Anyone who has been in a courtroom in any state knows that judges are often biased, give prejudicial rulings, and withhold relevant evidence whenever they want to, in order to punish either the defendant or the plaintiff. Judicial reform must start, start now and at the right place: the financing of judicial elections.

G. Oliver Koppell, NY City Councilmember, is one voice out of many

Dear Friends:

I have recently introduced three City Council Resolutions calling for
the reform of judicial selection procedures. Two of these
resolutions are directed at the State Legislature. The first urges
the passage of Assembly Bill 04440, which establishes a system of
merit selection for judgesin New York State. The second calls upon
the State Legislature to pass legislation that would:

a. establish a voluntary campaign finance program for
all judicial candidates;
b. require all judicial candidates to disclose
contributions and expenditures;
c. mandate the New York State Board of Elections to
publish a meaningful and objective voters guide for
all judicial elections.

The third Resolution calls for the creation of independent and
diverse judicial screening panels by New York City's designated
political parties that would provide a meaningful evaluation process
for the selection of judicial candidates.

Although we have seen a heightened awareness recently of the need for
reform of judicial selection procedures, I have long been aware of
the deficiencies in the way judges are elected, and have worked to
change the system since 1968. I have been a strong advocate for the
merit selection of judges, as well as other reforms, because the
present judicial selection system often does not result in selection
of the most qualified candidates, and does not provide for informed
choices by the voter's.

I believe that the passage of Assembly Bill 04440 will ameliorate
many of the problems associated with judicial selection by creating a
system similar to the New York Court of Appeals merit selection
process where an independent bi-partisan judicial nominating
commission makes recommendations for judicial appointments, ensuring
that members of the judiciary are both highly competent and reflect
the populations that they serve.

I also favor the establishment of a campaign finance reform program
for judicial candidates throughout the state like the one enacted in
New York City for local elections in order to reduce the influence of
large contributors and special interest groups in the judicial
election process.

Furthermore, I believe that requiring the New York State Board of
Elections to publish a meaningful and objective voters guide for
judicial elections, as New York City has done since 1988 for city
elections, would increase the amount of information available to
voters.

I am also in favor of utilizing judicial screening panels, comprised
of delegates from independent associations, organizations and
advocacy groups, to aid in the evaluation of judicial candidates.
The Bronx County Democratic organization has initiated a judicial
screening panel, which is a good first step.

It is essential that we enact judicial reforms in order to select
highly competent, independent judges who reflect the racial, gender,
and ethnic diversity of the population, and I will continue to work
towards this goal.

G. Oliver Koppell

Follow The Money has published a report on "The New Politics of Judicial Elections: How the threat to fair and impartial courts spread to more states in 2002"
and everyone should read it. 86% of our judges are elected!