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American Justice for Sale? Corporate Dollars in Judicial Election Campaigns
“American Justice for Sale?” consists of two panels and is directed toward a business professional audience. Panel I will provide an overview of judicial elections and issues that can arise from campaign contributions in these elections. Panel II will detail how corporations respond to these ethical challenges. This program is sponsored by the Center for Political Accountability and the Carol and Lawrence Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at Wharton. Thank you to the David Berg Foundation for making this program possible.
| What |
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|---|---|
| When |
September 17, 2009 from 04:30 pm to 08:00 pm |
| Where | 151 E. 25th St. (between Lex. and 3rd Aves.), Rm 750 |
| Contact Name | Matthew LePere |
| Contact Email | Matthew.LePere@baruch.cuny.edu |
| Contact Phone | 646-312-3231 |
| Download this event to your calendar |
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Watch "Amerincan Justice for Sale?"
Click here for conference handouts and backgroung information
Read about the the conference in BNA's Money & Politics Report
About the Program
Thirty-nine states currently select judges through elections. While the electoral process allows the citizens to directly select judges, it also poses a challenge to the foundation of the American legal system: the right to equal treatment under law. Where judges are elected, regular litigants and their counsel are free to donate and spend freely to elect their preferred candidates.
The inherent conflicts in this process rise with the level of spending. Maintaining the integrity and impartiality of our courts becomes increasingly difficult where parties to litigation are major benefactors of the judges hearing their cases. There is no national standard governing when a judge must recuse himself from a case. Too often it is left to the judge's discretion.
“American Justice for Sale?” will focus on the threat that unlimited spending in judicial election poses to our judicial system and examine the ethical challenges American corporations face when they participate in the judicial electoral process. The conference will be held on Constitution Day, a federal observance of the ratification of the United State Constitution.
Panelists
Panel I - 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Moderated by MARYA COTTEN, Assistant Professor of Law, Baruch College
- JEFFREY BERGER - Mayer Brown
JAMES SAMPLE - Professor, Hofstra Law School; formerly director of the Judicial Elections Project at the Brennan Center, New York University
DOROTHY SAMUELS - Member, New York Times Editorial Board; author of The Selling of the Judiciary
ROY SCHOTLAND - Professor of Law, Georgetown University
The Hon. PENNY WHITE - Professor, University of Tennessee College of Law; former justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court
Panel II - 6:15 to 7:30 p.m.
Moderated by the BRUCE FREED, President, Center for Political Accountability
- ROBERT ALT - Sr. Legal Fellow & Dep. Dir., Center for Legal & Judicial Studies, The Heritage Foundation
- RONALD BERENBEIM - Principal Researcher, Business Ethics, The Conference Board
- CHARLES GREZLAK - VP, Government Affairs & Policy, Merck & Co., Inc.
- LANDON ROWLAND - Trustee, Committee for Economic Development; former CEO of the Janus Funds
- KARL SANDSTROM - Perkins Coie
Sponsors
Baruch College's Robert Zicklin Center for Corporate Integrity
Center for Political Accountability - A non-partisan, non-profit organization, the CPA was founded in late 2003 and is dedicated to ensuring transparency and accountability of corporate political spending for the benefit of shareholders, the public, and the political process. For more information, visit www.politicalaccountability.net.
The Carol and Lawrence Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at the Wharton School - Established in 1997, the Zicklin Center sponsors and disseminates leading research on business ethics and corporate social responsibility. It supports research that considers the ethical challenges that arise in complex business transactions. For more information, visit www.zicklincenter.org.
Special thanks to the David Berg Foundation for its generous support of this program
Registration
Registration for this complimentary program is on a first come, first served basis. Please register online, by phone or e-mail:
1. Complete and submit the below registration form.
2. Call us at 646-312-3231
3. E-mail us at cci@baruch.cuny.edu
