JAS & The U.S. Supreme Court

Justice at Stake has been cited in three Supreme Court opinions: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2009), FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life (2007), and Republican Party v. White (2002) . To view the citations, click here.

In 2009, Justice at Stake filed two “friend of the court” briefs in U.S. Supreme Court cases, working to protect elected courts from special-interest influence. 

• Caperton v. Massey (2009). In this landmark case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a West Virginia Supreme Court justice could not participate in a case involving a coal executive who had spent $3 million to help elect him. The high court said the “probability of bias” violated an opposing litigant’s right to a fair, impartial hearing.
  
  To learn more about Caperton, see Justice at Stake’s Caperton resource page, or read our amicus brief, which was signed by 27 legal and civic reform groups.
   

• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010). The Supreme Court overturned long-standing precedents and laws dating back decades, declaring that corporations could not be barred from spending treasury money on election campaigns. Justice at Stake warned that the ruling "pours gasoline on the fire of special-interest money that has been overtaking judicial elections. Interest group spending imperils our right to impartial justice by pressuring judges to rule with one eye on big-money contributors."
  

To learn more about Citizens United, see the same-day news release and a later, more comprehensive news release; or read the JAS amicus brief, which was signed by 20 civic and legal reform groups.  Or read this Justice at Stake fact sheet, or this commentary by JAS Executive Director Bert Brandenburg. To read the Supreme Court's opinion, click here.