Texas Politics - Judging Texas Justice in the Court of Opinion

Deciding
for Dollars?

Do Campaign Dollars Influence Judges?

Texans today choose Texas judges in partisan elections. Campaign contributions, many from deep-pockets donors, pay for judicial campaigns. As this 1998 survey data shows, few people believe that judges completely ignore their campaign contributors. Overwhelming majorites of the public, attorneys, court personnel, and even judges themselves believe campaign contributions have a somewhat or very significant influence on judicial decisions. Attorneys--a major source of contributions--almost universally believe their money affects judicial decisions. The public appears more conflicted on this matter than elites and insiders. Larger proportions of the public than of any other group believe either that campaign dollars are a very significant matter or that they don't matter at all.

Source: Texans for Public Justice. (full source)

Full Source: Data were compiled by Texans for Public Justice from "The Courts and the Legal Profession - The Insider's Perspective," prepared by the Supreme Court of Texas, the State Bar of Texas, and the Texas Office of Court Administration, May 1999. Data on the General Public in Texas which is from "Public Trust and Confidence in the Courts and Legal Profession in Texas," was gathered and compiled by the Supreme Court of Texas, the State Bar of Texas, and the Texas Office of Court Administration, December 1998. All data is available at http://www.tpj.org/payola/polls.html, accessed 6 October 2004.

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Different groups judge the justice system