Judicial Campaigns
The judiciary is the third branch of government and is designed
to be the final interpreter of the law. While the legislature is
charged with writing the law and the executive with implementing
it, the judiciary’s role is to decide any conflicts that arise
under the laws. It is a delicate task that requires thoughtful deliberation,
considerable tact, and political independence.
Alas, our judiciary is besieged by numerous attacks on its autonomy.
Candidates for the Supreme and Appellate Courts are increasingly
dependent on special interests and political parties for their campaign
funds. Candidates for trial and appellate bench fear they cannot
win an election without first getting slated by local partisan ward
heelers. Voters complain that they do not know enough about judges
to cast informed votes, while judges and lawyers groups decry election
results that fly in the face of bar evaluations.
These issues are contributing to the evaporation of confidence in
our courts. In a recent survey:
- more than 85 percent said they believe campaign contributions
influence the decisions of Illinois judges.
- Nearly 67 percent said that the cost of running for the Illinois
Supreme Court have become too expensive;
- 58.5 percent believe the high cost often has stopped some people
with the potential to be good judges from running for the judiciary;
- 75.4 percent favor limits on the size of campaign contributions
to judicial candidates.
Working in partnership with a number of bench, bar, and civic organizations,
including the American Bar Association, Chicago Council of Lawyers,
and our partners in the Justice at Stake- Illinois coalition, ICPR
is exploring ways to improve the selection process, from the trial
bench to the highest court in the land. These efforts may include
public financing of judicial elections, revisions to the partisan
slating process, non-partisan elections, and/or improving voter
education.
Election Resources
ICPR strives to provide voters with non-partisan, unbiased and relevant
information about judicial candidates and judicial elections in
Illinois. By providing research and background information to the
media and to the general public, ICPR’s media guides, voters’
guides and fact sheets give voters the tools to help them cast informed
votes on election day.
Click
here for some examples of our voter education materials from the
November 2006 elections, including the Media Guide and the Voters’
Guide, and the ICPR Judicial Elections Archives.
Judicial Campaigns: Public Opinion Polls
The people of Illinois are concerned with the rising costs of judicial
elections and the independence of our judiciary. In the past two
election cycles, ICPR asked voters what they thought about judicial
campaigns in Illinois. These survey results sadly reflect a growing
public opinion that justice in our courtrooms is influenced by campaign
dollars. However, the polls also recognized that the people of Illinois
are ready and willing to make improvements to our system of judicial
elections. Click on the links below to find out more about these
polls, the opinions of Illinois voters and the reforms proposed
to improve judicial campaigns in Illinois.
click
here for 2004 results
click
here for 2002 results (PDF)
ICPR’s Current Judicial Reform Projects
Illinois judges are caught in a web of campaign contributions from
litigants, complex bar evaluations, partisan slating and primary
endorsements that undermine public confidence in the impartiality
of the judiciary and threaten judges’ independence.
Reform Proposals
Public
Financing
If you want to run for public office in Illinois, the first question
campaign staff, political parties, and even reporters will ask you
is, can you raise the money? Even before the first votes are cast,
observers note the existence of a “money primary” where
a candidate’s strength is measured solely by how much money
they can raise.
There are many good, qualified people who could serve as judges
in Illinois. Unfortunately, not all of them can raise enough funds
to run for election. But money should not be a barrier to holding
public office.
The primary goal of public financing proposals is to reduce the
influence of special interest money and in the case of judicial
public financing, encourage public confidence in the judiciary.
Based upon the demonstrated successes with judicial public financing
in other states, ICPR, along with a broad range of grassroots and
reform organizations, in addition to the Justice at Stake –
Illinois coalition, strongly supports a new system of public financing
for judicial campaigns.
Voters'
Guides
Voters' Guides are a state-sponsored method of reaching out to voters
and encouraging them to learn more about candidates for office.
Voters' Guides include valuable information on every candidate on
the statewide ballot, operating voting machines, registering to
vote, and other important voting information. Local municipalities
can insert information on candidates running for local office, so
that every voter has profiles of every candidate on his or her ballot.
Voters' Guides would be sent to every household in Illinois, and
be made available on-line.
The Illinois Voters' Guide Task Force, a bipartisan blue ribbon
task force convened by ICPR chair former Senator Simon and co-chaired
by State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka and Secretary of State Jesse
White, reported that these problems could be reduced, and voter
confidence in the election improved, through a statewide voters'
guide. They called for the creation of a pilot project, to last
for three election cycles, where every Illinois household would
receive a statewide voters' guide.
ICPR and Justice at Stake are proud to provide Illinois voters with
the Illinois Judicial Voters’ Guide, an interactive website
designed to provide voters with key information about Illinois judicial
candidates and elections. The 2006 Voters’ Guide was the third
election cycle in which the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform
and Justice at Stake offered this resource. The site provides background
on the Illinois court system, information on Illinois judicial elections,
2006 judicial candidate pages, links to bar associations and other
sources of information.
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