News

November 9, 2022

State Supreme Court Races Face Mixed Results

Voters are awakening to how vital our state courts are to preserving the rights and protections we hold so dear. With unprecedented turnout during a midterm election, voters in states like Michigan, Illinois, and Kansas turned out to elect or retain judges who have demonstrated their commitment to the rule of law and equal justice.

November 4, 2022

Anti-Abortion Incumbent Justice on Michigan Supreme Court Once Paid For Abortion

It was reported this week that Michigan Supreme Court Justice Brian Zahra paid for the abortion of his ex-wife Alyssa Jones while they were dating in 1983. Jones came forward to share this news as Zahra seeks reelection to the Court given his opposition to Proposal 3, a ballot initiative to guarantee abortion access under Michigan law. Zahra was one of two justices who dissented in a challenge to Proposal 3, arguing it should not be placed on the ballot merely because of word-spacing typos.

November 3, 2022 Newsweek

State Supreme Courts Are the New Battleground for Abortion Rights | Opinion

In early August, Kansas voters resoundingly rejected a constitutional amendment that would have declared there was no state-based right to an abortion. One would think that a vote as decisive as this 59 percent–41 percent result would have been the end of the discussion. But opponents of abortion in Kansas and other states have another target this election season: their state supreme court.

October 14, 2022 Governing

State Supreme Court Races: Big Issues, Big Money

Democrats and progressives are beginning to catch up with Republicans’ spending. In 2018, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to the North Carolina Democratic Party, which then spent heavily to back a high-court candidate. The progressive judicial advocacy group Alliance for Justice's Action Campaign backed a candidate in Wisconsin’s pandemic-plagued high-court election in 2020.

September 30, 2022 Associated Press

Abortion ruling intensifies fight over state supreme courts

One group is Alliance for Justice Action Campaign, which supports abortion access. It plans to reach voters in Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio. “We were already planning to be involved in these states, but Dobbs has heightened our interest and heightened our sense of purpose and sense of mission on it,” said Jake Faleschini, the group’s legal director for state courts, referring to the U.S. Supreme Court decision.

September 1, 2022 Bloomberg Law Podcast

Vaccine Suit, State Judicial Races, Trans Protections

Jake Faleschini, Legal Director for State Courts at Alliance for Justice Action Fund, joins to talk about state supreme court judicial races and which courts could flip from Republican to Democrat control or vice versa.

August 25, 2022 Bloomberg Law

Abortion Ruling Drives Competition to Control State High Courts

“There are so many important issues that flow through states,” said Jake Faleschini, legal director for state courts and interim program director for justice at Alliance for Justice Action Campaign, a liberal group that’s been tracking those races. “95% of all cases filed in the United States every year are filed in state courts.”

August 25, 2022 Daily Kos

Republicans look to state Supreme Courts to maintain control of redistricting. We have to stop them

Here’s a fact to drive that home: “95% of all cases filed in the United States every year are filed in state courts,” the Alliance for Justice Action Fund’s Jake Faleschini told Bloomberg Law. Most of those aren’t going to make it to the state Supreme Court, but the ones that affect the most people will.

August 22, 2022

AFJ Action Congratulates Progressive Nominees to Michigan Supreme Court

This weekend, the Michigan Democratic Party nominated two Michigan Supreme Court candidates, Justice Richard Bernstein (for reelection) and Representative Kyra Harris Bolden, in the November election. The Michigan Supreme Court has played an essential role in protecting the democratic process, access to clean water, workers’ rights, civil rights, and more — and these nominees will ensure that work toward equal justice will continue.

August 18, 2022 CBS News

Abortion battle sparks influx of interest — and money — in state Supreme Court races

"If voters care about abortion access, the Ohio and Michigan Supreme Court races in November are some of the most important races for them to be thinking about," said Jake Faleschini, legal director for state courts at the Alliance for Justice Action Campaign, a liberal group focused on the courts.

August 15, 2022 New York Times

In Wisconsin, 2 Huge Races Stand Between G.O.P. and Near-Total Power

“The State Supreme Court race in Wisconsin next year is crucial to maintaining a free and fair election system in Wisconsin, and also imperative for maintaining a representative democracy in our national elections,” said Jake Faleschini, the legal director for state courts at the Alliance for Justice Action Campaign, a liberal organization that focuses on state court elections.

June 13, 2022 Politico

State supreme courts: Bottom of the ballot but top concern if Roe falls

“If this actually gets the left to pay more attention and engage and invest in these races in the way that the right has for the past three decades, then it should benefit progressive candidates more than conservative candidates,” said Jake Faleschini, senior state courts counsel at the Alliance for Justice Action Campaign. “It’s great that more folks are starting to pay attention to these crucial races. I worry that it’s a little ‘too little, too late,’ but hope for all our sakes that we can sprint to catch up.”