Is Justice for Sale in America?

A report on "The New Politics of Judicial Elections, 2000-2009: Decade of Change" published by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law highlights five alarming trends:

➜➜The explosion in judicial campaign spending, much of it poured in by “super spender” organizations seeking to sway the courts;

➜➜ The parallel surge of nasty and costly TV ads as a prerequisite to gaining a state Supreme Court seat;

➜➜ The emergence of secretive state and national campaigns to tilt state Supreme Court elections;

➜➜ Litigation about judicial campaigns, some of which could boost special-interest pressure on judges;

➜➜ Growing public concern about the threat to fair and impartial justice—and support for meaningful reforms.

In the forward to the report (120 pages .pdf) former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor writes:

We all expect judges to be accountable to the law rather than political supporters or special interests. But elected judges in many states are compelled to solicit money for their election campaigns, sometimes from lawyers and parties appearing before them. Whether or not those contributions actually tilt the scales of justice, three out of four Americans believe that campaign contributions affect courtroom decisions.

This crisis of confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary is real and growing. If left unaddressed, the perception that justice is for sale will undermine the rule of law that courts are supposed to uphold.