Response to Benjamin G. Bishin, Thomas J. Hayes, Matthew B. Incantalupo, and Charles Anthony Smith’s Review of Judging Inequality: State Supreme Courts and the Inequality Crisis

When judges run in uncompetitive retention elections or merely face reappointment, we find no statistically significant relationship between public opinion and judges’ decisions to cast a vote in favor of equality. [...]the dream of liberals that judges may save the day is likely a hollow hope. [...]coupled with the broad formal grants of independence that judges have once on the bench, that level of control may be sufficient to align courts with the governing coalition over the long term. [...]as the US Supreme Court seems likely to “return” the “final say” over rights (like abortion) back to state supreme courts, understanding exactly what sort of role judicial elections play for the substantive protection of rights, the promotion of equality or inequality, and the position of state high courts in a democratic, separation-of-powers system is imperative.