John D. Feerick, Chair
140 West 62nd Street
New York, NY 10023

In April 2003, New York State Chief Judge Judith Kaye appointed the Commission to Promote Public Confidence in Judicial Elections. The Commission is comprised of 29 Commissioners from around New York State. Professor John Feerick, the former Dean of Fordham Law School, serves as the Chair. The Chief Judge charged the Commission with promoting confidence in judicial elections in New York and asked it to provide a blueprint for preserving the dignity of judicial elections and promoting meaningful voter participation.

The Commission met for the first time on April 25, 2003 at Fordham Law School. The meeting was to establish the Commission's organization and to discuss how to proceed with the mandate. At the meeting, the Commissioners agreed that the Commission would form three subcommittees to deal with the following broad subject areas: Candidate Selection; Campaign Finance and Voter Education; and Campaign Oversight. The Commission will conduct public hearings on these issues in September, and it intends to produce an interim report in 2003 and a final report and recommendations in the spring of 2004.

This website is under construction.

WEBSITE FEATURES

Appendix A - Interim Recommendations  |  Appendix B - Public Hearings  |  Appendix C - Marist Poll
Appendix D - Focus Groups  |  Appendix E - Judicial Survey  |  Appendix F - Modern Courts Memo
Appendix G
1. Judicial Selection Working Paper  |  2. Issues & Statistics Working Paper  |  3. Expenditures Working Paper
4. Judicial Elections 1996-2003  |  5. Sources of Public Funding Working Paper  |  6. Public Funding Among the States Working Paper
7. Retention Elections Working Paper  |  8. Voter Education Working Paper  |  9. Campaign Practice Committees  |  10. Disclosure Working Paper