Law Commons^™

Evaluating The Judges In Baton Rouge, Susan E. Howell

Survey Research Center Publications

The Baton Rouge Bar Association seeks to provide the public, lawyers, and the judges with some sort of evaluation of the judges in the Baton Rouge area. Since it is difficult for the public to obtain information on judges, the Bar Association relied on its own members and the members of the Louis Martinet Society to evaluate all judges, including city, state, and federal courts. Hopefully, the results will be useful to the public, the lawyers, and especially to the judges. Most judges can take satisfaction in the high regard with which they are held by the hundreds of lawyers …

Now You See It, Now You Don't: Depublication And Nonpublication Of Opinions Raise Motive Questions, Bennett L. Gershman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The basis for these comments is a decision last year by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Anastasoff v. United States. The court held that an Eighth Circuit local rule, which authorized nonpublication of opinions and explicitly stated that unpublished opinions were to have no precedential effect, was unconstitutional. The panel, in an opinion by Judge Richard S. Arnold, reasoned that a court rule purporting to confer upon appellate judges an absolute power to decide which decisions would be binding and which would not be binding went well beyond the “judicial power” within the meaning of Article III of …

Section 2: Direction Of The Rehnquist Court, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Judicial Nomination And Confirmation Process: Hearing Before The S. Comm. On The Judiciary, 107th Cong., Sept. 4, 2001 (Statement Of Mark V. Tushnet, Prof. Of Law, Geo. U. L. Center), Mark V. Tushnet

Testimony Before Congress

No abstract provided.

Picking Federal Judges: A Note On Policy And Partisan Selection Agendas, Micheal W. Giles, Virginia A. Hettinger, Todd C. Peppers

Scholarly Articles

The importance of lower federal courts in the policymaking process has stimulated extensive research programs focused on the process of selecting the judges of these courts and the factors influencing their decisions. The present study employs judicial decisionmaking in the U.S. Courts of Appeals as a window through which to reexamine the politics of selection to the lower courts. It differs from previous studies of selection in three ways. First, it takes advantage of recent innovations in measurement to go beyond reliance on political party as a measure of the preferences of actors in the selection process. Second, employing these …

Book Review: The Business Of Judging, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

Lord Bingham of Cornhill is no stranger to the business of judging. Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, former Lord Chief Justice of England, former Master of the Rolls, he has been sitting on the bench in one capacity or another for the last twenty years - twenty-five if one counts his tenure as a recorder. Although he began his career at the bar in 1959 as a commercial and civil lawyer, his appointment in 1996 as Lord Chief Justice placed him at the apex of the criminal justice system. In becoming senior Law Lord, Lord Bingham has expanded his …

Inside The Judicial Mind, Chris Guthrie, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski, Andrew J. Wistrich

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The quality of the judicial system depends upon the quality of decisions that judges make. Even the most talented and dedicated judges surely commit occasional mistakes, but the public understandably expects judges to avoid systematic errors. This expectation, however, might be unrealistic. Psychologists who study human judgment and choice have learned that people frequently fall prey to cognitive illusions that produce systematic errors in judgment. Even though judges are experienced, well-trained, and highly motivated decision makers, they might be vulnerable to cognitive illusions. We report the results of an empirical study designed to determine whether five common cognitive illusions (anchoring, …

Judge Baxter's Appeal, Melissa Stein

Articles About GGU Law

No abstract provided.

The Judiciary In The United States: A Search For Fairness, Independence And Competence, Stephen J. Shapiro

All Faculty Scholarship

Alexander Hamilton referred to the judiciary as “the least dangerous branch” because it could neither make nor enforce the law without help from the other two branches of government. In the years since then, however, courts and judges in the United States have assumed a much more prominent role in society. American judges preside over criminal trials and sentence those convicted, decide all kinds of civil disputes, both large and small, and make important decisions involving families, such as child custody. They have also become the primary guarantors of the civil and constitutional rights of American citizens.

The case of …

Justice Under Siege: The Rule Of Law And Judicial Subservience In Kenya, Makau Wa Mutua

Journal Articles

The piece examines the tortured history of the judiciary in Kenya and concludes that various governments have deliberately robbed judges of judicial independence. As such, the judiciary has become part and parcel of the culture of impunity and corruption. This was particularly under the one party state, although nothing really changed with the introduction of a more open political system. The article argues that judicial subservience is one of the major reasons that state despotism continues to go unchallenged. It concludes by underlining the critical role that the judiciary has to play in a democratic polity.

Making Progress The Old-Fashioned Way, Stephen B. Burbank

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Remarks Delivered By Videotape For Ceremonies Celebrating Howard Munson's 25th Year As A Federal Judge, Roger J. Miner '56

Tributes & Testimonials

No abstract provided.

Book #23, Roger J. Miner '56

Scrapbooks

No abstract provided.

Sandra Day O'Connor: A Justice Who Has Made A Difference In Constitutional Law, Charles D. Kelso, R. Randall Kelso

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

A Paradigm For Equality: The Honorable Damon J. Keith, Blanche Bong Cook

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Are Some Words Better Left Unpublished?: Precedent And The Role Of Unpublished Decisions, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The practice of unpublished decisions and their precedential value causes much controversy. The practice of unpublished opinions creates a solution for how to deal effectively with heavy caseloads. Electronic databases make unpublished decisions readily available, which removes any secrecy that critics fear. Unpublished opinions are treated in one of three ways by the courts. In addition, three pragmatic issues are created by allowing opinions to go unpublished: 1) the availability of these decisions, 2) the quality of the reasoning in unpublished decisions, and 3) the treatment of unpublished opinions as precedent.

A Judge For All Seasons, R. Kent Newmyer

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Polemic Against Junk Science: Navigating The Oceans That Divide Science And Law With Justice Breyer At The Helm, Joelle A. Moreno

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Pause At The Rubicon, John Marshall And Emancipation: Reparations In The Early National Period?, Frances Howell Rudko

Faculty Publications

Marshall thought that the solution to emancipation and the end to slavery were to be nationally funded. He considered slavery a national problem, not a state problem, as most of his fellow Virginians insisted. In this he differed from most southerners who argued that slave matters were state matters and that the nation could involve itself in the institution of slavery only by strictly adhering to the role assigned to it by the Constitution under the three fifths clause and the fugitive slave clause.

Remembering Judge Hugh R. Jones, Douglas E. Abrams, Mary Lou Crowley

Faculty Publications

Remembering Judge Huge R. Jones

Judicial Comments On Pending Cases: The Ethical Restrictions And The Sanctions – A Case Study Of The Microsoft Litigation, Ronald D. Rotunda

Law Faculty Articles and Research

No abstract provided.

The Ideology Of Judging And The First Amendment In Judicial Election Campaigns, W. Bradley Wendel

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Government Of Laws And Also Of Men: Judge William K. Thomas, R. Lawrence Dessem

Faculty Publications

Judge William K. Thomas served for more than forty years as a common pleas judge and as a judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. During his service on the state and federal bench, Judge Thomas epitomized the qualities of fairness, integrity, justice, and compassion that we expect in our judiciary. This article highlights some of the qualities that made Judge Thomas a truly great judge, as well as some of the highlights of his judicial career. It is written as a memorial tribute by one of his former law clerks.

The Ermine And Woolsack: Disciplinary Proceedings Involving Judges, Attorney-Magistrates, And Other Judicial Figures, David R. Cleveland, Jason Masimore

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Inside The Judicial Mind, Chris Guthrie, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski, Andrew J. Wistrich

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The quality of the judicial system depends upon the quality of decisions that judges make. Even the most talented and dedicated judges surely make occasional mistakes, but the public understandably expects judges to avoid systematic errors. This expectation, however, might be unrealistic. Psychologists who study human judgment and choice have learned that people frequently fall prey to cognitive illusions that produce systematic errors in judgment. Even though judges are experienced, well-trained, and highly motivated decision makers, they might be vulnerable to cognitive illusions. We report the results of an empirical study designed to determine whether five common cognitive illusions (anchoring, …

The William S. Boyd School Of Law Juvenile Justice Clinic, Mary E. Berkheiser

Scholarly Works

This article reviews the work of the Juvenile Justice Clinic at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

The Impact Of Science On Legal Decisions: What Can Social Science Tell The Courts And Lawyers?, Theresa M. Beiner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Publicly Financed Judicial Elections: An Overview, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Why Courts Review Arbitral Awards, William W. Park

Faculty Scholarship

Judicial review of arbitral awards constitutes a form of risk management. In most countries courts may vacate decisions of perverse arbitrators who have ignored basic procedural fairness, as well as those of alleged arbitrators who have attempted to resolve matters never properly submitted to their jurisdiction. In some countries judges may also correct legal error or monitor an award's consistency with public policy.

Public scrutiny of arbitration is inevitable at the time of award recognition. Judges can hardly ignore the basic fairness of an arbitral proceeding when asked to give an award res judicata effect by seizing assets or staying …

A Pragmatic Justification Of The Judicial Hunch, Mark C. Modak-Truran

Journal Articles

Judges currently face a daunting task. On the one hand, they are increasingly aware of the indeterminacy of the law, while on the other hand, they face an explosion of fact. Judges are floating on shaky legal timbers in a sea of documents, deposition transcripts, affidavits, oral courtroom testimony, and expert opinions. The explosion of fact alone presents monumental problems for deciding cases without unduly simplifying or reducing this factual complexity. For example, both federal and state judges are implementing case management systems to deal with their crushing case loads and the increasing complexity of their cases. In addition, there …