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Safeguarding U.S. Democracy: Promoting an Independent Judiciary By Defending The U.S. Constitution

The League of Women Voters’ Safeguarding U.S. Democracy: Promoting an Independent Judiciary program continues to be a successful nationwide education campaign effort. Our goal is to increase citizen understanding on the importance of our nation’s system of separation of powers and highlight the vital need for protecting a fair and independent judiciary.

Contact: Zaida Arguedas, Director or David Ward, Specialist on the Judiciary and the Courts

*To Contact the League, please use the Contact Form. Choose Safeguarding U.S. Democracy from the Subject pull down menu

Learn more about the Safeguarding U.S. Democracy project.

The Latest

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin Setting the Basis for Reform on Recusal
The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin is at the forefront of recusal reform for judges. Since the Caperton vs. Massey decision was handed down by the United States Supreme Court on June 8th, courts in several states have been trying to figure out how to apply the decision in their states.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Candidate Debate
The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania is co-sponsoring a Pennsylvania Supreme Court candidate debate on October 22nd.

Multimedia

Judicial Diversity Highlighted By Adam Skaggs of the Brennan Center for Justice
The League of Women Voters of Union Area, New Jersey recently celebrated Constitution Day by having the Brennan Center for Justice's Adam Skaggs.

LWV of Arizona Creates Educational Video on Merit-Selection
The League of Women Voters of Arizona partnered with KAET-8 PBS to create a video discussing two opposing views on merit-selection in Arizona. Click here to watch the video.

Resources

Chart Outlines Diversity Numbers in Kansas State Courts
This document outlines the gender and racial diversity in Kansas state courts as of June 2009. It includes the amount of women, African-American, Latino, Asian, and Native-American judges compared to the total population of Kansas.

Chart of the Kansas State Court System
Here is a chart of the Kansas State Court system

Press Releases

'Diverse Judiciary' Campaign Kicks Off with Public Forum in Topeka - Oct 14, 2009
Two-year, statewide project opens with a forum this week to tackle the question: “Does the Kansas Judiciary reflect the diversity of the state? If not, why not?”

Events: Past

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Candidate Debate

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
10/22/2009

Kansas League Day: Launching A Quest for a More Diverse Judiciary

Topeka, Kansas
10/17/2009

Partner Links

American Bar Association

American Judicature Society

Brennan Center for Justice

Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System

Justice at Stake's GavelGrab

Kansas Judicial Branch

Lambda Legal

Legal Reform Groups Hail Caperton Ruling

Midwest Democracy Network

National Center for State Courts