For immediate release.
November 20, 2001
Contact: Jesse Rutledge, N.C. Center for Voter Education,
(919) 839-1200
Center Praises N.C. Senate for Passing Campaign Finance Reform
RALEIGH – Calling it an important step in preserving an independent judiciary, and a critical advance toward an improved election system for North Carolina, the N.C. Center for Voter Education today thanked the North Carolina Senate for passing the Judicial Campaign Reform Act (SB 1054). The bill passed third and final reading in the Senate this afternoon.
“North Carolina's world class judiciary is vulnerable to the same kinds of big money attack ads that special interests have used to buy judicial elections in other states. This proposal will help keep our upstanding justices and judges free from those kinds of attacks,” said Robert Morgan, a former U.S. Senator who is President of the Board of Directors of the N.C. Center for Voter Education. “The North Carolina Senate has done the right thing by giving its seal of approval to this very important reform.”
The Judicial Campaign Reform Act provides voluntary public financing to qualified candidates for the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, while imposing strict spending limits on the campaigns of participating candidates. The bill would also reduce the level of partisanship in these campaigns by making them non-partisan; reduce the campaign contribution limit in these races from $4,000 to $500 per individual; and improve voter education by creating a statewide voters guide with information about the judicial candidates.
In backing public financing, supporters of the proposal point to the unseemly appearance of attorneys and special interests making campaign contributions to candidates for judicial office, who may later rule on cases brought by those contributors. The proposal would eliminate this appearance of conflict by providing a grant to candidates who raise only a small amount of private money, qualify to appear on the ballot and accept strict limits on campaign expenditures.
The Center for Voter Education hailed the work of the many individuals and groups whose efforts made this reform a possibility. In particular, the Center thanked the American Bar Association and the N.C. Bar Association for their support. In July, the American Bar Association’s Commission on Judicial Independence released a two-year study backing public financing. The hard work of the bill’s legislative architects, Sen. Wib Gulley (D-Durham) and Sen. Allen Wellons (D-Johnston), also lead to the passage of the bill, said the Center.
“This reform proposal reflects months of hard work, comprise and revision. What we have before us is a reform that can make North Carolina a national leader in the field of preserving judicial independence,” said Chris Heagarty, Executive Director of the N.C. Center for Voter Education.
More information about the proposal can be found online at the Center’s website, www.ncvotered.com. On December 7th, the Center is hosting a two-hour lunch conference in Raleigh to discuss judicial campaign reform. Details and registration information are available on the website or by calling (919) 839-1200.
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919.839.1200