. >> reporter: this is former justice michael streit, onof those removed from the bench after serving 27 years, 9 years on the state's highest court. >> we did what we had to do, not what we wanted to do. and that's the essence of good judging. good judging, a fair and impartial court are courts that are allowed to rule as they must, not how they want to rule, and that's what we did here. >> judges have one job and one job only. they take an oath to uphold the constitution. >> reporter: rachel caufield is a professor of political science at drake university and a research fellow at the american judicature society. she thinks it's the family leader and other conservative groups around the country, that are inserting money and politics into the judicial system. >> i think we have a movement afoot to politicize our courts and in politicizing our courts i think basically that undermines the quality of justice in america. there's definitely a trend nationwide. we've seen a huge increase in campaign spending among judicial candidates, many of whom are supported by similar interest groups. >