Campaign Cash Mirrors a High Court’s Rulings

[cal04]

In the fall of 2004, Terrence O’Donnell, an affable judge with the placid good looks of a small-market news anchor, was running hard to keep his seat on the Ohio Supreme Court. He was also considering two important class-action lawsuits that had been argued many months before.

In the weeks before the election, Justice O’Donnell’s campaign accepted thousands of dollars from the political action committees of three companies that were defendants in the suits. Two of the cases dealt with defective cars, and one involved a toxic substance. Weeks after winning his race, Justice O’Donnell joined majorities that handed the three companies significant victories.

Justice O’Donnell’s conduct was unexceptional. In one of the cases, every justice in the 4-to-3 majority had taken money from affiliates of the companies. None of the dissenters had done so, but they had accepted contributions from lawyers for the plaintiffs.

Thirty-nine states elect judges, and 30 states are holding elections for seats on their highest courts this year. Spending in these races is skyrocketing, with some judges raising $2 million or more for a single campaign. As the amounts rise, questions about whether money is polluting the independence of the judiciary are being fiercely debated across the nation. And nowhere is the battle for judicial seats more ferocious than in Ohio.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/us/01judges.html?hp&ex=1159675200&en=a85b3abd714626b8&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[AlCzervik]

1. this part here is how i imagine the SCOTUS will end up

In 2002, Lt. Gov. Maureen O’Connor, a Republican, won a seat on the court, replacing a more liberal Republican justice and altering the balance. Her campaign took more than $330,000 from affiliates of insurance companies and medical groups. Not long after she joined the court, Justice O’Connor wrote the opinion that overruled the 1999 insurance decision. Only four years after the court ruled that employers’ insurance policies covered many off-the-job injuries, it reversed course. “It serves no valid purpose to allow incorrect opinions to remain in the body of our law,” Justice O’Connor wrote for the majority. The vote was 4 to 3.

The shift in personnel had a prompt impact on other cases, too. Since then, law firms that work mostly for plaintiffs have fared poorly in the court. A look at a sample of 14 big plaintiffs’ firms showed that they won 64 percent of the cases in the study before 2003. In the next three years, after the rise of the court’s conservative wing, their success rate dropped to 17 percent. Since 1995, Ohio has imposed campaign contribution limits. They are $3,000 from individuals and $5,500 from organizations for each judicial election. Primary and general elections are counted separately.

[Algorem]

2. O'Donnell to skip City Club judicial debate

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/1159605655268330.xml?nohio&coll=2

Saturday, September 30, 2006
T.C. Brown
Plain Dealer Bureau

Columbus -- Ohio Supreme Court Justice Terrence O'Donnell won't make a Cleveland City Club debate, but Judge William O'Neill, his outspoken opponent for a court seat, promises a spirited discussion anyway.

Without citing a reason, O'Donnell's campaign manager, Michael Gonidakis, notified the City Club two weeks ago that his candidate would not appear Oct. 24, said Jim Foster, the club's executive director. The show will go on nonetheless, Foster said Friday...

O'Neill, a Democratic judge on the 11th Ohio District Court of Appeals, called O'Donnell's refusal to appear "disgraceful," but on the upside, said, "I can assume I will win" the debate.

O'Donnell, the Republican incumbent, has raised more than $600,000, while O'Neill has pledged to take no campaign contributions...

[maddezmom]

3. kick

[Mark E. Smith]

4. NYT: Campaign Cash Mirrors A High Court's Ruling

October 1, 2006

COLUMBUS, Ohio - In the fall of 2004, Terrence O'Donnell, an affable judge with the placid good looks
of a small-market news anchor, was running hard to keep his seat on the Ohio Supreme Court. He was
also considering two important class-action lawsuits that had been argued many months before.

In the weeks before the election, Judge O'Donnell's campaign accepted thousands of dollars from the
political action committees of three companies that were defendants in the suits. Two of the cases dealt
with defective cars, and one involved a toxic substance. Weeks after winning his race, Justice O'Donnell
joined majorities that handed the three companies significant victories.

Justice O'Donnell's conduct was unexceptional. In one of the cases, every justice in the 4-to-3 majority
had taken money from affiliates of the companies. None of the dissenters had done so, but they had
accepted contributions from lawyers for the plaintiffs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/us/01judges.html?ex=131/355200&en=0e956de8a5/1/9c2&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Quite a state, that Ohio ..

[Joanne98]

5. Corrupt conservative judges!