Law Commons^™

The Roberts Court And Freedom Of Speech, Erwin Chemerinsky

Federal Communications Law Journal

This is an edited version of a speech delivered on December 16, 2010 in Washington, D.C., as part of the Federal Communications Bar Association's Distinguished Speaker Series.

This speech was given by Dean Erwin Chemerinsky in December 2010 as part of the FCBA's Distinguished Speaker Series. In the speech, Dean Chemerinsky offers his perspectives on and analysis of the Supreme Court's position on freedom of speech in recent years. He highlights important recent freedom of speech decisions made by the Roberts Court, and gives some projections as to where the court is heading in the years to come, given its …

Toward A Limited Right Of Access To Jury Deliberations, Torrence Lewis

Federal Communications Law Journal

Jury deliberations receive extensive protection from public examination. These protections make jury deliberations much less accessible to the public than most other governmental deliberations. This Comment examines the constitutional, common law, and statutory protections for jury deliberations and the dangers that these protections seek to prevent. The Author argues that a limited post-verdict right of access to jury deliberations could restore public faith in the jury and could eventually improve the quality of jury deliberations. The Author suggests a possible framework that would provide the public with a limited right of access and still address the primary concerns that led …

The Digital Divide And Courtroom Technology: Can David Keep Up With Goliath?, Michael E. Heintz

Federal Communications Law Journal

The federal judiciary recently embraced the technological revolution. Select courts are now equipped with state-of-the-art technology to aid in trial presentations. Before the judiciary made the improvements, litigants had to keep pace with the technological advancements themselves, often at a great cost. One might think that the recent technological improvements made to federal courtrooms would have widened the gap between large and small firms where the available resources are vastly different, but that is not the case. In fact, the installation of new technology into courtrooms serves to equalize what would otherwise be a "digital divide."

Part II of this …

Balancing The Scales: The 1996 Telecommunications Act And Eleventh Amendment Immunity, Cynthia L. Bauerly

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 explicitly created a role for federal courts in the interconnection process. However, parties' ability to seek federal review of interconnection agreements is no longer as straightforward as the language of the Act implies. The Supreme Court's unnecessarily novel and narrow reading of Eleventh Amendment immunity in Seminole Tribe v. Florida renders unenforceable the federal review provisions of the Act against state regulatory commissions. While some interconnection agreements may find their way into federal court, for example, where a party seeking to interconnect sues an incumbent provider instead of the state commission, enforcement of a federal …