O'Connor said the threat to judicial independence is from corporations, attorneys and other interest groups that donate to campaigns with the hope of obtaining favorable rulings from the judge after the election. "The result has been an arms race in funding, making it so a campaign for state judge is often as expensive, or more so, than a campaign for a U.S. Senate seat" O'Connor said. The conference started with a nearly two-hour discussion centered on the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision in Caperton v. Massey Coal, which held that elected judges must step aside when large campaign contributions by interested parties create appearance of bias. Full Article at The Seattle Times