Current Projects
Judicial Selection
National media and public interest in the way America chooses its judges will likely accelerate in the run-up to the 2008 elections, as 21 states prepare to hold Supreme Court elections. In November 2007, Pennsylvania became a bellwether for what we might expect; judicial candidates raised $6.8 million to compete for two state Supreme Court seats. IAALS will continue to advocate for the appointment, evaluation and retention judicial selection process.
Many of our initiatives are concentrated in the area of public education including: 1) release of a report on judicial selection methods and the context for reform efforts nationwide; 2) outreach to media to solicit stories on this debate; 3) speeches and presentations made by our Executive Director on this issue.
Our remaining work in this area focuses on policy impact and includes written and oral testimony presented to legislatures in states evaluating a change to their judicial selection process.