#sundaycivics

How do those adorned in Black robes make it to the bench? Some judges are appointed but some also appear on our ballots. In another installment of our Who We Elect series we discuss the elections of judges, who funds their campaigns, lack of diversity in state supreme courts and how we should evaluate judicial candidates. Our Guest Alicia Bannon is the managing director of the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program. She leads the Center’s Fair Courts Project, where she directs research, advocacy, and litigation to promote a fair judicial system. Bannon has authored several nationally recognized reports and articles on judicial selection, access to justice, judicial diversity, and government dysfunction, and her writing has been featured in the New York Times, Atlantic, and Time, among other outlets. Bannon was previously an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law, where she taught the Brennan Center Public Policy Advocacy Clinic, and at Seton Hall Law School, where she taught a course in professional responsibi