Wednesday, November 30, 2011
it's rare that i would quote a hasen post in full, but this one is highly relevant.
How Not to Campaign for Judge in Indiana
Posted on November 29, 2011 8:01 am by Rick Hasen
The following election fundraiser ad by a judge (who is also the spouse of the Marion County Democratic party chair) earned an admonition from the Indiana Commission on Judicial Nominations:
Around August 15, 2011, invitations to a fundraiser to support the 2012 re-election campaign of Judge Pierson-Treacy were mailed to over six-hundred people in the Indianapolis area. The invitations notified potential donors that a fundraiser was to be held on September 15, 2011 at the office of a local attorney who is a co-chair of Judge Pierson-Treacy’s campaign committee. In the text of the invitation, under a heading marked “Suggested Contributions,” was a list of recommended monetary amounts with legal monikers next to them. The suggested contributions were written as:
$150 “Sustained”
$250 “Affirmed”
$500 “So Ordered”
$1000 “Favorable Ruling”
Recipients of the invitations then were directed to make checks payable to the “Re-Elect Judge Becky Committee” and to send the checks to a particular address.
If I remember right, Pierson-Treacy is one of the judges who defeated me when i ran in 2000. I am one a very small number of people who have run for judge in marion county and lost. Strange ballot rules usually result in all candidates, or all but one of 16, winning. There are rarely any primary contests, after the party slate is picked at a slating convention, which is usually de facto controlled by the party chair. In this case the party chair is Judge Becky's husband.
Ethics rules prohibit Judge Becky from holding party office. Those rules may be questionable after Mn GOP v White. I wonder whether being the spouse of a party chair raises the same issues of an appearance of impropriety.
I was able to run in 2000, knowing I would lose, because I don't make my living as a lawyer. At the time I was day trading, currently I do odd jobs out of state and collect rent. Most practicing lawyers would be afraid to run, based on a perception that it could rick hurting their practices.
How Not to Campaign for Judge in Indiana
Posted on November 29, 2011 8:01 am by Rick Hasen
The following election fundraiser ad by a judge (who is also the spouse of the Marion County Democratic party chair) earned an admonition from the Indiana Commission on Judicial Nominations:
Around August 15, 2011, invitations to a fundraiser to support the 2012 re-election campaign of Judge Pierson-Treacy were mailed to over six-hundred people in the Indianapolis area. The invitations notified potential donors that a fundraiser was to be held on September 15, 2011 at the office of a local attorney who is a co-chair of Judge Pierson-Treacy’s campaign committee. In the text of the invitation, under a heading marked “Suggested Contributions,” was a list of recommended monetary amounts with legal monikers next to them. The suggested contributions were written as:
$150 “Sustained”
$250 “Affirmed”
$500 “So Ordered”
$1000 “Favorable Ruling”
Recipients of the invitations then were directed to make checks payable to the “Re-Elect Judge Becky Committee” and to send the checks to a particular address.
If I remember right, Pierson-Treacy is one of the judges who defeated me when i ran in 2000. I am one a very small number of people who have run for judge in marion county and lost. Strange ballot rules usually result in all candidates, or all but one of 16, winning. There are rarely any primary contests, after the party slate is picked at a slating convention, which is usually de facto controlled by the party chair. In this case the party chair is Judge Becky's husband.
Ethics rules prohibit Judge Becky from holding party office. Those rules may be questionable after Mn GOP v White. I wonder whether being the spouse of a party chair raises the same issues of an appearance of impropriety.
I was able to run in 2000, knowing I would lose, because I don't make my living as a lawyer. At the time I was day trading, currently I do odd jobs out of state and collect rent. Most practicing lawyers would be afraid to run, based on a perception that it could rick hurting their practices.
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