Center for American Progress

: Tipping the Scales: How Big Business Is Taking over State Courts
Past Event


Tipping the Scales: How Big Business Is Taking over State Courts


12:00 - 1:00 PM EDT

See also:

Ninety-five percent of cases in America are heard in state courts, which are under siege by corporate interest money. Thirty-nine states elect their state supreme court justices, and over the last 20 years, corporate interests have flooded into the elections for these judges, raising grave doubts about the ability of Americans across the country to get a fair hearing in court.

Please join Legal Progress for an discussion between two state supreme court justices who have had a front row seat to the perverse effects that corporate interest money is having over the judiciary, and for a discussion about Citizens United‘s role over courtrooms today and for the future.

At this event Legal Progress will also release two new reports on corporate influence over the judicial system in America.

Introduction:
Andrew Blotky, director, Legal Progress

Featured panelists:
Justice James Nelson, Montana Supreme Court; author of a noted dissent in the 2012 Montana campaign finance decision challenging Citizens United

Oliver Diaz, Former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice; outspoken critic of the role of corporate money in judicial elections

Moderated by:
Tom Perriello, President and Chief Executive Officer, Center for American Progress Action Fund; Counselor for Policy, Center for American Progress