“Justice at Stake is a strong voice standing up for fair and impartial courts against attempts to politicize them or weaken them. I am very proud to be part of Justice at Stake as it fulfills a mission that is so vital to the strength of our democracy.” Sandra Day O’Connor. Retired Supreme Court Justice Justice at Stake Honorary Chair

Search for Executive Director Washington, DC Justice at Stake (JAS), the nation’s leading organization protecting courts from special interest and partisan pressure, is looking for an Executive Director. Reporting to the organization’s 16-member Board of Directors, the new Executive Director will take the helm of Justice at Stake as it embarks on an aggressive new advocacy campaign. Its goal is to launch a new era of state judicial selection reform to keep the Constitution’s promise that our courts will be the one safe place that fairly and impartially protects the rights of everyone. Founded in 2000 and based in Washington, DC, JAS is a 501(c) (3) organization with a budget of $2.4 million and a talented and dedicated staff of twelve. It leads a nonpartisan national movement for fair and impartial courts through advocating for merit-based selection of judges, safeguarding the courts against political attacks and promoting diversity on the bench. A healthy democracy provides everyone with access to fair and impartial courts that protect the rights of all people, enjoy the confidence of the public and reflect the diversity of the country. Fair courts are also vital to a nation’s economy, providing the kind of stable legal environment that allows business to flourish and new jobs to be created. In recent years the cost of judicial campaigns has soared and the boundaries that keep money and political pressure from interfering with the rule of law have become increasingly blurred. Spending on state Supreme Court elections more than doubled in the past decade, exceeding $200 million and the “new normal” breaks more state records every election cycle. The nation’s state courts are sliding toward a crisis that could do irreparable harm to millions of Americans, weaken the rule of law, and undermine American democracy. Ninety percent of Americans believe that campaign cash affects court decisions. Almost half of judges agree. In response to this impending crisis, Justice at Stake is poised to launch the next generation of its advocacy. Its mission statement is: “Justice at Stake leads a nationwide campaign to keep courts fair and impartial. We engage bipartisan state and national allies and drive efforts to promote

Justice at Stake Executive Director Page 2 of 7 merit-based selection of judges, safeguard our courts against political attacks, and promote diversity on the bench.” A year-long strategic planning process resulted in a comprehensive roadmap to success, which acknowledges that winning the merit selection campaign requires an audacious but achievable new approach built on far stronger campaigns than have been waged to date. It will also require far larger and more diverse coalitions and the commitment of millions of dollars. This position calls for an impassioned, indefatigable and bold leader with outstanding political, communications, and fundraising skills, as well as a demonstrated commitment to Justice at Stake’s mission. During the next five years s/he will direct the organization through a doubling of its operating budget and through the execution of its new strategic plan. The organization recently established the Justice at Stake Campaign (JASC), a separate fledgling 501(c) (4) with an independent board, that will partner in this effort. The Executive Director of Justice at Stake will also serve as the Executive Director of the JAS Campaign.

Background JAS was created to build and serve as the anchor group for the fair courts field, assembling and convening formal partners, developing messaging frameworks, and building a growing network of national and state allies. It has provided and will continue to provide a unique space for collaboration and communication for those working on fair courts issues, using its annual summit and other tools. The organization is committed to a bipartisan approach, neither progressive nor conservative, that aligns its efforts with partners best suited to advance merit selection and protect the courts. (Merit selection systems typically utilize a nonpartisan nominating commission to recruit, vet and winnow down applicants for judgeships. They submit a short list of potential candidates to the governor, who appoints one of them, sometimes subject to legislative confirmation. In some states, judges are subject to an up-and-down retention election for subsequent terms.) Experience in both red and blue states has demonstrated that fair courts supporters must find allies on both sides of the aisle to win. Polling has revealed that merit selection with proper accountability is a policy solution with bipartisan appeal among voters. In addition to affirmative victories, the organization is committed to repel efforts to eliminate or cripple existing merit selection systems or to impeach or unseat judges over decisions. Defeats weaken the courts, turn them over to partisan control, embolden foes and impair the organization’s ability to assemble the coalition needed for success. Under the leadership of Bert Brandenburg, who has been its Executive Director for the last 11 years, JAS has made considerable progress in building a fair courts field that has drawn national attention to the corrosive effects of money, special interest politics and nasty attack ads in judicial elections. It has helped a number of states adopt campaign reforms and protected their existing

Justice at Stake Executive Director Page 3 of 7 system from being weakened further. Its messaging has been widely influential in the fair courts world. In addition, the organization has earned substantial state and national media attention for impartial-justice issues, including reporting by the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Time, Economist, Bloomberg News, Politico, PBS, CNN and ABC. In 2015, on his HBO series Last Week Tonight John Oliver did an extensive piece on the problem with judicial elections, the kind of piece that reaches new audiences. Working to protect elected courts from special-interest influence, Justice at Stake participates in the Fair Courts Litigation Task Force and has signed on to six “friend of the court” briefs in U.S. Supreme Court cases. It has been cited in four Supreme Court opinions: Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar (2015), Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2009), FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life (2007), and Republican Party v. White (2002). Its efforts, however, have not been enough to keep up with the escalating millions of dollars poured into judicial elections by those who seek to own and influence the courts. The new advocacy strategy is designed to address this challenge.

Justice at Stake and the Justice at Stake Campaign Today In the 21st century, as millions more are spent each year to influence judicial elections, only a properly designed merit selection system can promote quality in judicial selection, insulate judges from big money political pressure and hold out a credible chance of ensuring that justice is not for sale. Twenty-three states plus the District of Columbia use merit selection to select their high court judges, but progress adopting it elsewhere has stalled. Justice at Stake believes that the time has come to take decisive steps to end the judicial selection stalemate. Its new strategic plan calls for a bold nationwide campaign for fair courts, featuring far more allies, more dynamic state campaigns and more resources than ever before. Its five-year goal is to move at least one state from contested judicial elections to merit selection and to begin work to get merit selection adopted in one or two other states. The following steps will be involved: • • • • •

Identifying a modern merit selection system that is the acknowledged standard for selecting diverse and qualified judges through drawing on work of experts in the field. Attracting and recruiting campaign partners, and engaging national players, state allies, elected officials and diverse communities across the country in shaping the solution. Making diversity a core value to strengthen justice, attract allies, and boost public confidence in the justice system. Building toward a breakthrough moment resulting from stackable victories. Safeguarding courts from political attacks by protecting merit selection systems against those who want to eliminate or cripple them. Exposing and defeating other serious threats to politicize or intimate the courts including impeachment threats, efforts to oust judges over individual decisions or other political reasons or other attempts to intimidate them.

Justice at Stake Executive Director Page 4 of 7 To achieve its goal JAS/JASC will target a small number of states that currently elect judges. It will base its choices on such considerations as the viability of policy reform, an electorate who are supportive or persuadable and a base of supportive, well positioned organizations and individuals. Success will require the organization to undertake a major expansion of both its communications and fundraising activities. JAS/JASC will supply state allies with effective communications strategies, including polling, messaging and media outreach. Simultaneously, JAS/JASC will provide communications leadership to national and state allies, carefully customized to each phase of the campaign. It is estimated that establishing merit selection in a state can cost between $500,000 and $5,000,000. That sum covers the initial phase of coalition building through education, legislation, ballot measure and evaluation. A significant factor in the high cost is that changing to merit selection often involves an amendment to a state’s constitution.

Executive Director, Justice at Stake and Justice at Stake Campaign The new Executive Director of Justice at Stake and Justice at Stake Campaign will be expected to bring energy, drive and creativity to highly respected organizations. Working closely with the Boards and staff, the Executive Director will be expected to execute the organizations’ ambitious five-year strategic plan and take the organizations to their next level of impact and effectiveness while at the same time ensuring that the organization is positioned to be agile and responsive to changing conditions and unexpected challenges. The key opportunities and challenges for the Executive Director are as follows. All of them involve working closely with the Deputy Executive Director and the staff. •

Identify a merit selection “gold standard” through research and consultations with experts in the field. Collaborate closely with potential allies to increase buy-in among key diverse constituencies and work with strategically chosen allies to brand and promote it.

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Build sufficient organizational infrastructure by expanding the staff and configuring the Board to support the fair courts field’s more aggressive agenda and JAS/JASC’s own organizational growth. Since its inception, JAS operated as a lean organization with minimal personal investment in development and operations. This approach is no longer tenable if it is to fulfill its substantial agenda. Particular attention has to be paid to starting up the organization’s new 501 (c) (4).

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Significantly increase both the amount of money Justice at Stake/Justice at Stake Campaign raise for their operation and to secure victories, and increase the diversity of sources from which they derive their income. Lead the organizations’ fundraising through personal efforts, through Board engagement, and through hiring and retaining a strong and well supported development team. Increase donations from foundations, advocates, law firms and individual donors. This will involve significant travel throughout the country.

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A national campaign to advance merit selection and safe guard courts will require resources far beyond those that support JAS and the fair courts field today. With a price estimated in the millions of dollars, a sophisticated strategy that brings new partners to the fair courts stage will be needed to support each state campaign. Initial focus will be on such groups as the private bar, advocates for the environment, civil rights, reproductive rights, LGBT rights, the business community and others for whom fair courts have been crucial to their advocacy efforts. •

Target states where proactive and reactive fair courts campaigns are likely to be most effective and develop strategies for victories in those states.

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Develop a new narrative around fair courts and impartial judicial selection that will emphasize diversity, access to justice and the importance of courts in the everyday lives of people. Strengthen the early alert system and develop a rapid response protocol to enable the organization and its allies to preempt potential attacks and support all efforts to respond efficiently and effectively. Employ a multi-pronged strategic communications and research effort in support of its nationwide campaign. Emphasize to opinion leaders and politically influential people the importance of fair courts to all, the existence and depth of the threat to the courts, the importance of judicial selection reform, the advantages of merit selection and the folly of attacking the courts.

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Build a substantial and diverse network of engaged partners. These will include advocacy groups, elected officials and opinion leaders who can expand the active fair courts constituency needed to carry fair courts issues though the multiple phases of state campaigns, including diverse coalition building, public education, legislative effort and ballot fights.

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Work constantly to improve the effectiveness of the organizations’ approach. Aggressively borrow appropriate strategies from successful campaigns in other sectors and regularly and critically assess efforts to win merit selection and safeguard the courts.

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Serve as a dynamic spokesperson for Justice at Stake and the Justice at Stake Campaign, their mission, vision and goals.

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Serve as a unifying and decisive staff leader. Attract, lead, and retain the strongest possible staff and hold them to clearly defined high standards of excellence and accountability. Sustain a supportive, collaborative, and equitable working environment that encourages creativity at all levels. Ensure open channels of communication, aligned work across departments, and transparency of decision-making.

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Qualifications and Experience For this pivotal role, Justice at Stake and Justice at Stake Campaign seek a creative leader and spokesperson who is deeply and demonstrably committed to the mission of building a fair courts movement. The Board welcomes a leader who is prepared to be bold and aggressive, take well thought out risks, and make difficult decisions when necessary. While no one candidate will embody every quality, the successful candidate will bring many of the following professional qualifications and personal attributes: •

Informed and deep commitment to the mission of Justice at Stake and an urgency about addressing the issues in the fair courts campaign.

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Public presence, media savvy and outstanding written and oral communication skills. A style of communicating ideas that is accessible and sophisticated.

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Fundraising ability and enthusiasm. Demonstrated experience raising significant funds from a variety of sources and a willingness to be actively lead development efforts; political fundraising experience desired.

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A track record of senior leadership in a sizable organization, preferably an advocacy organization or political campaign. Experience managing institutional growth and change. Skills in team building and inclusive staff leadership. Discipline and focus in setting realistic priorities, meeting or beating goals, and running a fiscally sound operation.

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Excellent intellectual and strategic abilities and the capacity to translate big ideas and ideals into hard strategies and action and to contribute to public discourse. Keen grasp of the major issues facing the American judicial system and political process. Familiarity with state-wide campaigns and an understanding of the political dynamics of dealing with state legislatures and state organizations.

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A network of contacts with funders, organizations, and activists working at all levels from grassroots to national. Demonstrated experience building effective partnerships. A reputation as a good strategic collaborator with excellent listening skills and the ability to see potential for alliances.

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Experience working across lines of gender, sexual orientation, race, class and culture.

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A calm resilience that reacts to temporary setbacks with tenacity and an ability to look at political situations with a realistic eye.

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Experience with new media, social networking, and information and communications technologies would be a distinct asset.

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Entrepreneurial spirit and drive. An ability to seize opportunities as they present themselves, pursue challenging long-term goals, and adapt when setbacks occur.

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An outgoing, open personality. Outstanding interpersonal skills. A sense of humor and ability to enjoy oneself and one’s colleagues.

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Eagerness to travel extensively throughout the country to fulfill responsibilities of fundraising and organizing.

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A law degree would be an asset but is not required.

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A background of working with a nonprofit board.

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Willingness to be part of a roll-up-your-sleeves and get-it-done culture of small nonprofit organizations.

For More Information or To Apply: The Board has retained the services of Mary E. King Executive Search to assist in the recruitment of the new Executive Director. All inquiries, nominations and applications may be directed in confidence to: [email protected]. Additional information can be found at http://www.justiceatstake.org Justice at Stake is an equal opportunity employer. Persons of color, women, persons with disabilities, and LGBT persons are strongly encouraged to apply.