Last year legislation was introduced in the State Senate which would have provided public financing for Supreme Court Elections. All seven of the Supreme Court Justices signed a letter of support. Polls show overwhelming support by the public for public financing of those races.
Despite this overwhelming support, the legislation failed to pass the legislature and Wisconsin experienced one of the most negative and costly Supreme Court races in the nation.
Political partisanship and adversarial elections are appropriate in legislative and gubernatorial elections. Judicial elections are different. They are non-partisan because judges rule on the law as applied to the facts before them. They are obligated to give each person who enters the judicial process due process including the right to a fair and impartial decision maker.
I join groups like the League of Women Voters in being concerned that large monetary contributions to a judicial campaign may undermine the confidence in a fair and independent judiciary. Freeing the Justices from having to run expensive, partisan campaigns would enhance their capacity to run elections based on their qualifications for the job.
