Forum Post: Keep this on your radar: judicial elections.

http://ideas.time.com/2011/10/31/judges-are-for-sale-and-special-interests-are-buying/

"A case in point: West Virginia. In 2007, the West Virginia Supreme Court, on a 3-2 vote, threw out a $50 million damage award against the owner of a coal company. Funny thing: the man who would have had to pay the $50 million had spent $3 million to help elect the justice who cast the deciding vote.

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In 2010, three Iowa Supreme Court justices who ruled in favor of gay marriage were voted out of office - after a bitterly fought campaign dominated by money from out-of-state groups like the National Organization for Marriage and the American Family Association. Much of the special interest money is used for attack ads, which leverage hot-button issues to demonize judicial candidates. Has a sitting judge ever reversed a criminal conviction because the law was not followed? Then they must be soft on crime - and not care about victims."