October, 29 2010, 12:29pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Charles Hall, Justice at Stake, 202-588-9454; chall@justiceatstake.org
Adam Skaggs, Brennan Center for Justice, 646-292-8331; adam.skaggs@nyu.edu
Judicial Elections 2010: TV Spending Surges
Business and Conservatives Outspend Rivals, Reform Groups Report
WASHINGTON
Spending on state Supreme Court TV
ads has exploded nationally as Election Day nears, with $3.3 million
being spent in the week between Oct. 21 and Oct. 27. The TV binge has
raised total ad spending to nearly $13 million for the 2009-10 election
cycle, with business and conservative groups outspending lawyers and
unions in every major state except Illinois.
Several ads have included questionable claims, stirring complaints by editorial pages, a judges association, and www.factcheck.org,
which reviews campaign advertising. Factcheck rejected claims in one
Michigan Democratic ad, while accusing an Illinois group of
cherry-picking cases to attack an incumbent judge.
Through Wednesday, Oct. 27, $8,154,920 has been spent nationally on TV
air time in 2010 judicial elections, including primary and general
election advertising. Of that, $7,152,580 was spent in the general
election, between Aug. 1 and Oct. 27, and $3,391,730 -- 41% of total
spending for the year -- was spent in the seven days from Oct. 21 through
Oct. 27.
"The lion's share of TV spending in judicial campaigns takes place just
before Election Day, and over the past week there has been a dramatic
increase in the volume of TV ads being run in judicial elections across
the country," said Adam Skaggs, Counsel with the Brennan Center for
Justice. "Many of these spots are mudslinging attack ads by candidates
and outside special interests which have been widely denounced as
slanderous and misleading at best."
Including $4.6 million spent on TV ads in 2009, the current total for
the 2009-2010 election cycle is approximately $12.8 million, compared
with around $16 million in the last non-presidential election cycle,
2005-2006. The highest total for TV advertising in a two-year election
cycle occurred in 2007-2008, when candidates, political parties and
outside special interest groups combined to spend $26.6 million on TV
airtime.
Non-candidate groups have led the way.
Three of the top spenders in the Iowa retention election, which has
hinged on a 2009 ruling upholding same-sex marriage, have been national
conservative groups. Of the nearly $1.1 million spent on that election, a
total of $654,000 has come from the National Organization for Marriage,
the Family Research Council, and the Campaign for Working Families,
which has ties with the Family Research Council.
Nationally, four of the top five TV ad spenders in the general election
(Aug. 1 - Oct. 27) are non-candidate groups. The greatest disparities
between non-candidate and candidate general election TV spending are in
Michigan and Ohio.
The following are highlights from the last week of national judicial elections, as updated in Judicial Elections 2010,
a web site jointly operated by the Justice at Stake Campaign and the
Brennan Center for Justice. TV ad information also is available at the
Brennan Center's "Buying Time 2010" page.
National Overview
Illinois Justice Thomas Kilbride, who is seeking another term in a
one-candidate retention election, remains the national leader both in
campaign fundraising, as well as TV ad spending by a candidate. Through
Oct. 28, Kilbride had raised $2.5 million. Of that, $1,425,000 had come
from the Democratic Party of Illinois, whose funding primarily comes
from plaintiffs' lawyers, unions and House Speaker Mike Madigan.
The Illinois Civil Justice League, the group challenging Kilbride, has
raised $648,000, most of it from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; the
American Justice Partnership, a group closely aligned with the National
Association of Manufacturers; and the American Tort Reform Association.
Kilbride has spent $1,361,550 on TV, more than all but a single
non-candidate group, the Michigan Republican Party. All together, four
of the five biggest spenders are non-candidate groups.
The Michigan Republican Party ranks first overall in TV spending
($1,399,100). Kilbride ranks second; the Partnership for Ohio's Future
ranks third (846,340); the Michigan State Democratic Party ranks fourth
($554,470); and the Law Enforcement Alliance of America ($356,570) ranks
fifth.
In Michigan, the Republican Party and the Law Enforcement Alliance of
America, a Virginia-based interest group, have spent $1.75 million in
support of two Republican candidates, while the Democratic Party has
spent about $554,000 supporting two Democrats. Together, these
non-candidate groups combined to spend $2,310,140 -- 86% of total TV
spending in Michigan -- compared to a total of $366,320 spent by the
candidates.
In Ohio, the Partnership for Ohio's Future is responsible for
approximately 51% of all general election TV spending, underwriting
$846,270 in ad buys supporting Republican candidates Judith Lanzinger
and Maureen O'Connor. The O'Connor and Lanzinger campaigns each spent
an additional $320,000. Democrats Eric Brown and Mary Jane Trapp have
spent a combined $177,490 -- about 10% of all TV spending in Ohio's
supreme court election spending.
Questionable Ads
Factcheck.org has weighed in with a
review of disputed ads in the 2010 election season, in Michigan,
Illinois and Iowa. Citing a Michigan Democratic Party ad that accused
Justice Robert Young of barring suits against polluters, Factcheck says,
"In fact, any citizen directly affected by environmental harm can still
sue."
Factcheck also criticized an Illinois Civil Justice League ad attacking
Kilbride -- an ad also assailed by the Illinois Judges Association as
"ugly" and deceptive. According to Factcheck, the JustPac ad
"cherry-picks cases in its ad to portray Justice Thomas Kilbride as
pro-criminal."
And in Alabama, a newspaper sharply criticized a radio ad by Justice
Thomas Parker, in which Parker suggested that a federal judge, who
struck down the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay
military personnel, was as great a threat to national security as
al-Quaeda.
Retention Election Spending
Nationally, about $4.3 million has
been spent on retention elections in 2010, driven by races in which
Illinois and Iowa justices face stiff challenges. That is nearly twice
the $2.2 million spent in all retention elections nationally for the
entire 2000-2009 decade, as documented in "The New Politics of Judicial Elections 2000-2009: Decade of Change."
Supreme Court justices also are
being challenged in Colorado, but relatively little money has been
raised in that effort. According to TNS Media Intelligence, about
$130,000 in ads relating to the Colorado high court race have aired
since Aug. 1.
# # #
The Justice at Stake Campaign is a
nonpartisan national partnership working to keep our courts fair,
impartial and free from special-interest and partisan agendas. In states
across America, Campaign partners work to protect our courts through
public education, grass-roots organizing and reform. The Campaign
provides strategic coordination and brings organizational,
communications and research resources to the work of its partners and
allies at the national, state and local levels. For information, visit www.justiceatstake.org.
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law is a
nonpartisan public policy and law institute that focuses on fundamental
issues of democracy and justice. The Center works on issues including
judicial independence, voting rights, campaign finance reform, racial
justice in criminal law and presidential power in the fight against
terrorism. Part think tank, part public interest law firm, part advocacy
group, the Brennan Center combines scholarship, legislative and legal
advocacy, and communications to win meaningful, measurable change in the
public sector. For more information, visit www.brennancenter.org.
TV Methodology
All data on ad airings and spending on ads are calculated and prepared
by TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG, which captures satellite data in that
nation's largest media markets. CMAG's calculations do not reflect ad
agency commissions or the costs of producing advertisements. The costs
reported here therefore understate actual expenditures; the estimates
are useful principally for purposes of comparison of relative spending
levels across states.
Click here for PDF version of this release.
We're a nationwide, nonpartisan partnership of more than forty-five judicial, legal and citizen organizations. We've come together because across America, your right to fair and impartial justice is at stake. Judges and citizens are deeply concerned about the growing impact of money and politics on fair and impartial courts. Our mission is to educate the public and work for reforms to keep politics and special interests out of the courtroom--so judges can do their job protecting the Constitution, individual rights and the rule of law.
LATEST NEWS
Liberal Justices Grill Attorney in Supreme Court Case on Criminalizing Homelessness
"Where are they supposed to sleep? Are they supposed to kill themselves not sleeping?" asked Justice Sonia Sotomayor of unhoused people who have been barred from sleeping outside in Grants Pass, Oregon.
Apr 22, 2024
As housing rights advocates and people who have been unhoused themselves rallied outside the U.S. Supreme Court Monday to demand an end to the criminalization of homelessness, the court's three liberal justices demanded to know how the city of Grants Pass, Oregon can penalize residents who take part in an act necessary for human survival—sleeping—just because they are forced to do so outside.
After an attorney representing Grants Pass, Thomas Evangelis, described sleeping in public as a form of "conduct," Justice Elena Kagan disputed the claim and reminded Evangelis that he was presenting a legal argument in favor of policing "a biological necessity."
"Presumably you would not think that it's okay to criminalize breathing in public," said Kagan, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama. "And for a homeless person who has no place to go, sleeping in public is kind of like breathing in public."
Evangelis is representing the city in Grants Pass v. Johnson, a case stemming from a 2018 lawsuit filed by an unhoused woman, Debra Blake, who accused officials of "trying to run homeless people out of town."
"On any given day or night, hundreds of individuals in Grants Pass, Oregon, are forced to live outside due to the lack of emergency shelter and affordable housing in their community," the original lawsuit stated.
The city has passed ordinances banning people from sleeping or camping on publicly owned property, with violators subject to fines of hundreds of dollars.
A lower court ruled that the city's bans were in violation of the Eighth Amendment, which bans excessive fines and cruel and unusual punishment, "when there was no other place in the city for [unhoused persons] to go."
The city's only homeless shelter, Gospel Rescue Mission, has 138 beds, and the plaintiffs have said there is frequently no room for many of the hundreds of unhoused people in Grants Pass.
On Monday, Justice Sonia Sotomayor appeared inclined to agree with the plaintiff in the original lawsuit who claimed Grants Pass ultimately wanted unhoused people to leave the city. She pointed to comments city officials have made about their aim "to remove every homeless person and give them no public space."
"Wasn't Grant Pass's first-attempt policy choice to put people, homeless people, on buses so they would leave the city?" she asked Deputy United States Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler. "Police officers would buy them a bus ticket, send them out of the city. But that didn't work because people came back because it had been their home... So then they passed this law, and didn't the City Council president say, 'Our intent is to make it so uncomfortable here that they'll move down the road,' meaning out of town, correct?"
Kneedler acknowledged that the statement was made at a City Council meeting.
"Not only is [sleeping] something that everybody engages in, but it's something that everybody has to engage in to be alive," Kneedler said in response to a question from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. "So if you can't sleep, you can't live, and therefore by prohibiting sleeping, the city is basically saying you cannot live in Grants Pass."
The city argued in its case that prohibiting local officials from regulating and banning homeless encampments in public places would cause more people to sleep outdoors—an argument U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), speaking at the rally outside the court, said exposed "how absurd our country's approach to the unhoused crisis is."
"Instead of enacting real solutions to the unhoused crisis, Grants Pass has taken this case all the way to the Supreme Court and is calling for the court to overturn a landmark decision from 1962 that says the government cannot punish people based on status. So we're here today to demand the Supreme Court support humanity, adhere to constitutional precedent, and protect the rights of our unhoused neighbors," said Bush, who has spoken about previously being unhoused herself and sponsored related legislation.
"A person should never be punished for not being able to afford rent or a home," Bush added. "A person should never be punished for sleeping outside or in a car when they have no other place to go. A person should never be punished for simply existing. We need universal housing, universal housing vouchers, and a permanent federal rental assistance program—these are all tangible steps that would actually solve this crisis."
The case arrived at the high court four months after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released annual data showing a 12% increase in homelessness last year from 2022, largely due to a sharp rise in the number of people who were without housing in 2023 for the first time in their lives. Experts often argue the federal figures are an undercount.
On Monday, the Eviction Lab at Princeton University released new data showing that in 25 of the 32 cities it analyzed, an increase in eviction filings was seen between 2022-23.
"The country lacks millions of units of affordable rental housing, and in those units that are available, a record number of tenants are paying well beyond their means," reported the Eviction Lab. "High interest rates prevent younger, middle-class renters from buying homes, which in turn increases demand in the rental sector."
Considering the dynamics contributing to a growing unhoused population, Sotomayor asked of people facing homelessness in Grants Pass: "Where are they supposed to sleep? Are they supposed to kill themselves not sleeping?"
The conservatives on the Supreme Court, who make up the majority, signaled a willingness to rule in favor of the city, with Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledging that the case is centered on "a policy problem because the solution, of course, is to build shelter to provide shelter for those who are otherwise harmless," but noting that "municipalities have competing priorities."
The answer to the questions being asked at the Supreme Court Monday "is not complicated," said Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). "Unhoused people need housing. Housing is the answer. Housing NOT Handcuffs."
Ramirez repeated a phrase that was seen on many signs held by rally attendees, who included the national grassroots economic justice group VOCAL and organizers with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC).
"What the Supreme Court decides in this case will say a lot about what kind of country we are and what country we want to be," said Efrén Olivares, director of strategic litigation and advocacy at the SPLC. "We demand a future without policies like the one before the court and a government that instead works to ensure that the right to affordable housing is guaranteed for all."
A ruling in the case is expected in June.
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Green Groups Cheer $7 Billion in 'Solar for All' Grants
"Solar for All is exactly the type of investment the country needs to re-imagine our clean energy future," said one campaigner. "It's great to see President Biden jumpstart this landmark program."
Apr 22, 2024
Climate action advocates on Monday celebrated the Biden administration's Earth Day announcement that it is distributing $7 billion in Solar for All grants "to develop long-lasting solar programs that enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from distributed residential solar, lowering energy costs for families, creating good-quality jobs in communities that have been left behind, advancing environmental justice, and tackling climate change."
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the awards—which are going to 60 applicants, including states, territories, tribal governments, municipalities, and nonprofits—will fund solar projects that positively impact over 900,000 households nationwide while reducing 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. The grant competition was made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Joe Biden signed in August 2022.
"The United States can and must lead the world in transforming our energy systems away from fossil fuels," said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who joined Biden on Monday to announce the solar grants—$62.45 million in funding will go to his state—and the Vermont Climate Corps.
"The Solar for All program—that I successfully championed—will not only combat the existential threat of climate change by making solar energy available to working class families, it will also substantially lower the electric bills of Americans and create thousands of good-paying jobs," noted Sanders. "This is a win for the environment, a win for consumers, and a win for the economy."
The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation and Indigenized Energy will get over $135 million to work on solar projects in tribal communities across five states.
Cody Two Bears, executive director of Indigenized Energy, said that the award "will serve as a catalyst for tribes and energy justice communities like ours who are leading the way in building our own clean energy systems within our lands."
"This is a once-in-a-generation award that will begin to transform how tribes achieve energy sovereignty," Two Bears added. "The shift from extractive energy to regenerative energy systems will be the legacy we leave for our future generations."
Two massive victories today! @POTUS announces the #AmericanClimateCorps, putting young people to work in good jobs combating climate change AND the Solar for All program w/ $7B for solar in disadvantaged communities. \n\nThis is the FDR-level ambition we\u2019ve been calling for! \ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udf89— (@)
Margie Alt, director of Climate Action Campaign (CAC), a coalition of a dozen national groups, highlighted both the emissions cuts and that in low-income communities across the United States, "families will see savings—approximately $400 per household."
"The president also announced the launch of the ClimateCorps.gov—a new website featuring 2,000 new job listings in climate and conservation," she pointed out. After years of pressure from campaigners, Biden in September announced the American Climate Corps, which was inspired by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps.
"We're thankful to the Biden administration for making these priorities a reality," said Alt. "While Republicans in Congress make every attempt to roll back climate progress, climate champions in Congress and throughout the administration are standing strong in their commitment to America's clean energy future; a future where all Americans have access to clean energy, good-paying jobs in the clean energy industry, and see direct savings from this clean energy boom."
I\u2019ve pushed for a Climate Corps to create jobs while protecting our health, planet, and future\u2014so it\u2019s wonderful to see @POTUS marking Earth Day this year with major investments in both the American Climate Corps and @EPA\u2019s Solar for All program! We need bold action on climate.— (@)
Paula GarcÃa, senior energy analyst and energy justice lead at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), which is part of the CAC coalition, also applauded the awards, saying that "the Solar for All grant program is a key part of the larger suite of clean energy investments advanced by President Biden and Congress that will help the United States combat climate change."
"Directing investments toward low-income and disadvantaged communities is imperative to ensuring a just transition to clean energy," GarcÃa stressed. "If we don't prioritize these populations, we risk exacerbating historical injustices and piling additional burdens on those who have been disproportionately affected by environmental harm."
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.@POTUS just announced $7b to fund residential solar projects. It will: \n\u26a1\ufe0fPower nearly a million low-income households\n\ud83d\udcb5 Save each household in the program $400 a year\n\ud83d\udc77\ud83c\udffe Create 200,000 jobs\n\nThis program is a key step towards the #GreenNewDeal.\n\nhttps://t.co/9LxOnz13FI— (@)
Jean Su, who directs the Center for Biological Diversity's Energy Justice program, similarly said that "Solar for All is exactly the type of investment the country needs to re-imagine our clean energy future."
"Broad community-based solar is our brightest hope for protecting people and our climate from the scourge of fossil fuels," she added. "These targeted investments mean low-income families get clean energy that is affordable, resilient, and protects our ecosystems. It's great to see President Biden jumpstart this landmark program. I look forward to its expansion, along with steps to curb fossil fuels with a climate emergency declaration."
Her group and the youth-led Sunrise Movement are among the organizations that have long demanded a climate emergency declaration from Biden, who is reportedly reconsidering it in the wake of the hottest year in human history and as he prepares for a November rematch against former Republican President Donald Trump—whose election could mean a surge in planet-heating pollution, according to an analysis published last month.
Emphasizing the difference between the Democratic Party and the GOP, climate reporter David Roberts called the solar grants "amazing stuff that would not happen if Republicans were in charge" and said, "Thanks Biden!"
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"The appalling spike in settler violence against Palestinians in recent days is part of a decadeslong state-backed campaign to dispossess, displace, and oppress Palestinians in the occupied West Bank," said one Amnesty official.
Apr 22, 2024
Amnesty International said Monday that the ongoing surge in deadly violence by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank "underscores [the] urgent need to dismantle apartheid" in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.
For more than a week now, Israeli settlers have been attacking West Bank Palestinians in towns and villages including Al-Mughayir, Duma, Deir Dibwan, Beitin, and Aqraba, killing at least four people including a child; wounding dozens of others; and destroying homes, vehicles, and other property.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops have either stood and watched or participated in the settler attacks, which the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem and others are calling a "pogrom."
Amnesty said the "alarming spike in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians across the occupied West Bank in recent days highlights the urgent need to dismantle illegal settlements, end Israel's occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories, and its longstanding system of apartheid.
"The appalling spike in settler violence against Palestinians in recent days is part of a decadeslong state-backed campaign to dispossess, displace, and oppress Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, under Israel's system of apartheid," Amnesty Middle East and North Africa regional director Heba Morayef said. "Israeli forces have a track record of enabling settler violence and it is outrageous that once again Israeli forces stood by and in some cases took part in these brutal attacks."
"Establishing Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories flagrantly violates international law and constitutes a war crime," Morayef added. "Violence is integral to the establishment and expansion of these settlements and to sustaining apartheid. It's time for the world to recognize this and pressure Israeli authorities to abide by international law by immediately halting settlement expansion and removing all existing settlements."
The latest wave of settler violence was sparked by the disappearance of Binyamin Achimair, a 14-year-old Israeli from the illegal settler outpost of Mal'achei Hashalom who went missing on April 12 while herding sheep near the village of Al-Mughayir east of Ramallah. As Israelis searched for Achimair, settlers began attacking Al-Mughayir's residents and property.
Achimair's body was found the following day. Israeli officials said he was killed in a "terrorist attack." However, no Palestinian resistance group has claimed responsibility for the incident. A 21-year-old Palestinian man was arrested Monday in alleged connection with the boy's death.
Late Friday, IDF troops and armored vehicles surrounded the Nur Shams refugee camp east of Tulkarem and besieged the community of more than 6,000 Palestinians during a 50-hour raid in which residents were shot, homes were destroyed, and scores of people were arrested.
By Saturday, IDF soldiers had killed 14 people in the camp, including at least one child. More than 40 other Palestinians were wounded.
"I saw one of my relatives, Jihad Zandiq, put his hands in the air to the soldiers but then they shot him anyway from point-blank range and killed him. Half of his skull exploded," eyewitness Mahmoud Qazmouz toldMiddle East Eye on Sunday.
Palestinian officials said Israeli troops attacked first responders attempting to rescue victims, including a volunteer paramedic who was shot in the leg.
Meanwhile, a funeral was held Sunday for Mohammed Awad Allah Musa, a 50-year-old Palestinian Red Crescent Society volunteer paramedic who was shot dead Saturday by Israeli settler-colonists while trying to reach Palestinians wounded by rampaging settlers in the town of Sa'wiyah south of Nablus.
The Nur Shams raid and ongoing settler attacks came as the U.S. State Department on Friday announced new sanctions targeting far-right Israeli settler leaders including Ben Zion Gopstein, the founder and head of the Jewish supremacist group Lehava.
The Biden administration—which backs Israel with billions of dollars in military aid and diplomatic support—is also reportedly considering imposing sanctions on the IDF's Netzah Yehuda battalion over war crimes committed in the West Bank before the current Israeli war on Gaza, including the January 2022 death of Omar Assad, a 78-year-old Palestinian American man.
Responding to the prospect of the first-ever U.S. sanctions on his country's military, far-right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that "I will fight it with all my strength."
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 485 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank since October 7, when Gaza-based militants attacked Israel. More than 1,100 people were killed in the attack—some by responding Israeli forces—and over 240 Israelis and others were kidnapped by Hamas and other militants.
Israel's 199-day retaliatory assault on Gaza—which critics including Israelis have called genocidal—has killed at least 34,151 Palestinians, mostly women and children, while wounding over 77,000 others, according to Palestinian and international officials. At least 11,000 Gazans are missing, presumed dead and buried beneath the rubble of the hundreds of thousands of homes and other buildings that have been destroyed or damaged by Israeli bombardment. Around 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been forcibly displaced, and Israel's continued obstruction of humanitarian aid delivery has fueled a burgeoning famine in which dozens of people, mostly children, have perished.
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