Citizens United: “No Factual Basis” for a Stampede of Campaign Spending
February 1, 2010
Law.com has an interesting round-up from last week’s Georgetown University Law Center’s conference on judicial elections. Georgetown is a major recipient of George Soros $$ ($4.3 million between 1999 and 2006 to prop up Justice at Stake). So it was no surprise the conference highlighted the usual boilerplate about why it’s a threat to democracy to allow people to vote in judicial elections – especially after Citizens United.
But the conference also squeezed in Washington election lawyer Jan Baran, who countered the hysteria with some actual, real-live facts. According to Baran:
“26 states already have no limits on corporate spending in state campaigns – and their elections are not that different from those that restrict corporate participation.”
Baran also wrote in a New York Times op-ed:
“There is no factual basis to predict that there will be a ‘stampede’ of additional spending.”
That won’t sit well with the “merit” selection crowd, which is trying to use Citizens United to pressure states into abandoning democratic judicial elections. But it should be a flashing red light to state legislatures that might consider revoking the right to vote for judges in their states.