Cases: Avery v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.: Supreme Court Filings

Legal Center Files Amicus Brief in Judicial Election Case

On February 3, 2006, the Campaign Legal Center, along with the Brennan Center for Justice and ten other nonprofit organizations from around the nation, submitted a brief amicus curiae to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a petition for a writ of certiorari in Avery v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

The petition requests that the Court review a decision of the Supreme Court of Illinois, to determine whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires an elected state court judge who received large campaign contributions from a party in a case before the court to recuse himself. In the case below, a justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois received more than $1 million in direct and indirect campaign contributions from State Farm, refused to recuse himself from a case involving State Farm, and then cast the deciding vote to overturn a $1.05 billion lower court verdict against State Farm.

The Legal Center's brief details skyrocketing judicial election fundraising activity in states throughout the nation over the past decade and argues that—absent required recusal—large contributions to judicial candidates undermine the impartiality of the courts and violate the due process rights of litigants. We urge the Supreme Court to grant review in this case to provide much-needed guidance to state courts regarding when the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires recusal.

To read the Legal Center's amicus brief, click here.

To read petition for a writ of certiorari, click here.