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Open Chambers Revisited: Demystifying The Inner Workings And Culture Of The Georgia Court Of Appeals, Stephen Louis A. Dillard

Mercer Law Review

I was sitting in my cluttered but comfortable office, preparing for what would ultimately be my last hearing as a lawyer, when the phone rang. On the other end of the line was Governor Sonny Perdue's executive assistant: "Mr. Dillard, do you have time to speak with the governor?" I did, of course. And less than two weeks after that brief but life-changing conversation with Governor Perdue, I was one of Georgia's two newlyappointed appellate judges (and the seventy-third judge to serve on the court of appeals since 1906).

Over six years have passed now, and during that time a …

The Odd Couple: How Justices Kennedy And Scalia, Together, Advanced Gay Rights In Romer V. Evans, Tobin A. Sparling

Mercer Law Review

Amidst the excitement surrounding the flurry of decisions supporting gay marriage' which culminates in the United States Supreme Court's affirmation of same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges, Romer v. Evans, the Supreme Court's first step on the road to marriage equality, has not received the recognition it deserves. Yet, as its twentieth anniversary nears, Romer warrants a reexamination and greater recognition of its place in the advancement of gay rights. Decided in 1996, Romer held that Amendment to the Colorado constitution violated the Equal Protection Clause because the amendment discouraged the enactment of laws banning discrimination based on …