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Dispatch: Austin
TEXAS-SIZED CONTRIBUTIONS TO TEXAS
SUPREME COURT
AUDIO and TEXT 

Craig McDonald is the executive director of Texans for Public Justice.

AUDIO: Click here to listen to Mr. Mcdonald's commentary.
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Steve Rosenfeld produced this commentary.

Austin, Texas -- My curmudgeonly 9th grade civics teacher, Mr. Bartlett, taught us about the justice system -- or what it's supposed to be. We heard all the ideas and ideals: innocent until proven guilty, impartial judges weighing facts and evidence, a great system of righting wrongs, holding the guilty accountable ... where the powerless face the powerful, justice can prevail. 

But this description of a magnificent and impartial judicial system has little in common with the one that we have here in Texas. And this is especially true at the highest levels, before the state Supreme Court. 

Seeking justice in a Texas courtroom can cost more money than most folks have. I'm not referring to paying lawyers. Because in Texas, where we cling to the old ways of electing judges, it's money -- campaign donations -- that often determines who can win and preside in the courtroom. Just like other political contributions, those that go to judges often come with strings attached. 

Once little-noticed, low-dollar affairs, campaigns for the bench now can run into the millions -- particularly for seats on the state's Supreme Court. This powerful court has the final say in multi-million-dollar disputes between businesses. It also settles disputes between corporations and aggrieved workers and consumers. In the past decade, Texas business interests have contributed millions of dollars to their own, pro-business judicial candidates. Unfortunately, the candidate with the most money almost always wins. And that means people without deep pockets, consumers and others, lose. 

Our non-profit organization, Texans for Public Justice, took an in-depth look into the campaign funds of Texas Supreme Court judges in 1998. "Payola Justice," our report, tracked more than $9 million raised by the judges. Who coughed up these millions? The biggest chunk came from corporate lawyers and law firms. Another big chunk came straight from businesses and their trade groups. These are the very people who are most likely to have disputes before the high court. 

Altogether, the judges took about $4 million from lawyers and parties that already had cases before the court. In fact, six out of every 10 cases the court decided involved a campaign contributor to one or more of the judges. It's hard to believe justice will be fully impartial when these kinds of relationships shadow the courtroom. 

Our research this year shows that things aren't getting any better. The justices' financial dependence on corporate lawyers is rising while the number of donors is falling. The high court justices gathered two-and-a-half million dollars from just 25 law firms and business groups: twenty-five law firms and businesses out of 20 million Texans. 

Our latest study of 4,000 appeals filed at the high court strongly suggests that the money makes a difference. The more money that a law firm or party to a lawsuit gave to the judges, the more likely they were to accept their case. The two law firms that gave more than a quarter of a million dollars each to the justices had over half of their appeals accepted. Meanwhile, the court accepted just 5 percent of cases appealed by the folks who hadn't given a dime to the judges. 

In light of these facts, many Texas politicians now acknowledge that we have, quote, "an appearance problem." But it's gone way past appearances. Eight out of 10 Texans say that our judges are influenced by campaign money. When recently polled by the Bar Association, eight of 10 lawyers said the same thing. And who should know better than the lawyers? Well, the judges, I guess. And half of the judges agreed with the lawyers. 

But will anything change? It's not likely. Next year Texans will face an unprecedented number of open seats on the high court. And guess what: it'll be the most expensive campaign ever. 

This is Craig McDonald for TomPaine.com

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