A Judiciary Addicted to Money

I've said for years that money is the crack cocaine of politics. Once hooked on campaign contributions from corporations and lobbyists, politicians can't do without.

The New York Times makes a compelling case that the rot has spread to states that elect their high court judges, in this particular case Ohio and its state Supreme Court:

"Thirty-nine states elect judges, and 30 states are holding elections for seats on their highest courts this year. Spending in these races is skyrocketing, with some judges raising $2 million or more for a single campaign. As the amounts rise, questions about whether money is polluting the independence of the judiciary are being fiercely debated across the nation. And nowhere is the battle for judicial seats more ferocious than in Ohio.

"An examination of the Ohio Supreme Court . . . found that its justices routinely sat on cases after receiving campaign contributions from the parties involved or from groups that filed supporting briefs. On average, they voted in favor of contributors 70 percent of the time. Justice [Terrence] O’Donnell voted for his contributors 91 percent of the time, the highest rate of any justice on the court.

"In the 12 years that were studied, the justices almost never disqualified themselves from hearing their contributors’ cases. In the 215 cases with the most direct potential conflicts of interest, justices recused themselves just 9 times.

More here.