Litigation

Editorial: ?Who Bankrolls Alabama?s Judges??

By Peter Hardin

An Alabama editorial board laments inadequate disclosure in the state, where top dollars are spent on judicial campaigns while the public may be kept in the dark about the money sources.

The Anniston Star editorial, entitled “Candidates, Judges and Cash,” highlights an impasse over a 15-year-old recusal law that has been left in legal limbo. The law requires judges to recuse themselves if their campaign got a least $2,000 from a party to a case (see Gavel Grab). But the law may not matter, the editorial adds:

“Even if the bill is implemented, this state?s Byzantine system of PAC-to-PAC transfers allows any contributor to hide contributions and no one ? except the contributor and the candidate ? would ever know who gave what to whom.

“That would change only if the candidate decided to reveal the source of the money. But who would expect that of a candidate in Alabama, least of all one aspiring to be a judge?”

Moreover, the editorial states, an upcoming report by the Brennan Center for Justice is expected to show that in the decade since 2000, candidates for Alabama’s Supreme Court spent almost twice as much to win election as did candidates in the second-ranking state. (The Justice at Stake Campaign and National Institute on Money in State Politics are co-authors of the report with the Brennan Center.)

“Yet, Alabamians don?t know where the money comes from,” the editorial protests. “Candidates won?t say, and those who can make them reveal their sources won?t. So much for the people?s right to know.”

Full post as published by The Gavel on August 04, 2010 (boomark / email).