Tag: capital punishment

Media bias and collateral damage to the courts

One of the primary themes of court system interdependence is resource dependence — the idea that courts rely on outsiders to provide some of the key resources they need to operate. Those resources include not only quantifiable goods like money, judges, and courthouses, but also “soft” resources like fair, accurate, and unbiased reporting about the courts and their activities. When the media fails to provide this core resource, public trust in the courts can suffer.

Two recent examples demonstrate the problem.

Continue reading “Media bias and collateral damage to the courts”

McDonald nomination passes Connecticut House

The controversial nomination of Andrew McDonald to the Chief Justice of Connecticut barely passed the state House of Representatives on Monday, by a 75-74 voted. Several Democrats joined Republican opposition to make the vote extremely close.

McDonald had previously received an “unfavorable” report when his nomination led to a 20-20 committee vote. In the leadup to the House debate, outside groups accused Republicans of opposing McDonald because of his sexual orientation. Republicans again fiercely denied that charge in the House. And indeed, most of the debate centered on McDonald’s decision to join a slim 4-3 court majority which struck down the Connecticut death penalty. That decision spared the lives of two men on death row who had been convicted of killing the wife and daughters of state Rep. William Petit. Petit firmly fought against McDonald’s nomination.

The nomination now moves to the state senate, where Republicans hold a slim effective majority.