To: Ted Cruz, Senator
Tell Ted Cruz: no elected Supreme Court!
Abandon your radical proposal to elect Supreme Court judges and instead support efforts to ensure fair, impartial courts.
Why is this important?
Ted Cruz just chaired a hearing in the Senate about his idea to subject Supreme Court justices to retention elections, saying it'd curtail "judicial activism."
But one look at the states that elect their Supreme Court justices shows the dangers of Cruz's proposal. Forcing judges to run for re-election puts them at the mercy of outside groups and special interest donors. It invites corporate front groups to flood the elections with money to stack the benches with judges who'll see cases their way -- regardless of what's right.
Our founders intended for courts to be truly independent, able to make politically unpopular decisions -- like those that desegregated our schools, guaranteed a woman's right to choose and provided marriage equality -- and to operate outside of traditional electoral politics. Ted Cruz should abandon his extreme proposal and focus on proven reforms, like judicial codes of ethics and merit selection, to build a fair, impartial judiciary.
But one look at the states that elect their Supreme Court justices shows the dangers of Cruz's proposal. Forcing judges to run for re-election puts them at the mercy of outside groups and special interest donors. It invites corporate front groups to flood the elections with money to stack the benches with judges who'll see cases their way -- regardless of what's right.
Our founders intended for courts to be truly independent, able to make politically unpopular decisions -- like those that desegregated our schools, guaranteed a woman's right to choose and provided marriage equality -- and to operate outside of traditional electoral politics. Ted Cruz should abandon his extreme proposal and focus on proven reforms, like judicial codes of ethics and merit selection, to build a fair, impartial judiciary.