The Center for American Progress has an interesting new report on campaign contributions and judicial elections. The report states, “As this year’s election approaches, political attack ads are flooding the airwaves, fueled by unprecedented sums of money from corporations and wealthy individuals funding “independent” political ads. Much of the money is funneled through nonprofit organi­zations that do not disclose their donors.”

In August 2012 the Center for American Progress issued a report on how campaign donations from big business have come to dominate judicial elections, resulting in courts that favor corporations over individual citizens. This new report concludes with recom­mendations for strong rules that require reporting of all ads that mention candidates, including information on those who gave money to independent spenders. States should also respond to Citizens United by requiring corporations engaged in political spending to disclose that information to their shareholders.

Although disclosure laws usually apply to elections for all branches of government, these recommendations were made specifically with judicial campaigns in mind. Judicial elec­tions involve unique interests that make the need for transparency in campaign finance even greater than in other elections. The full report can be found at: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/civil-liberties/report/2012/10/16/41451/policy-solutions-to-the-corporate-capture-of-state-supreme-courts/