"Judicial elections are becoming political prize fights where partisans and special interests seek to install judges who will answer to them instead of the law and the Constitution."
-- Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Michigan, Exhibit A in the compelling case made by O'Connor, this year will have what is likely to be the most expensive judicial race in its history.
This is also the year when, thanks in part to varying degrees of effort by three northern Michigan women, a head of steam is building to do something about an election problem that the Michigan Campaign Finance Network (MCFN) convincingly warns is becoming more insidious.
Unfortunately, the effort for judicial independence comes too late to do anything about the 2008 election and could well be deflated down the line by the enormous influence the special interests have in the Legislature.
In its welcome call for campaign finance reform, MCFN said of the $23 million spent since 2000 for Supreme Court campaigns, $10 million was on candidate-focused issue ads not reported in any campaign finance report.
In 2000, two Republican justices originally named to the court by Gov. John Engler were overwhelming victors. One of them, now-Chief Justice Clifford Taylor, is the only incumbent up this year.
It's a good bet that Taylor and his yet-to-be-determined Democratic challenger each will have more money behind them than previous combatants.
This is high stakes combat for the GOP, Michigan Chamber of Commerce and other business interests on one side, and the Michigan Trial Lawyers, consumer groups and others on the left. That includes increasingly vocal environmentalists, who are appalled by the Taylor-led court and generate much media ink but not much campaign money.
A study by the National Institute on Money in State Politics said that in 86 percent of all cases heard by Michigan's high court, at least one campaign contributor was involved. A study in Louisiana found that on average, justices ruled in favor of their contributors 65 percent of the time, and two of the justices did so 80 percent of the time.
Money is not the only issue. A beef I have is the ballot itself. Court candidates, although nominated at partisan conventions, are on the nonpartisan ballot. And sitting justices get incumbent designation -- an enormous advantage denied presidents, governors, senators and other incumbents facing Michigan voters.
Among the five Republican justices on the seven-member Michigan Supreme Court, former Chief Justice Betty Weaver of Glen Arbor has been a lonely voice for reform and transparency.
Battlin' Betty is "former" because her GOP colleagues don't much like her reformist and other ideas. She's too pushy for the Engler Four.
Weaver says campaign finance reform through public financing of Supreme Court justice elections is needed to eliminate fundraising for justices, campaigns and to provide for prompt public identification and publication of the sources of individual and interest group money expended.
In a missive to Gov. Jennifer Granholm and all legislators, she called for, among other things, Senate confirmation of gubernatorial Supreme Court appointments (as it is with presidential nominees) with justices serving no more than one eight-year term.
Weaver supports efforts of the Michigan Independent Supreme Court Campaign led by Anne Magoun of Traverse City, which presented Lansing lawmakers with nearly 1,200 signatures calling for such reforms as "full and timely disclosure of all campaign expenditures."
Weaver and Magoun are among those counting on Sen. Michelle McManus, R-Lake Leelanau, who chairs the Senate Campaign and Election Oversight Committee and has been holding hearings around the state, to push for reform.
McManus will push. But how hard, and how soon? She told me her next step is to consult with colleagues such as Majority Floor Leader Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, a key senator on judiciary matters.
Even if McManus, Cropsey and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, have the gumption to go for real court campaign finance reform, it will not be soon enough to get corrections in place before what could this year be Michigan's biggest high-visibility battle for the high court.
But it's good that the dialogue is under way -- thanks largely to Weaver.
Conservation scorecard
Twenty-nine of the state delegations in the U.S. House have stronger records than Michigan's, according to a voting summary released last week by the League of Conservation Voters. On 20 votes in 2007 selected by LCV, Michigan was "right" 45 percent of the time.
The northern Michigan scores: Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, 70; Rep. Pete Hoekstra, 5; and Rep. Dave Camp, 0. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow each scored 67, although they have higher lifetime scores.
George Weeks retired in 2006 after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.
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