Georgetown Law Conference on the Judiciary homepage
Sandra Day O'Connor Project on the State of the Judiciary

 

 

the debate over judicial elections and

state court judicial selection
october 17, 2007

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER
Washington, D.C.

co-sponsored by the National Center for State Courts

 

How we select our judges, and how free they are of outside influence when they decide the cases brought before them, is a critical measure of our democracy. While views may vary as to whether judicial elections can lead to bias on the bench, or whether governors are any better than the voters in picking judges, few would disagree that every case ought to be decided based on the facts and the law before the court. That is why speech in judicial elections, the campaign funds, and even the elections themselves, have become a flashpoint.

What can be done to keep State Courts fair an independent? The 2007 Conference of the Sandra Day O'Connor Project on the State of the Judiciary at Georgetown University Law Center will explore this issue.

2007 Conference Recommendations

2007 Conference Agenda

Webcasts of Speakers and Panels

News Coverage of the Conference

Synopses of 2007 Conference Background Papers and Introduction Thereto

Press Release of Survey on "Public Understanding of and Support for the Courts" by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (10/17)

Results of Survey on "Public Understanding of and Support for the Courts" by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (10/17)

 

 

For more information, please contact Meryl Chertoff.

Copyright © Sandra Day O'Connor Project on the State of the Judiciary
No copyright claimed in the text of speeches by federal officials
Georgetown Law