The Brennan Center Fair Courts e alert reports that The United States Supreme Court granted cert in the case Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar.

The case deals with a Florida judicial canon that prevents candidates in judicial elections from personally soliciting campaign contributions. Lanell Williams-Yulee, a former Florida judicial candidate, challenged the rule after she was disciplined for signing a mass-mail fundraising letter while running for office.

According to Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News, “Williams-Yulee says the law goes too far by barring candidates from asking for money in speeches and mass mailings. Those solicitations ‘present little or no risk of undue pressure or the appearance of a quid pro quo,’ her lawyers argued in the appeal.” But Bert Brandenburg, executive director of Justice at Stake, said “[a]s partisan and special interest spending in judicial elections skyrockets, the Supreme Court has an important opportunity to help rebuild public trust in elected courts — and strike a blow at a growing perception of judges as politicians in robes.”

Of the 39 states that hold judicial elections, 30 have rules in place preventing judicial candidates from personally soliciting contributions.