The Power of Campaign Money in Judicial Elections

Michael S. Kang and Joanna M. Shepherd join NDLS to discuss their new book, Free to Judge: The Power of Campaign Money in Judicial Elections. Kang and Shepherd argue that the effect of money on judicial outcomes should disturb and anger everyone. In the current system that elects state judges, the rich and powerful can spend money to elect and re-elect judges who decide cases the way they want. Free to Judge is about how and why money increasingly affects the dispensation of justice in our legal system, and what can be done to stop it.

Michael S. Kang is the Class of 1940 Professor at Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law. He recently served on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court. Joanna M. Shepherd is Vice Dean and Thomas Simmons Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law.