Forum Post: Action - Occupy Courts
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 16, 2011, 1:37 a.m. EST by LoveIsAll
(24)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zlg8xQpXEQ
With Occupy Wall Street in full swing - it's time to begin a new occupation...of our nation's court system. Today we learned that corporations are spending millions and millions of dollars meddling in judicial elections around the nation. In fact - a new report by the Brennan Center for Justice, the NYU School of Law, and other independent judicial watchdogs - finds that just three corporate lobbyist groups - the Ohio Chamber of Commerce - the Business Council of Alabama - and the Illinois Civil Justice League - have outspent the ENTIRE labor movement in judicial elections around the nation. Those groups alone spent over $3 million last year making sure that corporate-friendly justices find their way onto benches everywhere. There's long been a debate over what kind of judge is best - one elected by the people as most state judges are - or one appointed by the President as most federal judges are. But the truth is - now that corporations are allowed to spend unlimited amounts in our elections - both types of judges have been corrupted - transformed from professional jurists into corporate shills.
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'Occupy Sacramento' Protesters Appear In Court
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKY1rtBcvbE
Someone should have told these women that going drunk might bring them negative attention.
The numbers in the quote that you copied from Hartmann's site (or wherever it was copied) don't seem very well sourced. They do not appear in the Brennan Center report cited. In fact, for example, the data for Alabama only goes up to 2009.
Also failed to be mentioned is that while not strictly "labor" others on the "left" have spent their share as well, e.g., State Democratic Executive Committee (more than $5 million), and Franklin PAC (nearly $1 million) just in AL. From the actual report:
"Alabama is no stranger to expensive, contentious judicial elections, in spite of the fact that the state has historically strictly limited campaign spending by corporations.(48) Candidates for Supreme Court seats in Alabama, collectively, raised more money over the last decade than candidates in any other state.(49) Special interest groups from across the political spectrum have been big spenders in Alabama, with business or conservative groups like the Business Council of Alabama (nearly $5 million from 2000-2009) and Alabama Civil Justice Reform Committee (almost $2.5 million) collectively outspending left-leaning interest groups, including the State Democratic Executive Committee (more than $5 million), and Franklin PAC (nearly $1 million).(50) With three high court races this year in Alabama, special interest spending is sure to continue, and may escalate as corporations and unions can spend directly rather than funneling their money through third party groups."
Orginal source (actually published in 2010) is here:
http://www.brennancenter.org/page/-/publications/BCReportBuyingJustice.pdf?nocdn=1
Yet the left has no problem finding liberal activist judges to block any legislation they don't agree with.
Better yet. Let's do away with legislating from the bench.