Judicial Selection Reform -- CED -- Committee for Economic Development -- Independent, Non-Partisan, Public Policy Research

CED Forum: "Why a Fair and Impartial Judiciary Matters to the Business Community"

December 11, 2007, St. Louis, MO — CED, Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts, the Missouri Law Institute, and Justice at Stake, hosted a bi-partisan forum on “Why a Fair and Impartial Judiciary Matters to the Business Community.” The forum included 100 business and policy leaders in St. Louis, and a distinguished panel of experts from around Missouri.

In the midst of a historic upsurge in judicial campaign requests for business donations, business leaders are beginning to realize the critical importance of protecting the stability, impartiality and public support for the judicial system. The luncheon discussed judicial reforms, including current efforts to protect Missouri’s first-in-the-nation merit selection system. Panelists analyzed state and national trends, recent polling, legislative proposals, and prospects for 2008 and beyond.

The event featured keynote remarks by Landon Rowland, Director & Chairman Emeritus, Janus Capital Group and Former President & CEO, Kansas City Southern Industries Inc; and Judge Ronnie White, Former Missouri Supreme Court Judge. Bert Brandenburg, Executive Director of Justice at Stake moderated the panel including, Bob Holden, Former Governor of Missouri and Chairman of The Holden Group, LLC; Wayne Withers, Special Legal Advisor to Emerson; President, Missouri Law Institute; Retired General Counsel of Emerson; Mike Petro, Vice President, Committee for Economic Development; and Debbie Champion, Member of the St. Louis County Judicial Commission.

Landon Rowland, who participated via phone conference, described the importance of protecting the courts from political attacks, “We all have the responsibility to work to keep the judiciary independent. The kind of impartial judiciary we are working to protect is part of an important economic development engine in this country. This independent judiciary ensures the impartiality of commercial and personal transactions to avoid bribery and self-dealing.” Mr. Rowland warned against recent attacks by groups like the Adam Smith Foundation.

Judge White cited justice-protection groups, noting the connection with impartial courts and good business, “Businesses are more likely to partner with Missouri businesses if they know that the courts are beyond the influence of politics and will always apply the law fairly and consistently. Businesses expect courts not to be swayed by opinion or interest groups.” Judge White expressed frustration at state lawmakers who have introduced legislation that threatens to undermine the judicial selection process in Missouri.

Bert Brandenburg, Executive Director of Justice at Stake announced new polling data revealing that 71% of Missourians polled support merit-selection, or the “Missouri Plan.” An analysis of survey respondents reveals that the support for merit-selection is strong and bipartisan.

In 2002 CED released the national report Justice for Hire: Improving Judicial Selection. The report contends that the system for electing state and local judges undermines judicial independence and impartiality in addition to jeopardizing public confidence in state courts. A subsequent CED survey of American executives revealed American business leaders overwhelmingly reject the notion that businesses should financially contribute to organizations trying to impact the judicial nominating process.

Justice at Stake is a nationwide, nonpartisan partnership of 50 judicial, legal and civic organizations. Justice at Stake’s mission is to educate the public and work for reforms to keep politics and special interests out of the courtroom—so judges can do their job protecting the Constitution, individual rights and the rule of law.

For more information on co-sponsors please visit, www.protectjustice.org, www.justiceatstake.org, www.molawinstitute.org.

CED has released a new poll: Attitudes and Views of American Business Leaders on State Judicial Elections and Political Contributions to Judges. See the press release for more information.

On Thursday, May 17, CED and Justice at Stake discussed the rapidly escalating cost of state Supreme Court elections during a luncheon conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Fritz Wenzel, Director of Communications for Zogby International, presented the findings of CED’s latest survey of national business leaders, examining the business community’s reaction to the rising cost of judicial elections.

The release of the poll was complimented by the release a new report from Justice at Stake. The New Politics of Judicial Elections 2006 documents how business groups have recently become the dominant force in state judicial election campaigns, through donations and independent expenditure campaigns. Jesse Rutledge, Director of Communications for Justice at Stake, James Sample, Counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, and Rachel Weiss, Communications Director for the National Institute on Money in State Politics discussed the key findings from the report. View the full agenda.

CED and Justice for All cosponsored a luncheon forum, “Courts under Attack: Defending an Independent Judiciary,” on Tuesday, December 12th. Retired Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor delivered keynote remarks, emphasizing the urgency of acting to protect the American independent judiciary. Justice O’Connor called on the many business and civic leaders in attendance to act to protect the Arizona merit-selection system, in particular from the recent calls to introduce competitive judicial elections.

A panel of experts from the national and local level discussed the national trends in the increasing money in judicial elections and attack ads that have targeted judges facing retention elections throughout the country. Charles Kolb, President of CED, moderated the panel discussion with speakers Bert Brandenburg, Executive Director of Justice at Stake; Sally Rider, Director, The William H. Rehnquist Center on the Constitutional Structures of Government, University of Arizona College of Law; Chief Justice Ruth V. McGregor of the Arizona Supreme Court; and Pete Dunn, Executive Director of Justice for All. Brandenburg highlighted the growing influence of money in judicial elections and discussed coordinated attacks on sitting judges.

Since 2002, CED has been involved in a multi-year campaign to draw national attention to the need for judicial independence. This event was the latest in a series of regional forums held throughout the country to inform and mobilize business leaders on the importance of maintaining judicial independence, reforming judicial selection and protecting both the independence and selection process from the influence of campaign funding and political attacks.

For more information on the state by state judicial election results, selection process and campaign money and attack ads visit www.justiceatstake.org. For more information on the Arizona selection process, elections and reform visit www.justiceforall.org.

On November 13th CED and Justice at Stake hosted a luncheon forum on “Why a Fair and Impartial Judiciary Matters to the Business Community” in Kansas City. CED Trustee and Director & Chairman Emeritus, Janus Capital Group, Landon Rowland and Chief Justice Michael A. Wolff of the Supreme Court of Missouri delivered keynote remarks on the importance of protecting the Missouri Plan from political attacks as seen in neighboring states. Other speakers included Patrick McLarney, President of the Kansas City Metro Bar Association; Bert Brandenburg, Executive Director of Justice at Stake; Mike Petro, Vice President of the Committee for Economic Development; Dana Tippin Cutler, Standing Committee on Judicial Independence at the American Bar Association; the Honorable Richard D. Greene of the Kansas Court of Appeals; and Jeffrey Roe, Founder and Chief Executive of Axiom Strategies.

Keynote speakers Landon Rowland and Chief Justice Wolff discussed the need of maintaining the Missouri Plan. Mr. Rowland has become increasingly concerned with the influence of money in judicial elections stating, “This is a critical issue that is a warning in this country mainly because of special interest politics and money that fuels it in a way that we never imagined and certainly haven’t been ready for.” Chief Justice Wolff expressed a commitment on the part of the Missouri judicial branch to transparency in oversight stating, “We want to take a business-like approach to our own operations. We are the only state that said yes to the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Independence of the Judiciary to come to Missouri and evaluate our system.”

Pat McLarney echoed the concern for national and regional changes stating, “When I became president of the Kansas City Bar Association, I realized that the biggest issue that we have as bar associations across the country is attacks on the judiciary and what is going on nationally as far as the judiciary is concerned. We have seen some very clear examples of attacks in Missouri this year.”

For more information on national and regional judicial trends, visit Justice at Stake. Or visit the website for the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Judicial Independence.

On January 26, 2006, CED, along with Trustee Donald Caldwell, Chairman & CEO, Cross Atlantic Capital Partners, hosted 40 business, legal and policy leaders at a luncheon discussion at the Union League in Philadelphia, PA. The forum focused on judicial reform including an effort to create a merit selection system for selecting judges in Philadelphia.

Speakers included CED President Charles Kolb, Lynn Marks, Executive Director, Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts (PMC) and the Honorable Phyllis Beck, former Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge, and PMC Board Member. To review speaker biographies, click HERE.

For more information on Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, please visit: www.pmconline.org

CED LEADS DEBATE ON JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS
Zogby Poll on Business Leaders Released

CED hosted a June 17, 2005 breakfast forum that featured a bipartisan discussion on judicial nominations by a distinguished panel of legal experts. The event, held at the National Press Club and covered by CSpan, was highlighted by the release of new polling results from a CED-commissioned poll conducted by Zogby International. The poll centered on business leaders' views of the judicial nomination process and the recent showdown in the United States Senate over nominations and the use of the filibuster. The survey and a summary press release can be found at these links:

The forum was hosted by Trustees Derek Bok and Roderick Hills, the co-chairs of CED's Judicial Selection Sub-Committee. John Zogby, President and CEO of Zogby International, was on hand to release the business Poll and a distinguished, bipartisan panel was on hand to discuss the poll results. The panel, which was moderated by CED President Charles Kolb included:

Charles Fried: Professor, Harvard Law School; former Associate Justice, Massachusetts Supreme Court; and former United States' Solicitor General

Norman Ornstein: Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

Michael O'Neill: Chief Counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee

James Wynn, Jr.: Justice, North Carolina Court of Appeals; former judicial nominee of President Clinton

Derek Bok, CED Trustee, National Chairman of Common Cause, and President Emeritus of Harvard University opened the event with a speech about the increasing partisan pressures of the federal nominating process, warning that the federal nomination battles are becoming like the state judicial elections, with increasing costs, partisanship, and distortions, and less civility and legitimacy.

Following Dr. Bok, Roderick Hills, CED Trustee, Chairman, Hills & Stern, LLP, and former Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission, discussed the evolving roll of business in Judicial nominations, describing how businesses, plaintiffs attorneys and unions have long been waged in defensive warfare in state courts, funneling more and more money into those elections. He called on each side to stand down at the federal level and asked for voices of moderation on both sides to step away from the campaign style pressure tactics that both sides are beginning to implement.

John Zogby, President and CEO or Zogby International, was on hand to release the new survey results, on The Attitudes and Opinions of U.S. Business Leaders on the Bi-Partisan Filibuster Compromise and the Relationship Between Business and Social-Advocacy Groups. To view his power point presentation, please click here.

Former Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. Keynotes Judicial Reform Luncheon in Charlotte, NC

On April 27^th, 2005, CED and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce hosted a luncheon discussion on the merits and prospects for North Carolina’s Judicial Campaign Reform Act. The meeting included a keynote presentation from Former Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., and a panel discussion, moderated by CED President Charles Kolb, featuring remarks from a number of key local leaders including:

Justice Mark D. Martin, North Carolina Supreme Court

Parks Helms, Chairman, Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners

J. Christopher Heagarty, Executive Director, North Carolina Center for Voter Education

After a very successful introduction of the nation’s first publicly financed judicial elections, North Carolina stands as a state on the cutting edge of reform. With generous support from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, CED has been working to educate the business community on the importance of supporting the NC Public Campaign Financing Fund. CED has been involved in the judicial reform area since the 2002 release of Justice for Hire: Improving Judicial Selection. The report contends that judicial elections undermine judicial independence and impartiality and dilute public confidence in state courts. Since the report’s release, CED has been working with numerous partners, including Justice at Stake, to increase national awareness of this issue. For more information, please contact Amy Morse at 202-296-5860 ext.29 or amy.morse@ced.org.

On June 2, 2004, CED, the North Carolina Center for Voter Education, Democracy North Carolina and the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce co-sponsored a luncheon forum to discuss judicial reform in North Carolina. Over 100 representatives from the Research Triangle Park business, legal, education and policy communities joined to hear remarks from a number of featured speakers including Judge James A. Wynn, North Carolina Court of Appeals, former N.C. Sen. Wib Gulley and Justice Mark D. Martin, North Carolina Supreme Court. For more information, please see Justice for Hire: Improving Judicial Selection, or contact Amy Morse at 202-296-5860 ext.29 or amy.morse@ced.org.

As modern campaign techniques increase the costs of judicial elections, sitting judges and judicial candidates are soliciting contributions in larger amounts than they did a decade ago. Consequently, significant portions of the American electorate believe that campaign donors and political supporters are buying the influence of the nation's judges. These developments have prompted CED's Trustees to examine the process of judicial selection and to propose systemic reform. CED believes that an erosion of public trust and confidence in the impartiality and fairness of judicial outcomes threatens the future legitimacy of the legal system.

On August 9, 2002 CED released Justice for Hire: Improving Judicial Selection at a Washington, D.C. event featuring Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Phillips as the keynote speaker and remarks by A. P. Carlton, President of the American Bar Association. The project is co-chaired by Derek Bok, President Emeritus of Harvard University and Chairman of Common Cause, and Roderick M. Hills, Chairman of Hills Enterprises, Ltd.

The report contends that the system for electing state and local judges undermines judicial independence and impartiality and jeopardizes public confidence in our state courts. Elections encourage judges to engage in political activities that do not befit the office and provide outside interests with substantial opportunities to politicize judicial decisions and influence judicial behavior.

CED is partnering with the American Bar Association and other organizations to form "Justice at Stake" to address this issue. CED's project and Justice at Stake are funded in part by George Soros' Open Society Institute and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. CED will be planning events in a number of cities across the country. Watch our events page for further information.

For more information, please contact Amy Morse at (202) 296-5860 or amy.morse@ced.org

Co-Chairs: Roderick Hills, Hills Enterprises; Derek Bok, Harvard University