n the 38 states where judges are elected, judicial races are seeing more campaign cash than ever. New research shines a light on how competitive judicial races contribute to mass incarceration

Some Florida lawmakers now want to make it harder for citizens to put amendments on the ballot — part of a broader national trend aimed at discouraging direct democracy in the states

The Georgia NAACP criticized the bail bond industry for lobbying “against ending cash bail so that they can continue to profit from people … who are often poor.”

If a pending bill passes in West Virginia, Republican Gov. Jim Justice — a billionaire former coal company executive — will appoint 82 percent of the state’s appellate judiciary in just his first term

Years of Scott appointments have resulted in a Florida judiciary that is only 6.4 percent black, though 17 percent of the state’s population is black

“We need independent courts to have an effective system of checks and balances”

Now that the Judicial Crisis Network has succeeded in helping to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court over unprecedented opposition, JCN will resume its long-term effort to put conservatives in charge of state supreme courts

Empowering local communities

If nothing is done to address the problem, the number of people worldwide that the World Bank estimates will be driven to extreme poverty by climate change and related extreme weather events: 100 million

If any justices are impeached the result would likely be a court that puts the interests of corporations over those of ordinary West Virginians