Gavel Grab

In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts:

•  A Kentucky lawmaker is pushing a proposal to establish a public financing system for the state’s Supreme Court elections, says Roger Alford of the Associated Press. State Representative Jim Wayne believes the law would reduce special interest pressure on justices.
• Iowa’s judicial system faces growing case backlogs as budget cuts have severely reduced the number of employees able to handle the workload, states an article in the Globe Gazette. Without increased funding, Iowa’s courts are suffering from a lack of staff.
• On Friday, federal judge in Montana blocked several campaign finance laws and ruled that corporations are allowed to donate to political action committees, according to an article in the Helena Independent Record. The judge turned down a request to allow direct contributions to candidates from corporations, and upheld some campaign contribution limits.