Election Reform Research Paper

Words: 1429
Pages: 6
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Article Critique
Minellis Andujar
Criminal Justice 500
Liberty University
27 March 2016

Abstract
You May Know the Law But I Own the Judge: Why Congress Can and Should Get Involved in State Judicial Election Reform shows that campaign contributors are making the job of a judge harder. These donations are influencing judges’ decisions. Although we do have a Due Process Clause, this situation is making many people think that the court system could be corrupt. The last hope that this system has is for Congress to step in. Congress would need to create a disqualification rule for any elected judge hearing cases from campaign contributors. They would then need to use the powers of Section 5 in the Fourteenth Amendment and use the Supreme Court's …show more content…
When trying to run a campaign the candidate usually needs funds. For example, the article mentioned Texaco, Inc. v. Pennzoil case. In this case the Judge assigned to this case was running for reelection. Pennzoil decided to donate 10,000 towards his campaign. Some found that he should have removed himself from this case because of the possible conflict of interest. He although remained on the case and Pennzoil seemed to have many favored rulings. An appeal happened and once in the high courts of Texas, both Pennzoil ($248,000) and Texaco ($190,000) donated money to the judges that heard the case. The end result was that the court turned down hearing this case and declared more than $8 billion dollars of damages. It was a good thing that the higher court decided to turn down hearing this case because Texaco and Pennzoil was a perfect example how contributors donations can affect the decisions judges …show more content…
They usually go back to the people with “high-stakes litigation, lawyers, and special interest groups” to fund their campaigns (Skaggs). Campaign contributors usually look out for candidates that will benefit them. This could be bad because just as Skaggs said, it makes the court look like “justice is for sale.” It is also crazy how contributors are able to get their petition accepted for review before a non-contributor. The more money contributed towards a campaign the better chances of receiving a favorable outcome. More than 79% of lawyers agree with this (Skaggs). Even a 2002 survey showed judges agreeing with the fact that campaign contributions do influence a judges’ decision. This makes the court look bad because it keeps proving the point that the court is for sale. Although there isn’t a proven study of this, it does show a
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