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Welcome to the Elmo B. Hunter
Citizens Center for Judicial Selection

The Hunter Center for Judicial Selection was founded in 1991 to further the American Judicature Society's historic interest in judicial selection issues. Today the Center is a nationally recognized research center that conducts, synthesizes, and disseminates empirical research on a wide range of judicial selection issues. The center acts as a clearinghouse of information on judicial selection for state court administrators, lawmakers, the media, the legal and academic communities, and court reform organizations.

Click here for information on recent events by the Hunter Center.

JUDICIAL SELECTION NEWS

AJS Response to Announcement by Former Gubernatorial Candidate Bob Vander Plaats
Iowa’s courts are among the best in the nation, and they should remain free from political pressure. The campaign by former gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats and the Common Sense PAC to vote out three Iowa Supreme Court justices threatens to undermine Iowa’s fair and impartial court system.
Posted 8/6/2010
Click here to view the Media Advisory.

New Research on Judicial Selection and Judicial Discipline
This research evaluates an assertion that is often made by proponents of judicial merit selection—i.e., that fewer unfit judges reach the bench through merit selection than through contestable elections—by comparing discipline rates for elected and merit-selected judges.
Posted 6/15/2010
Click here to download the white paper.

AJS co-sponsored poll shows Pennsylvanians favor judicial merit selection
According to a recent poll co-sponsored by AJS, 62% of Pennsylvanians favor replacing partisan election of appellate judges with merit selection. Merit selection bills are currently under consideration in the state legislature.
Posted 6/8/2010
Click here to read the press release on the poll.

New AJS Research on Judicial Diversity
AJS has released new research on judicial diversity on state courts. The study explores the relationship between judicial diversity and the institutional, political, and legal environment in which judges are selected.
Posted 5/17/2010
Click here to view this white paper.

States Act to Revise Judicial Selection
A growing number of states are rewriting their rules on selecting judges to curb the influence of special interests on judicial contests.
Posted 3/30/2010
Click here to read the article.

Campaign Contributions and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
On behalf of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, AJS recently completed a study of the frequency with which campaign contributors to members of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court later appeared before the court. The study revealed that in 60% of the cases decided by the court in 2008 and 2009, at least one of the litigants, lawyers, or law firms had contributed to the election campaign of at least one justice.
Posted 3/17/2010
Click here to view the study.

AJS Judicial Diversity Research Published in The Judges’ Journal
Research conducted as part of AJS’s “Preserving and Expanding Merit Selection” project has been published in a special diversity issue of the ABA Judicial Division’s The Judges’ Journal. “Racial and Gender Diversity on State Courts: An AJS Study” examines the institutional and political circumstances in which minority and women judges are most likely to be selected to state courts. It also provides an overview of the extent of judicial diversity over time and in 2008.
Posted 12/30/2009
Click here to access the article.

Book Review: In Defense of Judicial Elections
Bert Brandenburg and Rachel Paine Caufield review the book In Defense of Judicial Elections for the Sept-Oct issue of Judicature.
Posted 10/23/2009
To read the book review, click here.

 
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