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Full-Text Articles in Law

Toward Meaningful Judicial Elections: A Case For Reform Of Canon 7, Michele Radosevich Jan 1993

Toward Meaningful Judicial Elections: A Case For Reform Of Canon 7, Michele Radosevich

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment argues that elections can give us good judges who are both accountable to the voters and able to decide cases impartially. To accomplish this, we must, in the words of one local media commentator, “take off the muzzle and allow judges to discuss issues.” But before one can propose change, one should understand the present system and the purposes it was designed to serve. Part II of this Comment examines Canon 7 of the Washington Code of Judicial Conduct and the balance it strikes between accountability and impartiality. Part III explores how the Canon has been interpreted in …


An Empirical Examination Of Motions On The Merits, Thomas B. Marvell Jan 1991

An Empirical Examination Of Motions On The Merits, Thomas B. Marvell

Seattle University Law Review

This Article evaluates the Motions on the Merits procedure. Section II outlines the history of commissioners in this country. Section III describes Washington Court of Appeals Division III: its caseload trends, procedures in ordinary appeals, the commissioners' duties, and the MMT history and current procedures. Section IV quantitatively evaluates MMT procedures, exploring their impact on volume of cases decided, delay, backlog, and reversal rates. Section V presents the attorneys' opinions of the MMTs, and Section VI summarizes the results.


Book Review: A Political Scientist Examines The Washington Supreme Court A Century Of Judging By Charles H. Sheldon, Deborah Dowd Jan 1989

Book Review: A Political Scientist Examines The Washington Supreme Court A Century Of Judging By Charles H. Sheldon, Deborah Dowd

Seattle University Law Review

Charles H. Sheldon asks two major questions in his recent book, A Century of Judging. In answering these questions, Sheldon focuses on the Washington Supreme Court. Unfortunately, the information gathered and analyzed is of more interest to political scientists or historians than to practicing lawyers. Lawyers should be knowledgeable about the judges before whom they may argue a case. Yet, the methodology and data utilized in A Century of Judging do not create a cohesive picture of the supreme court justices, either collectively or individually. The book compiles useful information; however, the answers to the two questions posed and …


In The Beginning: The Washington Supreme Court A Century Ago, Charles H. Sheldon, Michael Stohr-Gillmore Jan 1989

In The Beginning: The Washington Supreme Court A Century Ago, Charles H. Sheldon, Michael Stohr-Gillmore

Seattle University Law Review

This Article will discuss (1) the politics that influenced the drafting of the judicial article (article IV) in the constitutional convention; (2) the election of the first five members of the bench and the backgrounds of those inaugural judges; (3) the particular approach toward judicial review adopted by these five jurists (activism-restraint); and (4) the personal relations among these members of the supreme court. This Article will provide a personal perspective of the first five judges and their court.


Communication In The Ninth Circuit: A Concern For Collegiality, Stephen L. Wasby Jan 1987

Communication In The Ninth Circuit: A Concern For Collegiality, Stephen L. Wasby

Seattle University Law Review

After a discussion of the court's basic organization, the general stages of consideration of a case will be briefly described. Then attention will be focused on communication between the judges about cases. Cases before screening panels will be discussed first. Then cases set for argument before three-judge panels will be examined beginning with pre-argument communication, extending through exchanges at argument, the postargument conference, and the post-conference period. This will be followed by discussion of communication leading to the call for an en banc court. Communication among judges chosen for an en banc court will be considered next along with intracircuit …


Judging The Judges: A Case Study In Judicial Responsibility, Maximilian J.B. Welker, Jr. Jan 1981

Judging The Judges: A Case Study In Judicial Responsibility, Maximilian J.B. Welker, Jr.

Seattle University Law Review

Scholarly and professional perceptions of the role of the judiciary, and hence of the responsibility of judges, have undergone radical change since the early 1900's, and judicial opinions have both reflected and been influenced by those perceptions. At the turn of the century, conceptual abstraction and logical consistency held sway. Formalism, however, gave way to Legal Realism in the 1920's and 30's. Of the many important contributions that Realism made to the way we think about law, the most fundamental was its recognition that formal rules do not mechanically govern the resolution of legal disputes. Under this conception, the dominant …