The Secret War on Judges
by: Jon Haber
Cross posted at Open Left Wed Nov 14, 2007 at 05:23:53 AM EST
Across the country, small-time right-wing groups are being smuggled fistfuls of cash to help dismantle our nation's judicial system. Hiding behind innocuous-sounding front groups, these corporate shills are targeting state judge races in a campaign to fundamentally change our judicial system. Where did they find their sudden wealth? Look no further than the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Since 2000 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has spent close to $100 million on a secret war on judges. The goal? Eliminate judges willing to hold big corporations accountable for their wrongdoing and negligence. In the name of fattening corporate profits, the U.S. Chamber wants to strip Americans of their rights.
The U.S. Chamber is not to be confused with your local chamber of commerce. Where local chambers are made up of small business owners, the U.S. Chamber answers only to the richest CEOs of the nation's biggest corporations. Guys like Home Depot's Bernard Marcus and AIG's Maurice Greenberg, each of whom earn multi-million dollar compensation packages, and don't want their companies to be held accountable for negligent acts. The U.S. Chamber is happy to take their money - and that of many others - and funnel millions into judicial races in states like Alabama, Ohio and Mississippi. The U.S. Chamber targets for defeat judges they feel aren't sufficiently pro-business.
Since 2000, several states have watched out-of-state business interests try to sway state Supreme Courts races. While at first, the U.S. Chamber went to court to keep its donors anonymous, it's now trying to funnel money through front groups. Groups such as the American Taxpayer Alliance, Citizens for a Strong Ohio, and the Voter Education Committee are suddenly awash with cash and hunting down judges.
One group allegedly backed by the U.S. Chamber is the Law Enforcement Association of America (LEAA) - a phony law enforcement group created by the NRA to help fight assault weapons bans. LEAA got an anonymous infusion of $4.5 million in 2002, and immediately began running ads attacking judges in several states. In Mississippi the LEAA attacked Supreme Court Justice Chuck McRae, though McRae ironically was a proud gun owner and hunter.
In the most recent judicial election cycle (2006), pro-business groups paid for 90 percent of all special interest spending on TV ads. Business interests contributed over $15 million to state Supreme Court candidates - 44% of all contributions from all sources, and the most ever from a single industry sector.
The U.S. Chamber's scorched-earth campaigns are changing the nature of judicial elections for the worse. Where once was a measured debate, now stands a money-driven frenzy of attack ads. We at the American Association for Justice are just one of several groups trying to preserve judicial independence. Everyday we're fighting against an opponent that has enormous advantages in money and resources. We need to tap into the world of social media to stand a chance in this fight.
I'm all ears for your ideas as to how we can engage social media to help us stand up to the U.S. Chamber's attack.