Democracy and Our State Courts: Fighting Back After Citizens United

State courts touch nearly every American’s life, from rulings on marriage equality to voting laws to the environment to death penalty cases. We depend on state courts to be fair and impartial. But five years after Citizens United — the Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates to special interest spending, even in judicial elections — special interest groups are spending more and more each year to influence our courts.

On Tuesday, January 13, ACS along with the Brennan Center for Justice and Justice at Stake brought together advocates and experts for a thoughtful discussion about why courts matter and about why it’s more important than ever that we fight to keep courts fair and impartial.

• Alicia Bannon, Counsel, Fair Courts Project at the Brennan Center for Justice
• Bert Brandenburg, Executive Director, Justice at Stake
• Courtney Hight, Director, Democracy Program, Sierra Club
• Kristine Kippins, Federal Policy Counsel, Center for Reproductive Rights
• Greg Moore, Senior Strategist, Democracy Initiative & Executive Director, NAACP National Voter Fund
• Jo-Ann Wallace, President, National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA)

• Caroline Fredrickson, President, American Constitution Society