Merit Selection and Judicial Elections

With oral arguments in Williams-Yulee before the Supreme Court earlier this year, attention has once again focused on the impact of money in judicial campaigns. The question of how judges can remain impartial looms large when judges must stand for general election or receive a sufficient number of v...

Chicago Appleseed & Chicago Council of Lawyers Join in Amicus Brief

Chicago Appleseed and Chicago Council of Lawyers are signatories on an amicus brief submitted in Williams-Yulee vs. Florida Bar before the Supreme Court this term. We join 9 other state and local nonpartisan organizations committed to creating and maintaining an ethical judicial system and promoting...

The Supreme Court Looks at Judicial Campaign Fundraising

On October 2, 2014, the Supreme Court granted cert in Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar, examining the constitutionality under the First Amendment of a state ethical rule barring candidates for state judicial posts from personally soliciting campaign donations. Lanell Williams-Yulee was a candidate...

Court Battle Over Changes to Arizona’s Commission on Court Appointments

The Brennan Center and Justice at Stake have filed an amicus brief in a challenge to an April 2013 law changing the process by which Arizona’s Commission on Appellate Court Appointments recommends candidates to fill judicial vacancies. The April legislation both requires the nominating commission to...

Policy Brief on Judicial Evaluations

Since 2010, the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice has managed a Pilot Project for judicial evaluation: the Judicial Performance Commission of Cook County. This demonstration project explores the feasibility of using the performance commission model to evaluate judicial retention candidates to posit...
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