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Monday, 08 June 2009 |
Ruling is Key to Judicial Independence
Washington, DC - June 9. 2009 - Leaders of the non-partisan Committee for Economic Development (CED) applauded the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the West Virginia case, Caperton v. Massey. The case has highlighted the concern that increased spending in partisan/politically charged judicial races imposes a threat to a fair and impartial judiciary. Since the 2002 release of Justice for Hire, CED has worked to engaged business in improving judicial selection procedures in the states. CED supports a commission-based appointment system or a merit-based system as opposed to partisan election of judges.
"The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of the petitioners in this case - businessman Hugh Caperton and the Harman Development Corporation - is a victory for those working to improve and to ensure judicial independence. The business leaders who make up CED believe that judges who must run for office and raise money to finance their campaigns cannot then be seen as fully impartial when deciding cases that involve supporters and opponents. This decision sends a message that the highest court in the land shares our concerns," said CED Trustee Landon Rowland, Director, Chairman Emeritus, Janus Capital Group.
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Tuesday, 07 April 2009 |
By Landon Rowland, Chairman Emeritus, Janus Capital Group
The line "common sense often makes good law," is attributed to Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Details surrounding the West Virginia case Caperton v. Massey, argued March 3 before the U.S. Supreme Court, display a serious lack of common sense in judicial independence and selection procedures. The CEO of A.T. Massey Coal Co. spent $3 million to elect lawyer Brent Benjamin to the state Supreme Court, while Massey Coal was appealing a $50 million jury award against it. Even after repeated requests from the petitioners, Justice Benjamin refused to recuse himself, instead casting the deciding vote to overturn the $50 million judgment. When large amounts of campaign spending are involved, integrity of the judicial process is readily questioned.
Caperton v. Massey has highlighted the business community's concern for judicial recusal. A 2007 poll of U.S. business leaders conducted by Zogby International reported that 97 percent of those surveyed said that judges should recuse themselves in cases involving those who have contributed financially to their campaign. In addition, the Committee for Economic Development, together with Fortune 500 giants Intel, Lockheed Martin, PepsiCo, and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., submitted a Supreme Court amicus brief in support of the Petitioners, Hugh Caperton and the Harman Development Corporation.
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Friday, 27 February 2009 |
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| Congressman Jim Cooper and author Philip K. Howard |
CED hosted a discussion on legal reform that featured CED Trustee and author Philip K. Howard and Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN) on ways to inject more common sense into the American legal system. Mr. Howard is the author of Life Without Lawyers a book that argues that we are being choked to death by too many laws, too many lawyers. Congressman Cooper has practiced law and holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
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Thursday, 19 February 2009 |
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| Associate Justice (retired) Sandra Day O'Connor |
CED, the Rehnquist Center at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, and Justice for All hosted a forum on judicial independence featuring United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (retired)
[play part 1]
[play part 2]
. Panelists included Peter Dunn
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, Director of Justice for All and Chairman of the Board of Western Pacific Storage Solutions; The Honorable Ruth V. McGregor
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, Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court; Michael Petro
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, Vice President of CED; and Sally Rider
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, Director of the Rehnquist Center.
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Tuesday, 12 December 2006 |
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| Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor |
CED and Justice for All cosponsored a luncheon forum, "Courts under Attack: Defending an Independent Judiciary," on Tuesday, December 12th. Retired Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor delivered keynote remarks, emphasizing the urgency of acting to protect the American independent judiciary. Justice O'Connor called on the many business and civic leaders in attendance to act to protect the Arizona merit-selection system, in particular from the recent calls to introduce competitive judicial elections.
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Monday, 13 November 2006 |
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| CED Trustee Landon Rowland delivering keynote remarks. |
On November 13th CED and Justice at Stake hosted a luncheon forum on "Why a Fair and Impartial Judiciary Matters to the Business Community" in Kansas City. CED Trustee and Director & Chairman Emeritus, Janus Capital Group, Landon Rowland and Chief Justice Michael A. Wolff of the Supreme Court of Missouri delivered keynote remarks on the importance of protecting the Missouri Plan from political attacks as seen in neighboring states. Other speakers included Patrick McLarney, President of the Kansas City Metro Bar Association; Bert Brandenburg, Executive Director of Justice at Stake; Mike Petro, Vice President of the Committee for Economic Development; Dana Tippin Cutler, Standing Committee on Judicial Independence at the American Bar Association; the Honorable Richard D. Greene of the Kansas Court of Appeals; and Jeffrey Roe, Founder and Chief Executive of Axiom Strategies.
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Thursday, 26 January 2006 |
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| (l to r) CED Vice President Mike Petro, CED President Charles Kolb, PMC Associate Director Shira Goodman, PMC Executive Director Lynn Marks, and CED Trustee Don Caldwell at the Philadelphia luncheon. |
On January 26, 2006, CED, along with Trustee Donald Caldwell, Chairman & CEO, Cross Atlantic Capital Partners, hosted 40 business, legal and policy leaders at a luncheon discussion at the Union League in Philadelphia, PA. The forum focused on judicial reform including an effort to create a merit selection system for selecting judges in Philadelphia.
Speakers included CED President Charles Kolb, Lynn Marks, Executive Director, Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts (PMC) and the Honorable Phyllis Beck, former Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge, and PMC Board Member. To review speaker biographies, click here.
For more information on Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, please visit: www.pmconline.org. |
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Friday, 17 June 2005 |
Zogby Poll on Business Leaders Released
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| L-r: Roderick Hills, James Wynn, Jr., Michael O'Neill, Norman Ornstein, Charles Fried, Charles Kolb (behind podium), and Derek Bok |
CED hosted a June 17, 2005 breakfast forum that featured a bipartisan discussion on judicial nominations by a distinguished panel of legal experts. The event, held at the National Press Club and covered by C-Span, was highlighted by the release of new polling results from a CED-commissioned poll conducted by Zogby International. The poll centered on business leaders' views of the judicial nomination process and the recent showdown in the United States Senate over nominations and the use of the filibuster.
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Wednesday, 27 April 2005 |
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L-r: Chris Heagarty , Justice Mark D. Martin; Governor James B. Hunt, Jr.; CED President Charles Kolb and Carroll Gray
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On April 27th, 2005, CED and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce hosted a luncheon discussion on the merits and prospects for North Carolina’s Judicial Campaign Reform Act. The meeting included a keynote presentation from Former Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., and a panel discussion, moderated by CED President Charles Kolb, featuring remarks from a number of key local leaders including:
- Justice Mark D. Martin, North Carolina Supreme Court
- Parks Helms, Chairman, Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners
- J. Christopher Heagarty, Executive Director, North Carolina Center for Voter Education
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Wednesday, 02 June 2004 |
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| Judge James A. Wynn, North Carolina Court of Appeals, speaks at the June 2nd judicial reform luncheon in Research Triangle Park, NC. |
On June 2, 2004, CED, the North Carolina Center for Voter Education, Democracy North Carolina and the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce co-sponsored a luncheon forum to discuss judicial reform in North Carolina. Over 100 representatives from the Research Triangle Park business, legal, education and policy communities joined to hear remarks from a number of featured speakers including Judge James A. Wynn, North Carolina Court of Appeals, former N.C. Sen. Wib Gulley and Justice Mark D. Martin, North Carolina Supreme Court. For more information, please see Justice for Hire: Improving Judicial Selection, or contact Amy Morse at 202-296-5860 ext.29 or amy.morse@ced.org. |
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