retention Elections, The Rule Of Law, And The Rhetorical Weakness Of Consequentialism, Todd E. Pettys

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Politics In The Non-Political Branch, Justin L. Swanson

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects

Across the country there exists a patchwork of legal systems by which judges are appointed retained. In some states, like Illinois, it is a fully political process where judges actively campaign for election to the bench. But a majority of states, including Nebraska, have adopted the Merit Selection System, which attempts to remove politics from these processes. Nevertheless, politics can enter into the retention votes. And when they do, it can be extremely difficult for judges to overcome.

Disrobing Judicial Campaign Contributions: A Case For Using The Buckley Framework To Analyze The Constitutionality Of Judicial Solicitation Bans, Aimee Ghosh

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Arizona Free Enterprise Club's Freedom Club Pac V. Bennett, Et Al.: Brief For Amici Curiae Professors Of Constitutional And Election Law In Support Of Respondents, Ellen D. Katz

Appellate Briefs

Amici states confront significant issues of citizen confidence in both state and national governments. We wish to share our view that public financing of state elections should remain available as a tool to restore public confidence.

While specific sources of discontent vary from state to state, at the root of the problem is a sense of powerlessness among the citizenry, powerlessness in the face of large governments and other ever larger financial and business institutions. Whatever one may think of changes proposed by the Tea Party movement, its existence may be traced rather directly to the frustration of ordinary people …

A Capitalist Joker: The Strange Origins, Disturbing Past, And Uncertain Future Of Corporate Personhood In American Law, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 643 (2011), David H. Gans, Douglas T. Kendall

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Public Funding Of Judicial Campaigns: The North Carolina Experience And The Activism Of The Supreme Court, Paul D. Carrington

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, the problem of selecting judges to sit on the highest state courts has become a national crisis. North Carolina remains among the states whose constitutions require competitive elections of all its judges. Presently, all candidates for its judicial offices must first compete for election in a non-partisan primary, a system motivated by the desire to maximize the power of the state’s citizen-voters to choose their judges and hold them accountable for their fidelity to the law. Some observers have continued to celebrate such judicial elections as an honorable democratic empowerment, while others have not. The disagreement has …

Fair Measure Of The Right To Vote: A Comparative Perspective On Voting Rights Enforcement In A Maturing Democracy, Janai S. Nelson

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The article examines the underenforcement of the right to vote in Ghana, focusing on the exclusion of incarcerated citizens (GICs) despite the 1992 Constitution granting universal adult suffrage. It argues that underenforcement stems from legislative, administrative, and judicial failures, undermining democratic principles. The Ghanaian Supreme Court's decision in OcanseyCHURCIL ruled that denying GICs the right to vote was unconstitutional, aligning with a broader interpretation of voting rights as fundamental. The article emphasizes the importance of explicit constitutional provisions and active enforcement by all government branches to sustain democracy, particularly in emerging democracies.

The Future Of Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act In The Hands Of A Conservative Court, Luis Fuentes-Rohwer

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Essay argues that the future of the majority-minority district is in peril, as a conservative majority on the Court stands poised to strike down section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. When the Court takes up the constitutionality of Section 2, binding precedent will play a secondary role at best. Instead, the Justices’ policy goals and ideological preferences - namely, their personal disdain for the use of race in public life - will guide the Court’s conclusion. In this vein, Justice Kennedy holds the fate of the Act in his hands. To be clear, this Essay is not trying …

Judicial Elections In The Aftermath Of White, Caperton, And Citizens United, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Defending The Majoritarian Court, Amanda Frost

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Countering The Majoritarian Difficulty, Amanda Frost

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Most state court judges are elected to office, and thus must be attentive to voter preferences just like other elected officials. Critics of judicial elections fear that subjecting judges to majoritarian pressures jeopardizes the rights of disfavored groups and undermines the rule of law, and accordingly call for their abolition. The reality, however, is that judicial elections are firmly entrenched in thirty-eight states, and thus appear to be a permanent part of the legal landscape. This article suggests that the so-called “majoritarian difficulty” posed by elected judges can be tempered by regular interactions with appointed, life-tenured federal judges, who are …

Free Speech & Tainted Justice: Restoring The Public's Confidence In The Judiciary In The Wake Of Republican Party Of Minnesota V. White, Gregory W. Jones

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The United States Supreme Court's 2002 decision in Republican Party of Minnesota v. White was the first shot fired in an ongoing battle over judicial campaign ethics. The White decision invalidated a Minnesota Canon of Judicial Conduct prohibiting judicial candidates from announcing their views on disputed legal or political topics. Subsequent to White, numerous states have faced challenges to their judicial canons of conduct by groups advocating for an increased breadth of permissible speech in judicial campaigns. While White and its progeny have safeguarded the first amendment rights of judicial candidates, significant concerns have been raised regarding how best to …

Zero-Sum Judicial Elections: Balancing Free Speech And Impartiality Through Recusal Reform, David K. Stott

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Aligning Judicial Elections With Our Constitutional Values: The Separation Of Powers, Judicial Free Speech, And Due Process, Jason D. Grimes

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note consists of five Parts. Part II traces the historical development of state judicial elections from the perspective of the Framers' doctrine of separation of powers. It shows that judicial elections were borne more of historical contingency than constitutional design. Part II then assesses the recent history of elections to the Ohio Supreme Court. It determines that Ohio's judicial elections share two problems with many other states: millions of dollars given to judicial candidates by special interests likely to appear before the court, and candidates' broad freedom of speech to earn the political and financial support of these special …

From Bush V. Gore To Namudno: A Response To Professor Amar, Ellen D. Katz

Articles

In his Dunwody Lecture, Professor Akhil Amar invites us to revisit the Bush v. Gore controversy and consider what went wrong. This short essay responds to Professor Amar by taking up his invitation and looking at the decision through a seemingly improbable lens, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last June in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. One (NAMUDNO) v. Holder. Among its many surprises, NAMUDNO helps illuminate the Court’s fundamental error nine years ago. Professor Amar forcefully argues that the mistrust with which the Justices in the Bush v. Gore majority viewed the Florida Supreme Court was both unjustified …

Reconsidering Virginia Judicial Selection, Carl W. Tobias

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Selection: It's More About The Choices Than Who Does The Choosing, Honorable Lavenski R. Smith

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Post-Amendment 80 Judicial Politics In Arkansas: Have The Changes Undermined The Argument For Selection By Appointment?, Jay Barth

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Family Law & Civil Procedure - Daddy Dilemma: Should The Truth Matter? Martin V. Pierce, No. 06-950, 2007 Wl 1447911 (Ark. May 17, 2007), Katie S. Allen

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

[Tru/Fals]Isms: A Statistical Analysis Of Several Arkansas Judicial Election Bromides, Honorable Timothy Davis Fox

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Why Counting Votes Doesn't Add Up: A Response To Cox And Miles' Judging The Voting Rights Act, Ellen D. Katz, Anna Baldwin

Articles

In Judging the Voting Rights Act, Professors Adam B. Cox and Thomas J. Miles report that judges are more likely to find liability under section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) when they are African American, appointed by a Democratic president, or sit on an appellate panel with a judge who is African American or a Democratic appointee. Cox and Miles posit that their findings “contrast” and “cast doubt” on much of the “conventional wisdom” about the Voting Rights Act, by which they mean the core findings we reported in Documenting Discrimination in Voting: Judicial Findings Under Section 2 …

New York Board Of Elections V. Torres: Brief Of Amici Curiae Law Professors Guy-Uriel E. Charles, Erwin Chemerinsky, Kareem Crayton, Steven P. Croley, Heather K. Gerken, Michael Kang, Ellen D. Katz, Ethan J. Leib, Michael Pitts, And Daniel P. Tokaji In Support Of Respondents, Ellen D. Katz

Appellate Briefs

The law professors named below teach and write about elections, voting rights, political parties, and electoral competition. Both basic and advanced law courses on voting and elections, as well as a wide range of scholarship on these subjects, regularly considers state authority to regulate conduct by political parties, candidates for office, and individual voters. Amici are among the many scholars who write and teach about the issues before the Court in this case.

Based on this expertise, and on careful review of this Court's decisions, amici argue in this brief that the nominating process the State of New York employs …

Kentucky 2006 Judicial Elections, William H. Fortune, Al Cross

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This Article is a short report on the impact of Republican Party of Minnesota v. White on the 2006 Kentucky judicial campaigns and elections. The series of events leading up to the 2006 elections can be traced to at least 1988.

While the Kentucky Judicial Campaign Conduct Committee (KJCCC) cannot claim a great impact on Kentucky's 2006 judicial elections, the authors of this Article believe that the committee played a positive role. For the most part, judicial candidates campaigned in a dignified and ethical manner, and refrained from running on issues that might strike a chord with the electorate. Judicial …