Judges Commons^™

A Reflection Of Canadian Society? An Analysis Of Federal Appointments To Provincial Superior Courts By The Liberal Government Of Justin Trudeau, Erin Crandall

Dalhousie Law Journal

Recent reforms to Canada’s system of federal judicial appointments have sought to make the process more transparent and better able to produce a bench reflective of the society it serves. This paper reviews these reforms and using judicial appointment data (2016–2020), considers whether the Liberal government has met these objectives. The relationship between official bilingualism and representation on the bench is also considered. The paper finds that “diversity” on Canada’s federally appointed provincial courts remains unbalanced. While women have made up the majority of appointments since the Trudeau Liberals formed government in 2015, other equity-deserving groups, like people of colour …

Filling The New York Federal District Court Vacancies, Carl Tobias

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

President Donald Trump contends that federal appellate court appointments constitute his foremost success. The president and the United States Senate Grand Old Party (GOP) majority have compiled records by approving forty-eight conservative, young, accomplished, overwhelmingly Caucasian, and predominantly male, appeals court jurists. However, their appointments have exacted a toll, particularly on the ninety-four district courts around the country that must address eighty-seven open judicial positions in 677 posts.

One riveting example is New York’s multiple tribunals, which confront twelve vacancies among fifty-two court slots. The Administrative Office of the United States Courts considers nine of these openings “judicial emergencies,” because …

What Makes A Good Judge?, Brian M. Barry

Reports

This article overviews research demonstrating the factors beyond the law that can affect judicial decision-making.

President Donald Trump And Federal Bench Diversity, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

President Donald Trump constantly reminds United States citizens about the myriad circuit and district court appointments that his White House is making to the federal judiciary. Last September, Trump proposed the seventh “wave,” which included three people of color among sixteen judicial nominees. This wave permitted the administration to triple the number of ethnic minority picks whom it had selected, which means that the Executive Branch has proffered ten persons of color in appeals court and district court submissions, yet none is a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) individual. Nevertheless, a problematic pattern, which implicates a stunning lack of …

Judging Justice - How Solicitors' Expertise Can Improve The Courts System, Brian M. Barry

Reports

This article details the initial findings of a nationwide interview study undertaken by the author of litigation solicitors in Ireland on their views of the Irish courts system and the Irish judiciary.

Filling The Texas Federal Court Vacancies, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Texas confronts many federal appellate and district court openings, but the situation has reached crisis proportions. The state addresses two protracted U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacancies, which have lacked nominees for multiple years, and eleven open trial court seats, all but one classified as "judicial emergencies." This conundrum persists, although the Senate confirmed three jurists for Texas district vacancies in both 2014 and 2015 and President Barack Obama submitted well qualified, mainstream nominees on five empty posts in March 2016. Texas Republican Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz also failed to expeditiously provide those designees' "blue …

Unequal Opportunities: Education Pathways To The U.S. Judiciary, Alfred C. Aman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This paper is about diversity in federal and state courts in the United States. My main argument is that we should promote a judiciary that is reflective of the society of which it is a part for three reasons: first, because in doing so, we gain critical awareness of barriers to judicial service; second, because in doing so, we are also promoting access to resources, education and opportunities in the legal profession; and third, because it is possible (although not automatic) that a reflective judiciary will broaden the range of experience and perspective on the matters involved in the cases …

Confirm Judge Koh For The Ninth Circuit, Carl Tobias

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

On February 25, 2016, President Barack Obama appointed United States District Court Judge Lucy Haeran Koh for a judicial emergency vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The jurist has served professionally for more than six years in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, ably resolving major litigation. Thus, White House efforts to confirm her were unsurprising. Nevertheless, 2016 is a presidential election year when delay infuses many court appointments. That conundrum was exacerbated because the United States Senate Republican majority refused to even consider United States Court of Appeals …

Judicial Recusation In The Federal Republic Of Germany, Sigmund A. Cohn

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

A Demographic History Of Federal Judicial Appointments By Gender And Race: 1789-2016, Jonathan K. Stubbs

Law Faculty Publications

This article briefly surveys the constitutional and statutory foundation for the creation of the federal judiciary. It also furnishes data, by sex and race, of the appointment of federal judges to courts of general jurisdiction during each presidential administration from September 24, 1789, through April 11, 2016. Thus, Part I describes the pace of diversification of the federal judiciary. While data regarding other attributes of judges (such as their socioeconomic status) exist, extensive analysis of such characteristics falls outside the parameters of this preliminary analysis. Nonetheless, the Article notes in passing that, since 1989, during each presidential administration, the majority …

India And Pakistan: A Tale Of Judicial Appointments, Shubhankar Dam

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Recent judicial appointments in India and Pakistan have led to battles between their respective judicial and executive branches. In a moment of remarkable constitutional coincidence, two appointments were set aside in India and Pakistan last week. First, India's Supreme Court invalidated the appointment of P. J. Thomas to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). Days later, Pakistan's Supreme Court invalidated Deedar Shah's appointment to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Navigating The New Politics Of Judicial Appointments, Ryan W. Scott, David R. Stras

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Review Essay explores the new politics of judicial appointments by addressing the important question whether Senate-specific reforms to the judicial appointments process are likely to succeed. In his recent book, The Next Justice, Chris Eisgruber proposes a two-part plan to repair the Supreme Court appointments process. Like many other scholars that have written in the area, Eisgruber's reforms focus primarily on the Senate. First, he proposes that the Senate get smart by asking penetrating questions about the judicial philosophy of Supreme Court nominees in an effort to ensure that the future Justices are moderates, rather than extremists. Second, he …

An Empirical Analysis Of Life Tenure: A Response To Professors Calabresi And Lindgren, Ryan W. Scott, David R. Stras

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Opposition to life tenure has been steadily mounting in the legal academy and Professors Steve Calabresi and Jim Lindgren are among those leading the charge. Crucial to their argument that life tenure is fundamentally flawed is an empirical claim that the increases in average tenure among Supreme Court Justices are both dramatic and unprecedented.

In this article, the authors respond to Calabresi and Lindgren by showing that their hypothesis of dramatic and unprecedented growth in average tenure has two fundamental flaws. First, it suffers from a period-selection problem. Rendering the data using longer or shorter periods blunts or eliminates the …

Separating Rhetoric From Reality: A Political And Statistical Look At Federal Judicial Confirmation Delays, Marvin L. Longabaugh

ExpressO

In this article, I conduct a statistical analysis of confirmation delays in the ratification of appointments to the federal bench. Section II discusses the history of confirmation delays and some of the political factors that have caused these delays. Section III assesses the effect of factors such as age, education, ethnic origin, and political control of the U.S. Senate on 614 District Court appointments between 1985 and 2000. Section IV conducts a similar analysis on 362 Circuit Court appointments between 1961 and 2000. Last, Section V similarly scrutinizes all 110 Supreme Court appointments from 1789 through 2000.

Diluting Justice On Appeal?: An Examination Of The Use Of District Court Judges Sitting By Designation On The United States Courts Of Appeals, Richard B. Saphire, Michael E. Solimine

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

According to a number of studies and commentators, a serious caseload crisis faces the federal courts. With respect to the federal courts of appeals, some have called for drastic remedial measures. Until Congress responds, the courts of appeals have been forced to adopt a range of coping measures. In this article, Professors Saphire and Solimine examine one of these measures, the utilization of designated district court judges on appellate panels. After discussing the origins and extent of this practice, they identify a number of problems it raises. They argue that extensive and routine utilization of district judges on appellate panels …

Increasing Balance On The Federal Bench, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

In President Bill Clinton's first year of service, he nominated unprecedented numbers and percentages of highly qualified women and minorities to the federal judiciary. The Clinton Administration correspondingly employed an effective process for choosing potential jurists that generated relatively little controversy.

Some wondered whether President Clinton could improve his first year judicial selection record during his second year in office, especially given the number of international conflicts and pressing domestic matters that faced the Administration. These complications threatened to deflect the Administration's attention from naming judges.

Now that the 103d Congress has adjourned and President Clinton has reached mid-term, the …

In Memory Of Mr. Justice Wiley B. Rutledge, Ralph F. Fuchs

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Wiley B. Rutledge, 1894-1949, Ralph F. Fuchs

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The United States Supreme Court: 1947-48, John P. Frank

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Review. Lions Under The Throne By C. P. Curtis, Jr. And The Nine Young Men By W. Mccune, John P. Frank

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The United States Supreme Court: 1946-47, John P. Frank

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Judicial Art Of Wiley B. Rutledge, Ralph F. Fuchs

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Appointment Of Supreme Court Justices: Prestige, Principles And Politics, John P. Frank

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Supreme Court Justice Appointments: Ii, John P. Frank

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Appointment Of Supreme Court Justices: Iii, John P. Frank

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.