Chris Heagarty Quotations
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Elections Quotes
Our research shows that the number-one reason why qualified voters don't go to the polls on Election Day is not that they don't care, but that folks simply don't know enough about the candidates. The State Judicial Voter Guide goes a long way to empower voters with the facts they need to cast a confident ballot.
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Aside Quotes
There are judges at all levels who may face a situation where there is a potential conflict of interest, either a situation where an attorney presenting a case before them has given a large sum of money or where the judge, as a candidate, has made statements implying favor or bias for one side of a case over the other. Many judges will remove themselves from a case if a conflict is apparent, but there are no official standards. A conflict that one judge might step aside for, another judge might not see as a problem. Rather than a standard set of guidelines for everyone to use it really is, forgive the pun, a judgment call.
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Campaign Quotes
The reason people should care about this ruling is that it has an impact on how we perceive the fairness and impartiality of our courts. Our research study from last year shows that while most voters have a fairly positive opinion about our judges, 86 percent of voters are concerned that large campaign contributions to judges can too often lead to conflicts of interest. Ninety-four percent, an overwhelming number, think that campaign contributions made to elected officials have an influence over their decisions. Fifty-seven percent think these contributions have a great deal of influence.