From the TIMES-TRIBUNE.COM:
State appellate courts regularly make decisions that affect the lives of all Pennsylvanians. But the statewide campaigns that result in the selection of appellate judges are funded by a handful of interests that are highly likely to have direct dealings with the courts.
A new study of Pennsylvania appellate elections by the nonpartisan, nonprofit American Judicature Society illustrates the degree to which many campaign donors later appear in court before the winning judge or justice.
The society looked at all 112 civil appeals decided by the state Supreme Court in 2008 and 2009. During those terms, six of the seven justices had been elected and the other had been appointed by Gov. Ed Rendell. In their most recent campaigns, those justices raised about $8 million.
Of the 112 cases, 75, or 67 percent, included at least one litigant, lawyer or law firm who had contributed to the election campaign of at least one justice…
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