Partners Roster
The positions and policies of Justice at Stake Campaign partners are their own, and do not necessarily reflect those of other campaign partners.
Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice
Alabama Appleseed is examining research already done in Alabama on the state of judicial elections, and is formulating recommendations for reform that will best address the myriad of competing interests that have produced gridlock on this issue in the past.
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association has long been dedicated to the promotion and protection of an impartial judiciary. The Standing Committee on Judicial Independence was created to promote public awareness about the values of an independent, accountable and efficient judiciary and to assist in responding to unwarranted criticism. The Standing Committee has a particular focus on state and local judiciaries.
American Board of Trial Advocates
The general purposes of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) is to foster improvement in the ethical and technical standards of practice in the field of advocacy to the end that individual litigants may receive more effective representation and the general public be benefited by more efficient administration of justice consistent with time-tested and traditional principles of litigation.
The American Judges Association
The objective and purpose of the AJA is: to promote and improve the effective administration of justice; to maintain the status and independence of the judiciary; to provide a forum for the continuing education of its members and the general public; and for the exchange of new ideas among all judges.
The American Judicature Society is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of judges, lawyers, and other citizens whose mission is to promote the effective administration of justice. Through research, educational programs, and publications, AJS focuses primarily on judicial ethics, judicial selection, the jury, judicial independence, court administration, and public understanding of the justice system.
American Association for Justice
As the largest trial bar, the American Association for Justice promotes justice and fairness for injured persons, safeguards victims’ rights—particularly the right to trial by jury—and strengthens the civil justice system through education and disclosure of information critical to public health and safety. With more than 55,000 members worldwide, AAJ provides lawyers with the information and professional assistance needed to serve clients successfully and protect the democratic values inherent in the civil justice system.
The Appleseed Foundation mission is to build a just society through legal advocacy, community activism, and policy expertise. We work locally to address root causes and produce practical, systemic solutions. We strive for a society in which opportunities are genuine, access to the law is universal and equal, and power is used to advance the public interest.
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law unites thinkers and advocates in pursuit of a vision of inclusive and effective democracy. Our mission is to develop and implement an innovative, nonpartisan agenda of scholarship, public education and legal action that promotes equality and human dignity while safeguarding fundamental freedom. The Center operates programs in the areas of Democracy, Poverty, and Criminal Justice.
The Campaign Legal Center (*campaign reform issues only)
The Campaign Legal Center is a nonprofit organization created to represent the public interest in administrative hearings and proceedings on campaign finance and media laws. The Center is managed through the auspices of the University of Utah’s Campaign and Media Studies Program—created to support and develop areas of inquiry and action on these issues through academic research, conferences, and internship programs.
Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice
Chicago Appleseed works with a multitude of lawyers, legislative experts, scholars, public interest groups and workers in the field to to advocate for fair and just change. By using an effective combination of legal research, law practice and social science methodology, an issue is thoroughly examined from all angles, providing an objective basis for constructive and realistic recommendations to change inefficient and unjust social and legal systems. These recommendations are made with the goal of making the best possible changes to positively impact the largest number of affected citizens.
Citizen Action/Illinois is the state's largest public interest organization and a progressive political coalition committed to creating social change both in Illinois and across the nation.The organization is based on several core values: a belief that every human life has equal worth, that the purpose of American society is to allow all its members to live meaningful and fulfilling lives, and that there is a collective good beyond individual interests. It seeks to promote and win public policies that reflect these values and embody social justice, but recognizes that winning justice requires political power. It exists to create that power by being a values-based, issue-oriented political center in Illinois.
The mission of the Colorado Judicial Institute (CJI), a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizens’ organization founded in 1979, is to preserve and enhance the independence and excellence of Colorado courts, to further public understanding of the Colorado judicial system, and to ensure that the courts meet the needs of the people.
In order to achieve CJI’s broad mission, the organization takes on varied projects, such as: recognition of judicial excellence, raising private funds for continuing judicial education, public education on the state and federal courts through the Our Courts program, participation on commissions and committees to improve judicial selection and evaluation methods, research and publication in areas of family law, such as delinquency and neglect and foster care, and developing partnerships with national and state-based organizations. CJI is sustained through the support of individual and corporate members as well as grant funding for projects and programs.
Committee for Economic Development
CED is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of more than 220 business leaders and university presidents. Since 1942, its research and policy programs have addressed many of the nation's most pressing economic and social issues, including education reform, workforce competitiveness, campaign finance, health care, and global trade and finance. CED promotes policies to produce increased productivity and living standards, greater and more equal opportunity for every citizen, and an improved quality of life for all.
Common Cause is a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizen's lobbying organization promoting open, honest and accountable government. Supported by the dues and contributions of over 200,000 members in every state across the nation, Common Cause represents the unified voice of the people against corruption in government and big money special interests.
The Constitution Project is a bipartisan nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., that develops bipartisan consensus on controversial legal and policy issues and conveys that consensus through scholarship, activism, and practical public education efforts.
The mission of Democracy North Carolina, formerly the North Carolina Project of Democracy South, is to build a more democratic society that makes real the promise of "one person, one vote." Its research, training, organizing, and public education programs emphasize reducing the power of special-interest money and increasing the power of citizens in all aspects of the political process.
Democracy South is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established in 1997. Democracy South is a regional network of state-based grassroots organizations in the Southeast with the mission of helping to build, strengthen, and link progressive multi-racial and multi-issue coalitions that address issues of social, environmental, and economic justice. Since 2003, the over-arching goal of Democracy South is to re-engage the region’s forgotten and voiceless minorities in the political process that shapes their destiny.
DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar
DRI is the national organization of defense trial lawyers and corporate counsel. DRI provides numerous educational and informational resources to DRI members and offers many opportunities for liaison among defense trial lawyers, Corporate America, and state and local defense organizations. DRI also has an international presence, seeking to enhance understanding of the law among members of the defense community who have reason to be concerned with the expanding globalization of litigation defense.
Modern Courts is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice in New York. Founded in 1955, and led by concerned citizens, prominent lawyers, and leaders of the business community, Modern Courts works to make the court system more accessible, efficient, and user-friendly for all New Yorkers. For the last 45 years, the cornerstone of FMC efforts has been the need to change New York's method of selecting judges. Consistently, we have fought to institute merit selection to remove the influence of money and politics from the judicial process
The Greenlining Institute's mission is to empower communities of color and other disadvantaged groups through multi-ethnic economic and leadership development, civil rights and anti-redlining activities.
The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform
The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform is a nonpartisan public interest group that conducts research and advocates reforms to promote public participation in government, address the role of money in politics and encourage integrity, accountability, and transparency in government. The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform steering committee is composed of a diverse group of civic, business, labor, political, and religious leaders from across Illinois, and was chaired by the late Senator Paul Simon. Ross Harano is now the Chairman of the Board.
Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System
The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) at the University of Denver is a national, nonpartisan organization, dedicated to improving the process and culture of the civil justice system. IAALS provides principled leadership, conducts comprehensive and objective research and develops innovative and practical solutions in the pursuit of a more transparent, fair and cost-effective system of justice in the United States.
The Interfaith Alliance (TIA) is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to promoting the positive and healing role of religion in the life of the nation and challenging those who manipulate religion to promote a narrow, divisive agenda.
Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice
Kansas Appleseed is one of the network's 16 public interest law Centers working across the country to identify and address issues and develop practical and lasting solutions to chronic injustices.
Local Appleseed Centers have the expertise, the flexibility, and the independence to listen to unheard voices, uncover injustices, and win the battles no one else fights. Appleseed Centers work both independently and collectively, bringing their own experiences to create local solutions that are nationally relevant.
The Kansas League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, grassroots, volunteer and political organization with eight local Leagues across the state. For 85 years the KLWV has encouraged the informed and active participation of citizens in government and has influenced public policy through education and advocacy. As a non-partisan organization, the League of Women Voters of Kansas does not support or oppose any candidate or political party.
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers' Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law.
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
Michigan Campaign Finance Network
The Michigan Campaign Finance Network is a nonpartisan, nonprofit coalition of organizations and individuals concerned about the influence of money in politics and the need for campaign finance reform in Michigan. MCFN conducts research on campaign contributions and their relationship to election outcomes and issues of public policy, supports access to campaign finance information and develops educational initiatives for the public on the subject of campaign finance reform.
Michigan League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
Minnesota League of Women Voters
The League is a multi-issue, grassroots volunteer organization of concerned women and men working together to better understand and influence the issues that affect families and the future. The Minnesota League of Women Voters is a political, but nonpartisan, organization dedicated to researching complex questions from all viewpoints. The League does not support or oppose any political party or candidate.
Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts
Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts is a broad-based coalition of organizations and individuals devoted to protecting Missouri courts from attacks by a small group of politicians and special interest groups and preserving the Missouri nonpartisan court plan. Missourians depend on fair and impartial courts to provide stable and rational resolution of disputes, protect property and economic interests, and, when needed, protect people from the overreaching of government. Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts advocates for the courts to remain accountable to the constitution and the laws of the state--not political pressure and special interests.
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the national association of Asian Pacific American (APA) attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students, providing a national network for its members and affiliates. NAPABA advocates for the legal needs and interests of the APA community and represents the interests of over 40,000 attorneys and 47 local APA bar associations, with practice settings ranging from solo practices to large firms, corporations, legal services organizations, nonprofit organizations, law schools, and governmental agencies.
National Association for Court Management
The National Association for Court Management has over 2,000 members from the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries. NACM is the largest organization of court management professionals in the world with members from all levels and types of courts. NACM provides court management professionals the opportunity to increase their proficiency while working with colleagues to improve the administration of justice.
National Association of Women Judges
The National Association of Women Judges’ mission is to: promote the judicial role of protecting the rights of individuals under the rule of law through strong, committed, diverse judicial leadership, fairness and equality in the courts, and equal access to justice. The NAWJ is the nation’s leading voice for women jurists dedicated to preserving judicial independence, ensuring equal justice and access to the courts for women, minorities and other historically disfavored groups, providing judicial education on cutting-edge issues, and increasing the numbers and advancement of women judges at all levels to more accurately reflect their full participation in a democratic society.
The National Bar Association
The objectives of the NBA "…shall be to advance the science of jurisprudence; improve the administration of justice; preserve the independence of the judiciary and to uphold the honor and integrity of the legal profession; to promote professional and social intercourse among the members of the American and the international bars; to promote legislation that will improve the economic condition of all American citizens, regardless of race, sex or creed in their efforts to secure a free and untrammeled use of the franchise guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States; and to protect the civil and political rights of the citizens and residents of the United States."
National Center for State Courts
The National Center for State Courts is an independent, nonprofit court improvement organization founded at the urging of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Warren E. Burger. NCSC is the organization courts turn to for authoritative knowledge and information, because its efforts are directed by collaborative work with the Conference of Chief Justices, the Conference of State Court Administrators, and other associations of judicial leaders. Consequently, NCSC is able to return expertise to the courts in a variety of forms — from Web resources to hands-on assistance. State assessments pay for the distribution of information from knowledgeable analysts and online sources, available free of charge to state trial and appellate courts and their administrative offices.
National Conference of Metropolitan Courts
NCMC is an independent, nonprofit, education and research organization of chief and presiding judges and court administrators in the nation’s largest state and local trial courts. It is committed to enhancing the effective administration of justice in metropolitan courts through strengthening leadership, modernizing court processes, technology and facilities, streamlining performance, promoting trial court innovations, and advancing judicial independence, the Rule of Law, and public accountability.
National Institute on Money in State Politics
The National Institute on Money in State Politics is the only nonpartisan, nonprofit organization revealing the influence of campaign money on state-level elections and public policy in all 50 states. The NIMSP's comprehensive and verifiable campaign-finance database and relevant issue analyses are available for free through our Web site FollowTheMoney.org. They encourage transparency and promote independent investigation of state-level campaign contributions by journalists, academic researchers, public-interest groups, government agencies, policymakers, students and the public at large.
The NJC offers an average of 90 courses annually with more than 2,000 judges enrolling from all 50 states, U.S. territories and more than 150 countries. Since it opened in 1963, the NJC has awarded more than 84,000 professional judicial education certificates.
National Voting Rights Institute
The National Voting Rights Institute (NVRI) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that seeks to vindicate the constitutional right of all citizens, regardless of economic status, to participate in the electoral process on an equal and meaningful basis. Toward these ends, NVRI seeks to eliminate the wealth barrier to political participation by filing litigation to reduce the role of money in politics, providing constitutional advice and analysis to support passage of reform legislation, and holding public officials accountable for violating existing laws.
North Carolina Center for Voter Education
The North Carolina Center for Voter Education is a nonprofit dedicated to improving the quality and responsiveness of North Carolina's election system. By examining North Carolina's current system of campaign finance and election laws, and by promoting research and public discussion about the electoral process, the Center hopes to raise citizen awareness, make the election process more inclusive, and increase participation in elections.
Since 1975, Citizen Action has practiced door-to-door democracy across Ohio. OCA combines original, newsmaking research and an extraordinary ability to stay in touch with members door-to-door and on the phone. Citizen Action members make the most of whatever time they can spare: signing petitions, writing letters, making phone calls, talking to neighbors, posting yard signs, or speaking out at community meetings. Ohio Citizen Action has devoted most of its resources over the past nine years to running and winning good neighbor campaigns, which use the power of community organizing to convince major industries to prevent pollution at their facilities. These campaigns have won changes far beyond what federal or state regulations would require at AK Steel (Middletown), Sunoco Refinery (Toledo), Brush Wellman (Elmore), Lanxess Plastics (Cincinnati), and many others.
The mission of the League of Women Voters is to encourage the informed and active participation of citizens in government and to influence public policy through education and advocacy.
The League of Women Voters is nonpartisan - it neither supports nor opposes any political party or candidate. In past years, the League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund (LWVOEF) has worked on several projects designed to remove the appearance of political influence on the courts. The LWVOEF’s current focus is on education as a means to facilitate reform.
Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts
Created in 1987, Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts is a statewide nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded to improve and strengthen the justice system in Pennsylvania by reforming the judicial selection process; improving court administration, court financing and the jury system; eliminating bias; and assisting citizens in navigating the courts and the justice system, whether as litigants, jurors, or witnesses.
Protestants for the Common Good
Protestants for the Common Good was formed in 1995 to bring an informed and strong Protestant voice to public life and to offer educational resources and advocacy opportunities to people of faith on matters of public policy. Since that time, the organization has grown significantly in participants, budget, staff, reputation, and influence. Protestants for the Common Good was formed in 1995 to bring an informed and strong Protestant voice to public life and to offer educational resources and advocacy opportunities to people of faith on matters of public policy. Since that time, the organization has grown significantly in participants, budget, staff, reputation, and influence.
Public Campaign is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to dramatically reducing the role of special interest money in America's elections and putting voters in democracy's driver's seat. Since its founding in 1997, Public Campaign has advanced the fight for campaign finance reform by working closely with citizen groups around the country that are fighting for change in their states, by educating policy makers and opinion leaders on the merits of comprehensive reform, and by engaging major institutions and constituency groups in a new kind of reform coalition. By working with these other groups, Public Campaign is building a robust network of state-based efforts and creating a powerful national force for federal reform, with a special focus on freeing candidates from their dependence on private money with full public financing, solution called Clean Money, Clean Elections.
Tallahassee League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization encouraging the informed and active participation of citizens in government. It influences public policy through education and advocacy. TLWV never supports or opposes any political party or candidate.The League of Women Voters has two separate and distinct roles. They present unbiased nonpartisan information about elections, the voting process, and issues, and also advocate for or against particular policies in the public interest.
Texans for Public Justice is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization that focuses on corporate responsibility and money in politics. TPJ was founded in January 1997 to expose the abuses of Texas’ indulgent campaign finance system, which is known as “the Wild West of money in politics.” To accomplish this goal, TPJ has published an unprecedented series of reports that have revealed the sources and destinations of the river of political money that flows with no meaningful campaign contribution limits. TPJ's research has also documented the consequences of the corporate communities' dominance of the state’s political institutions.
Transparency International - USA
Transparency International, the global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption, brings people together in a powerful worldwide coalition to end the devastating impact of corruption on men, women and children around the world. TI’s mission is to create change towards a world free of corruption.
Citizen Action of Wisconsin organizes people to make Wisconsin a better place to live and work. Citizen Action employs an integrated strategy of grassroots organizing, public education, earned media, professional research, voter engagement, and political lobbying to advance progressive values and shape the public and political debate around health care, economic development, and consumer protection. Every year, Citizen Action generates hundreds of media stories, mobilizes thousands of citizens to participate in political advocacy, and engages hundreds of thousands of voters.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is a homegrown network of citizens fighting government corruption and working for fair elections, judicial integrity, media democracy, and open and transparent government. The Democracy Campaign pursues these objectives through research, citizen education, community outreach, coalition building and direct advocacy. WDC was founded in 1995 as a nonprofit, independent coalition of individuals and groups responding to the growing dominance of special interest money in the campaigns of state lawmakers.
