April 8, 2003 - The Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC) released this study which looked at the contingency fee policies of all the state’s 58 counties related to cases where the Plaintiffs are minors.

Final Report of Campaign Contributions to the California Judiciary 1997-2000 

In April 1998 the Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC) published A Study of Campaign Contributions to the California Judiciary, its first comprehensive examination of contributions to candidates for California's judiciary. The study documented the source of campaign contributions to candidates running for various Superior Court seats. The original study examined four California counties (Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco) during the period of 1993 to 1996. This update to the original study examines the same four counties during the period 1997 to 2000.

Preliminary Study of Campaign Contributions to the California Judiciary: 1998-2000 

An Analysis of Punitive Damages in California Courts: 1991-2000 

A Study of Campaign Contributions to the California Judiciary: 1994-1996

April 1998 - The California judiciary is believed to be the largest in the free world. While the California Constitution provides for elections to the municipal and superior courts, most judges initially take office via gubernatorial appointment to vacant or newly created positions. There is not a similar provision for elections of appellate or Supreme Court justices, however, these justices stand for retention elections.

New State Data Confirms Runaway Abuse of Punitive Damages (436k PDF) 

The debate over punitive damages continues. In both appellate and legislative venues, state and federal, the question continues to be asked: Have punitive or exemplary damages become foremost a money-producing tool for plaintiffs lawyers and secondarily a special device for punishing defendants whose tortuous acts were so far in excess of ordinary negligence that a dollar sanction beyond compensation for the harm caused is in the public interest?

Originally Published in The Legal Backgrounder, a publication of the Washington Legal Foundation, February 7, 1997.