ARE VOTERS AWAKENING TO THE PROBLEM OF CORRUPT JUDGES?
by Richard I. Fine, Ph.D., ©2014, Campaign for Judicial Integrity
(Nov. 9, 2014) — Richard I. Fine, Ph.D., Chairman of the Campaign for Judicial Integrity (CFJI) stated:
“The November 4 percentage of “No” votes to Supreme Court justices may be the highest percentage since three California Supreme Court justices were voted out in 1982 for refusing to enforce the death penalty. The statewide percent range of “No” votes rose from 20-24% in 2002 and 2006 to 33.3% in 2014. The rising trend of “No” votes indicated that the justices can be Voted Out at the next election.”
Fine expanded: “On a county-by-county basis the effect of the vote “No” campaign was more dramatic. Only five of California’s 58 counties accounted for over 50% of the statewide “Yes” votes. The five counties were Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Santa Clara. Only another eleven counties exceeded the statewide “Yes” vote percentage. These eleven counties were Alpine, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Ventura and Yolo.”
Fine continued: “The remaining 40 counties each had “No” vote percentages in the mid-30% to high 40% range. Most striking, seven counties voted “No” to Justice Cuellar. These were: Glen, Lassen, Mariposa, Modoc, Shasta, Sierra and Tehama. Five counties voted “No” to Justice Liu. These were: Lassen, Modoc, Shasta, Sierra and Tehama.
Fine added: “Also striking, on November 4, 1.67 million fewer people voted in the judicial election than voted for governor. This refusal to vote may have indicated disgust with the judiciary and judicial corruption. Had these voters voted “No,” all the Supreme Court justices would have been voted out.”
Fine concluded: “The 2014 dramatic increase in the percentage of “No” votes demonstrated the impact of the vote “No” campaign. The Judiciary, Governor, Legislature and county supervisors making illegal payments to judges are on notice that we will end judicial corruption.”
The Campaign for Judicial Integrity is a national grassroots movement and organization dedicated to the eradication of judicial corruption in all of its forms. Contact: Richard I. Fine, Ph.D.
Tel: (310) 622-6900; E-mail: richardfine@campaignforjudicialintegrity.org
Links: