Justice at Stake
Mission: To keep courts fair and impartial by promoting merit-based selection of judges and diversity on the bench, and to protect our justice system through public education, litigation, reform, and safeguarding our courts against political attacks.
Justice at Stake partners with more than 50 nonpartisan national and state organizations to ensure that our nation’s state court systems are fair and impartial. It also advocates for diversity on the bench, believing that “diversity in the legal system improves the quality of justice.”
Current Democracy Work
Recognizing that special interests are spending millions to influence and elect judges to serve their own—and not the public’s—interest, Justice at Stake advocates to take money out of state judicial races, for merit-based judicial appointments, and to ensure diversity on the bench. They also track real-time judicial election spending and produce a biennial report series, The New Politics of Judicial Elections, with the Brennan Center and National Institute on Money in State Politics (also known as FollowTheMoney.org).
Recent Successes
Since 2000, Justice at Stake has helped win victories in the U.S. Supreme Court and guarded against political attacks on state courts nationwide. In 2015, Justice at Stake helped defend merit selection in Kansas at the state Supreme Court level using poll evidence it commissioned showing that Kansans did not want their judicial selection system tampered with. It also helped state advocates defeat similar attacks in Oklahoma, Arizona, and Florida. Also noteworthy, in 2014, Justice at Stake became the first organization to track and publish electoral spending in judicial races across the country.
Your Entry Points
Explore the wealth of resources and publications, like the newsletter “Eyes on Justice,” at Justice at Stake’s website. Attend its annual Fair Courts State Summit. Apply for an internship or law clerkship at Justice at Stake’s office in Washington, D.C.