News & Updates

IAALS’ JPE 2.0 project is investigating and responding to concerns about judicial performance evaluation—with a goal of renewing JPE as a valued and trusted process going forward. A foundational white paper from IAALS serves as a primer for these important developments.

This November, thousands of judges across 38 states find themselves on the ballot, and there is reason to believe that this year judicial races will capture more voter attention than usual.

In a recent national survey asking about the importance of 12 characteristics of judges, survey respondents indicated that the public prizes a judge's professional qualities above all others, including political qualities—preferences that have obvious relevance for methods of judicial selection.

The closing of courthouses in response to the pandemic complicated both the traditional collection and interpretation of judicial performance evaluation data. However, state courts’ adoption of new technologies over the past year has created fresh opportunities to improve JPE data collection, analysis, and dissemination going forward.

On the whole, 2020 was a quiet time for state judicial elections, at least in comparison to recent years. Fewer sitting judges were directly targeted for removal, and most of the efforts to oust judges failed at the ballot box. But even quiet years have standout moments, and the recent election cycle brought several noteworthy developments.

Professional ethics rules have long prevented judges from speaking about their rulings and opinions. However, beginning next month, California state judges will be able to comment directly on pending cases—their own or those of a judicial colleague—in connection with a judicial election or recall campaign. 

In Ohio, state judges are currently chosen in nonpartisan general elections (although they do compete in partisan primaries). But House Bill 460 would allow judicial candidates to place their party affiliations directly on the general election ballot. If the measure becomes law, Ohio would be the second state in recent years to move from nonpartisan to openly partisan elections. 

Nevada, which directly elects nearly all of its state judges, has never implemented an official judicial performance evaluation program. Instead, between 1992 and 2013, the state’s largest newspaper conducted its own surveys of attorneys in Clark County regarding judges seeking reelection until their survey methodology came under sharp criticism. Now the surveys are set to return, with some significant retooling.