www.americanprogress.org/issues/civil-liberties/report/2014/05/07/89068/state-judicial-ethics-rules-fail-to-address-flood-of-campaign-cash-from-lawyers-and-litigants-2/
"The results of this study should alarm anyone who cares about impartial justice. Given the exponential increase in campaign cash in recent decades, justices in state supreme courts across America are hearing more and more cases that involve their campaign contributors. Polls show that this is causing the public to doubt judicial impartiality.
States have failed to heed the American Bar Association’s call for mandatory recusal. If Americans insist on electing their judges, they must also pressure elected judges and legislators to ensure that campaign cash does not sway judges or cause the public to think that it does. Voters must demand that their representatives ensure that litigants who have contributed money to judges cannot buy favorable treatment."