Adam Skaggs

In the last decade, spending on campaigns for state Supreme Court positions has more than doubled. On today’s second Backstory, Adam Skaggs, senior counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice, discusses why these races are attracting more and more money and what it means for our judiciary system.

State judicial elections, once relatively low interest affairs, recently have been flooded with money, often from outside groups seeking to influence judicial decisions—particularly for state Supreme Court justices. On today’s Backstory segment Adam Skaggs, counsel with the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, traces the history of judicial elections and examines what the political landscape looks like today.

According to a new report, spending on state Supreme Court elections has doubled in the last decade. According to polls, three in four Americans believe money spent on campaigns for judgeships can affect later courtroom decisions; some states are calling for methods to protect the court system from special-interest money donated during election season.

The vote to confirm Elena Kagan’s nomination to the Supreme Court could happen this week. Adam Skaggs, counsel in the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. discusses the ways judges are picked at all levels and issues in finding the proper role of politics in judicial selection.