state supreme courts
October 11, 2018 -
The same secret-money group that pushed the U.S Senate to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh is dominating spending in judicial elections in Arkansas and elsewhere in the South. In some states, justices are looking to be re-elected with the help of campaign cash from corporations and law firms that have business before the courts.
August 17, 2018 -
The entire West Virginia Supreme Court — already in the crosshairs of corporate special interests — was recently impeached by the Republican-controlled state House for overspending, lavish renovations, and, in the case of one justice, criminal corruption charges. But Democrats see what's happening as a GOP power grab that comes amid a broader trend of conservative attacks on the judiciary.
August 2, 2018 -
State supreme court seats across the South are up for grabs this year, and contributions are pouring into partisan races. What does the research tell us about the effects of big-money politics on the judiciary?
July 20, 2018 -
With President Trump nominating a judge with a record of hostility to voting rights to the U.S. Supreme Court, state courts and constitutions are likely to play an increasingly critical role in protecting those rights — but those institutions are under political assault by conservatives.
June 6, 2018 -
At the same time President Trump is appointing federal judges with a history of opposing equal rights for LGBTQ people, national conservative groups are spending big to elect LGBTQ-hostile judges to state supreme courts.
February 1, 2017 -
As attention turns to President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, state courts that handle a million times more cases face an unprecedented threat to their integrity from secretive special-interest spending.
October 28, 2016 -
Political groups unaffiliated with candidates' campaigns have already spent a record amount this election cycle to influence races for state supreme court seats. Among the states seeing big spending are Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina.
