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Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Complete Issue

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

No abstract provided.

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Table Of Contents

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

No abstract provided.

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Editor's Note

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

This issue presents four viewpoints on current issues involving judicial elections, politics, and the effect of public opinion on the courts. In our lead article, Shira Goodman and Lynn Marks of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts tell the story of Pennsylvania’s 2005 retention election for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. With very little warning, public opposition developed to the retention of two justices: one was retained with 54% of the vote and one was thrown out of office with only 49% voting to retain him. The election was unusual because it did not relate to opinions issued by either justice. Rather, the …

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 3-4 - Cover

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

No abstract provided.

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Book Review: A Judge's Role In The Rule Of Law, William F. Hurst Iv

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

Two recently published books, On the Rule of Law: History, Politics, Theory by Brian Z. Tamanaha, and The Rule of Law in America by Ronald A. Cass, provide an in-depth analysis into what the rule of law means today, its history, and what impact its meaning has on the current American judiciary.

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Lessons From An Unusual Retention Election, Shira J. Goodman, Lynn A. Marks

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

On November 8, 2005, something happened in Pennsylvania that has never happened before: an appellate judge, a supreme court justice no less, lost an uncontested retention election. Not only was the loss unprecedented, but with the exception of one retention election in 1993, appellate justices and judges in Pennsylvania routinely have won retention by margins of 70% to 30%. This year, one justice lost his retention election and another barely won with just 54% of the vote.

Retention elections have been a feature of judicial elections in Pennsylvania since the state constitution was amended in 1969. Following election to an …

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Judicial Elections: Changes And Challenges, Jan Witold Baran

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

Today, myriad approaches for selecting judges exist and few states—if any at all—use identical schemes. In many states, the selection methods vary depending on whether the judge is a trial or appellate judge, or an initial selection or an incumbent. As will be seen, the vast majority of state judges are elected. Recently, judicial campaigns have become increasingly controversial while traditional restraints have fallen to the wayside. This article will address the variety of election methods, the challenges that recent constitutional decisions have presented to the ABA Code of Judicial Conduct, and whether innovations, such as public financing, offer a …

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Judges, Law, Politics & Strategy, Frank B. Cross

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

In law, we commonly presume that judges reach decisions based on legal materials, such as precedents. In political science, researchers typically presume that judges do not reach decisions based on such legal materials. They maintain that the apparent reliance on precedent to reach decisions is simply a hoax designed to provide cover for a particular outcome. These researchers traditionally argued that judges reach their personally preferred outcome in the case and then rationalize it after the fact with references to precedent, conveniently supplied them by the attorneys for their preferred side.

Much of the empirical research on judicial decision making …

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - A Profile Of Settlement, John Barkai, Elizabeth Kent, Pamela Martin

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

Ninety-eight percent of civil cases settle,1 right? Well, not exactly. Although claims of settlement rates of 90% and above are cited frequently, settlement rates really are not that high. Many commentators start with an accurate picture of low, single-digit trial rates (typically 2%-3%), but then they inappropriately assume the inverse—namely, that all the remaining cases are settled. Commentators ignore the fact that a significant proportion of cases are terminated for reasons other than trial or settlement, and their mistake goes undetected because most state judicial systems do not collect any information about settlements.

On the other hand, other people, speaking …

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - E-Courts: The Times They Are A-Changin’, James E. Mcmillan

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

The title obviously comes from Bob Dylan’s classic song from 1964. That song captured the spirit of the times and again, in a small way, captures ours as well. This year’s upcoming E-Courts Conference (www.e-courts.org) in December will highlight both the changes that computers have brought to court operations and where things are going in the future.

Court operations have been impacted over the past decade with the implementation of electronic court document filing (aka E-filing). This year the U.S. federal courts will have electronic filing available in nearly all district and bankruptcy courts. We have seen that not as …

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Seizing The Accountability Moment: Enlisting Americans In The Fight To Keep Courts Fair, Impartial, And Independent, Bert Brandenberg

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

Did the 2005 uproar over Terri Schiavo’s end-of-life case mark a peak in the recent surge of attacks on the independence of America’s courts? When the case generated threats to impeach and even murder the presiding judge, and Congress passed a bill seeking to manipulate the case, broad public disapproval helped end the political crisis.1 The President backpedaled—“I believe in an independent judiciary. I believe in checks and balances”2—and dispatched the Vice President and Attorney General to add their reassurances. Just a few months later, Supreme Court nomination hearings offered little hint of the rising tide of fury that courts …

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Directory Of Officers And Board Of Governors, 2005-2006

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

Directory of Officers and Board of Governors of American Judges Association

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - President’S Column, Michael Cicconetti

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

Living in Northeastern Ohio, we are constantly promoting this part of the state as an area virtually free of natural disasters. Oh sure, we have our lake-effect snow, which we have learned to treat as more of an inconvenience and annoyance than a danger. Hurricanes? Those are reserved for the coastal states. Tornadoes? Hello, Kansas! Northeastern Ohio hasn’t experienced one in 35 years. Droughts? We may have an occasional dry spell during the summer but we always have the Great Lakes as a plentiful water source. Mudslides? Never. Forest fires? Doesn’t happen. Earthquakes? Minor blips on the Richter Scale.

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - The Resource Page

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

No abstract provided.

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 3 – Editor’S Note, Steve Leben

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

We welcomed Alan Tomkins as coeditor of Court Review in the last issue. This issue marks my return to Court Review from the overall leadership of the American Judges Association (see page 111 for the new president’s opening remarks). I certainly enjoyed my year as AJA president, but it will be great to be able to refocus on Court Review and its role as an aid to judges both in doing their daily work and in protecting the role of independent judges in our society.

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 3 – Complete Issue

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

Table of Contents:
Remarks on Judicial Independence by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Recent Civil Decisions of the United States Supreme Court: The 2006-2007 Term by Charles H. Whitebread
Recent Criminal Decisions of the United States Supreme Court: The 2006-2007 Term by Charles H. Whitebread
Jailing Ourselves: Standards Used for Declaring United States Citizens to Be Enemy Combatants by Joseph Carl Storch
Editor’s Note
President’s Column
The Resource Page

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 3 – Cover

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

No abstract provided.

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 3 – Recent Criminal Decisions Of The United States Supreme Court: The 2006-2007 Term, Charles H. Whitebread

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

The past Term of the Court was one in which it swung to the right. A single justice, Justice Anthony Kennedy, made all the difference—being in the majority in every five-to-four decision that split along ideological lines. Cases of particular interest to state-court judges held that a passenger in a routine traffic stop is seized for Fourth Amendment purposes, that California’s determinative sentencing law was unconstitutional, and that the Court’s decision on Crawford v. Washington would not be applied retroactively on collateral review.

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 3 – Recent Civil Decisions Of The United States Supreme Court: The 2006-2007 Term, Charles Whitebread

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

The past Term of the Court was one in which it swung to the right. A single justice, Justice Anthony Kennedy, made all the difference—being in the majority in every five-to-four decision that split along ideological lines. Significant 5-4 civil decisions included ones upholding the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, limiting Title VII pay discrimination suits by strictly interpreting the date the statute of limitations begins to run, limiting the ability of school districts to consider race in assigning students to schools, and further limiting punitive-damage claims.

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 3 – Table Of Contents

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

Remarks on Judicial Independence by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Recent Civil Decisions of the United States Supreme Court: The 2006-2007 Term by Charles H. Whitebread
Recent Criminal Decisions of the United States Supreme Court: The 2006-2007 Term by Charles H. Whitebread
Jailing Ourselves: Standards Used for Declaring United States Citizens to Be Enemy Combatants by Joseph Carl Storch
Editor’s Note
President’s Column
The Resource Page

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 3 – The Resource Page

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

Websites:
Center for Court Innovation www.problemsolvingjustice.org
National Center for State Courts www.ncsconline.org/PSC
The Polling Report www.pollingreport.com

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 3 – Remarks On Judicial Independence, Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

Essential to the rule of law in any land is an independent judiciary, judges not under the thumb of other branches of Government, and therefore equipped to administer the law impartially. As experience in the United States and elsewhere confirms, however, judicial independence is vulnerable to assault; it can be shattered if the society law exists to serve does not take care to assure its preservation.

On the essence of independent, impartial judging, a comment by former U.S. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist seems to me right on target. Using a metaphor from his favorite sport, he compared the role …

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 3 – President’S Column, Eileen Olds

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

I can never say enough what an honor and a privilege it is to have been elected to serve as your 46th president of the American Judges Association. I have used that time since our annual conference in Vancouver to crystallize my vision of what I would like to accomplish during my tenure and of what I believe we can accomplish together. The potential to see dreams realized is what keeps us going! Like many of you, I have concluded that judges in general—and the members of AJA in particular—must seize the opportunity to improve our delivery of services within …

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 3 – Jailing Ourselves: Standards Used For Declaring United States Citizens To Be Enemy Combatants, Joseph Carl Storch

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

On a clear, blue September morning in 2001, nineteen men hijacked four commercial airplanes headed toward the West Coast. They crashed two into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Northern Virginia, and one into a Pennsylvania field. In the wake of the shocking attack, Congress authorized President Bush to use military force against those who committed the attack, commencing a “war on terror” that still rages today.

The government has fought the “war on terror” on many fronts. The military is engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq; diplomatic overtures have been made to Libya …

Understanding The Influence Of Climate Forecasts On Farmer Decisions As Planned Behavior, Ikrom Artikov, Stacey Hoffman, Gary Lynne, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Q. Steven Hu, Alan Tomkins, Kenneth Hubbard, Michael Hayes, William J. Waltman

Lisa PytlikZillig Publications

Results of a set of four regression models applied to recent survey data of farmers in eastern Nebraska suggest the causes that drive farmer intentions of using weather and climate information and forecasts in farming decisions. The model results quantify the relative importance of attitude, social norm, perceived behavioral control, and financial capability in explaining the influence of climate-conditions information and short-term and long-term forecasts on agronomic, crop insurance, and crop marketing decisions. Attitude, serving as a proxy for the utility gained from the use of such information, had the most profound positive influence on the outcome of all the …

Understanding Farmers’ Forecast Use From Their Beliefs, Values, Social Norms, And Perceived Obstacles, Qi Hu, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Gary Lynne, Alan Tomkins, William J. Waltman, Michael Hayes, Kenneth Hubbard, Ikrom Artikov, Stacey Hoffman, Donald A. Wilhite

Lisa PytlikZillig Publications

Although the accuracy of weather and climate forecasts is continuously improving and new information retrieved from climate data is adding to the understanding of climate variation, use of the forecasts and climate information by farmers in farming decisions has changed little. This lack of change may result from knowledge barriers and psychological, social, and economic factors that undermine farmer motivation to use forecasts and climate information. According to the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the motivation to use forecasts may arise from personal attitudes, social norms, and perceived control or ability to use forecasts in specific decisions. These attributes are …

The Nebraska Transcript Spring/Summer 2006 Vol.39 No.2

Nebraska Transcript

World's First Law-Psych Program, with Its Integrative Approach. Continues to Rank Among Best
Law-Psychology Program Attracts Students Worldwide
Trial Consultant Uses His Training To Help Lawyers Be Successful
Juries & Civil Justice: Law-Psychology's Program of Excellence Conference Seeks to Improve Understanding of Jury Process
Utah Connection: Thanks to Efforts of Prof. Marty Gardner, Many Utah Students Attend Law School in Lincoln
Constitution Day: University 'Celebrates' the Constitution Even While Calling Into Question Constitutionality of Its Day
The World of Public Interest Law: Students Breaking the Mold
The New Nebraska Rules of Professional Conduct: A Brief Overview
"Hope for a Global …

Invasive Species Definition Clarification And Guidance, Invasive Species Advisory Committee

National Invasive Species Council

Summary

Invasive species are those that are not native to the ecosystem under consideration and that cause or are likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human, animal, or plant health. Plant and animal species under domestication or cultivation and under human control are not invasive species. Furthermore for policy purposes, to be considered invasive, the negative impacts caused by a non-native species will be deemed to outweigh the beneficial effects it provides. Finally, a non-native species might be considered invasive in one region but not in another. Whether or not a species is considered an invasive …

Methamphetamine Addiction, Treatment, And Outcomes: Implications For Child Welfare Workers, Cathleen Otero, Sharon Boles, Nancy Young, Kim Dennis

Center on Children, Families, and the Law (and related organizations): Publications

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive stimulant associated with serious health and psychiatric conditions, including heart damage and brain damage, impaired thinking and memory problems, aggression, violence, and psychotic behavior. Methamphetamine is also associated with the transmission of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.

Child welfare workers are seeing growing numbers of children and families affected by the parent’s use of methamphetamine. In order to make sound decisions for the benefit of children and families, child welfare workers need accurate information about methamphetamine, its effects on parents and their children, and the effectiveness of treatment. This paper presents the most …

Gun Related Youth Violence: Fear Of Victimization Versus The Influence Of Significant Others, Ryan Spohn, Samantha Lane

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

Differential association/social learning theories have received considerable empirical support as an explanation of participation in delinquent acts, including violent delinquency (Heimer 1997). More recently, and primarily as a result of highly publicized school shootings in suburban high schools, fear of crime and victimization have received attention as motivators of gun-carrying and gun violence. These phenomena are generally not examined in unison, however, leaving open the question of their relative role as a cause of gun carrying and violence amongst youth. The current research project addresses this question. A major strength of the current research is the adoption of multiple measures …