The reality for Texas judges is that in order to be elected or reelected, they must be either rich or really good at begging. Increasingly, they also have to be "pure" supporters of their political party. Texans tell pollsters that the big campaign money needed for elections influences judicial decisions—an opinion with which lawyers agree, as do a surprising number of judges. But Texans also tell pollsters that we should keep electing judges (despite the fact that every two years hundreds of thousands of us don’t even vote in judicial elections). The end result is a judicial election system that is merely a crapshoot. 
Why is it a crapshoot? Outstanding judges can essentially lose their places on the bench because they voted in the wrong primary ten years ago, because their opponents have clever or recognizable names, or because they didn’t kowtow to political action committees. Those who are elected or reelected may lose in the next election because of rulings they made against their local political party, against key lawyers who are supporters, or the biggest sin, against PACs that helped them win. 
Judges and lawyers have talked about the problem for years and can’t agree on what should be done. The intention of the authors of Crapshoot Justice, which features interviews with a wide range of lawyers and former judges, is to keep stirring the pot until the system is changed. 
Published with generous support from 
THE ROCKWELL FUND AND TRULL FOUNDATION

Crapshoot Justice: Politics, Money, and the Texas Judiciary

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