Attack ads in judicial elections routinely distort candidates’ actual records

Evidence

The television visual in one Gableman commercial was striking: an image of Butler, the only African American on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, next to that of an African American man convicted of rape. So was the message: “Louis Butler worked to put criminals on the street. Like Reuben Mitchell, who raped an 11-year-old girl with learning disabilities. Butler found a loophole. Mitchell went on to rape another child.” Yet the ad distorted the facts. Butler did not deal with Mitchell’s case as a judge but as a public defender, when he represented Mitchell in the first rape case. Butler did convince an appellate court that the fact that the victim was a virgin should not have been admitted in evidence at trial. But this ruling was overturned by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, so Butler did not secure his client’s release, and Mitchell served his sentence in prison. It was 3 years after his release from prison that Mitchell committed the second rape, for which he was convicted and imprisoned. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 590

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Impending elections make trial judges sentence criminal defendants more harshly — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 431; Attack ads in judicial elections can be deliberately misleading on material facts — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 425; Low-information voters fall back on party, name recognition, endorsements, or incumbency in judicial races — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 575 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Low-information voters fall back on party, name recognition, endorsements, or incumbency in judicial races #qualifies (0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 575
• Retention defeats require organized opposition campaigns against judges #expands (0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 609
• Personal attacks on candidates are legally irrelevant to ballot measures #complicates (0.75) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 1054
• Advertising’s suspicion-inducing logic extends to political propaganda #expands (0.72)
• Propaganda campaigns backfire by insulting audiences assumed ignorant #contradicts (0.70)
• Smear campaigns work by pressuring elected officials into caving #exemplifies (0.70)