“Draft ABA Report Reviews Rules and Processes for Judicial Recusal, Recommends Improvements,” The United States Law Week Case Alert - a National Survey of Current Case Law Focus,  June 16, 2009.  “A preliminary report under review within the ABA surveys the rules and procedures that govern judicial disqualification, identifies problem areas-- including the impact of campaign contributions--and proposes possible solutions. The subject of the report is garnering much attention due to the Supreme Court's decision in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co.,77 U.S.L.W.4456, (U.S. June 8, 2009).  The report is the product of the Judicial Disqualification Project, which was launched by the ABA Standing Committee on Judicial Independence in 2007…”

“A Win For Fairer Courts,” The National Journal, June 15, 2009.  The Supreme Court's landmark Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. ruling has prompted sweeping predictions on both sides of the debate over judges and campaign money.  Some see the high court's June 8 ruling as a signal that states should reconsider the system of installing judges through election campaigns, which have become increasingly costly and hard-fought. Thirty-nine states elect at least some judges.  "I hope this decision will spur states to focus on whether our 19th-century method of selecting judges works well in the 21st century," said Thomas Phillips, the former chief justice of Texas and a partner at Baker Botts, in a recent interview with Legal Times. Phillips co-authored a brief in the Caperton v. Massey case on behalf of the Conference of Chief Justices.  On the flip side, critics of the 5-4 ruling -- including Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the dissenting opinion -- predict that it will unleash a wave of litigation and actually undermine the credibility of the courts. Roberts' dissent warns that the ruling creates an ambiguous standard that states will find difficult to enforce…"The ruling is critically important for those of us who have been out there worrying about judicial impartiality and how we can preserve it," said Charles G. Geyh, a law professor at Indiana University who directs the American Bar Association's Judicial Disqualification Project. The ruling "sends a message to state supreme courts" to come up with clear and enforceable guidelines for judicial recusal, he added…”