Francis J. Conte, dean of the University of Dayton School of Law, and judiciary expert Michael E. Solimine, a law professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, also supported the Standards. Judges are supposed to be absolutely impartial. They therefore must have higher campaign standards than political candidates. The Standards give the public the tools to determine for themselves whether candidates are compromising their integrity and impartiality through their campaign behavior. Without that confidence, a cornerstone of democracy is lost.
Most judicial candidates campaign with integrity.
The Standards make sure that they are not put at a disadvantage by those who are tempted otherwise. The Standards are being distributed to all judicial candidates, and sponsoring organizations will launch efforts to make the public and the media aware of them. The Standards were developed by the Constitution Project's courts initiative . The Constitution Project seeks to develop bipartisan solutions to contemporary constitutional and governance issues through high-level scholarship and public education.