The American Bar Association has bestowed one of its most prestigious awards, the Silver Gavel Award, on www.votingforjudges.org, the Web site created last summer in a joint effort led by the King County Bar Association to improve voter access to information regarding appellate judicial races. The ABA president will present the award at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on July 24.
KCBA President John Ruhl said the Web site was a crucial source of information for voters during the most acrimonious and controversial judicial election campaign in the state’s history. Washington led the nation in independent expenditures for or against its Supreme Court candidates in 2006, with nearly $2.7 million being pumped in, principally by three outside groups. Moreover, outside groups purchased 100% of the television advertising in those campaigns, according to a May 2007 report released by Justice at Stake, a national nonpartisan group that seeks impartial, independent courts.1
“Without votingforjudges.org, there would have been even more heat and much less light in last year’s judicial races,” Ruhl said. “The Web site listed facts about the candidates’ backgrounds, and endorsements and evaluations from many organizations, including bar associations, newspapers, and special interest groups of all persuasions. Perhaps most importantly, it showed who was behind all of the high-priced advertising being run for and against the candidates, so voters could actually see the interest groups that were involved and evaluate their agendas.”
The American Bar Association presents its Silver Gavel Awards to recognize products in media and the arts published or presented during the preceding year that are exemplary in fostering the American public’s understanding of law and the legal system. The Silver Gavel Award is the ABA’s highest honor in recognition of this purpose and no more than one Silver Gavel is presented annually in any category.
This year the ABA is presenting only six Silver Gavel Awards among more than 220 entries received in all eligible categories. The five other winners for 2007 and their categories are: The Boston Globe (Newspapers); Simon & Schuster (Books); National Public Radio (Radio); “5280: Denver’s City Magazine” (Magazines); and Court TV and Think Film (Television News/Documentaries).
Ruhl said the Web site would not have been possible without the outstanding efforts of the site’s designer Paul Fjelstad, who for his efforts will receive the KCBA’s President’s Award for 2007 (please see Page 20 for more information). Ruhl also credited several others for their efforts in developing and promoting the Web site, including Charlie Wiggins, president of the American Judicature Society, Washington Chapter; Doug Lawrence, a member of the WSBA Board of Governors; Jane Morrow, WSTLA’s vice president for judicial relations; Jeff Frank, WDTLA past president; Mary Wechsler, president of the Washington Judicial Selection Coalition; and State Rep. Shay Schual-Berke.
The KCBA was the original sponsor and the principal financial contributor to www.votingforjudges.org, donating the initial $7,000 to launch the project, plus an additional $3,000 after the project was under way. The Association also recruited 19 other organizational sponsors whose contributions were instrumental in making the Web site a success: American Judicature Society; Association of Corporate Counsel, Washington Chapter; Association of Washington Business; Kitsap County Bar Association; League of Women Voters of Washington; Liability Reform Coalition; Loren Miller Bar Association; Municipal League of King County; Northwest Indian Bar Association; Seattle University School of Law; Spokane County Bar Association; Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association; University of Washington School of Law; Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys; Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Association; Washington State Bar Association; Washington State Trial Lawyers Association; Washington State University, Spokane; and Washington Women Lawyers.
1http://www.komotv.com/news/local/7546957.html (May 16, 2007); see also “New Politics of Judicial Elections 2006,” pp. 12-13, Justice at Stake Campaign, http://www.justiceatstake.org/files/wPoliticsofJudicialElections2006.pdf; and http://faircourts.org/entViewer.asp?breadcrumb=7,55,978.
