US National Association of Women Judges Creates "Informed Voters. Fair Judges" Project

I'd like to let each of you know about a project that is occurring this year in the United States. It is sponsored by the National Association of Women Judges. It is entitled "Informed Voters. Fair Judges".

It was created to increase citizen's understanding of the judicial system. Even though it only applies directly to the United States, I thought all of you might be interested in what it has to say, regardless of the country in which you live.

The project's web page states:

"The National Association of Women Judges 'Informed Voters. Fair Judges' project is a nonpartisan voter education project developed to increase the knowledge of our citizens regarding the judicial system because lack of knowledge threatens fair and impartial courts, which are the cornerstone of American democracy."

You can access the project's web page by going to: http://www.nawj.org/informedvotersfairjudges.asp.

The basic goals of the project are to:

• provide educational materials to voters about the role of judges and courts in our American tripartite system of government; to discuss the importance of the state courts to voters' communities, safety, families and jobs; 

• explain to voters how a state's judicial selection and election systems work; 

• inform voters that the qualities that make a good judge are fairness, impartiality, and a willingness to decide cases based on the evidence presented and the law — not on political or special interest agendas or out of fear of unpopularity; 

• help explain to voters that their votes will decide whether their state elects or retains judges who reflect these qualities so that justice will be for all, not a select few; and 

• apprise voters that they can fulfill their obligation to keep the courts fair by learning about a judge's qualifications and performance record to exercise an informed vote at the ballot box.

An informative 4 minute video discussing this topic, featuring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (Ret), can be found at: http://vimeo.com/84244168.

If you're interested in seeing what people have to say about the project go to: http://ivp.nawj.org/join-the-conversation.

The project organizers really want people to go to their Facebook page and click on "Like" and get their friends to do so also. If you feel comfortable doing this, you have access to it through this link: https://www.facebook.com/informedvotersproject.

Thanks for your interest and help!