Judges Commons^™

Invisible Error, Cassandra Burke Robertson

Faculty Publications

When trial becomes a luxury, retrial can start to look downright decadent. Scholars have documented the “vanishing trial” in recent decades, exploring the various causes and effects of declining trial rates. Retrial, if mentioned at all, is portrayed as a relatively inefficient vehicle for error correction at best. At worst, it is seen as a threat to the sanctity of the ever-rarer jury verdict.

But the jury trial is only endangered, not yet extinct. And continuing to protect the constitutional right to a jury requires appreciating the role of retrial within the due-process framework. When the jury’s verdict contradicts the …

Presumed Imminence: Judicial Risk Assessment In The Post-9/11 World, Avidan Y. Cover

Faculty Publications

Court opinions in the terrorism context are often distinguished by fact-finding that relates to risk assessment. These risk assessments — inherently policy decisions — are influenced by cultural cognition and by cognitive errors common to probability determinations, particularly those made regarding highly dangerous and emotional events. In a post-9/11 world, in which prevention and intelligence are prioritized over prosecution, courts are more likely to overstate the potential harm, neglect the probability, and presume the imminence of terrorist attacks. As a result, courts are apt to defer to the government and require less evidence in support of measures that curtail civil …

Getting What You Pay For: Judicial Compensation And Judicial Independence, Jonathan L. Entin

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Taxation, Compensation, And Judicial Independence, Jonathan L. Entin, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

Article III of the Constitution seeks to protect judicial independence, partly through a guarantee of life tenure and partly through a clause that prohibits the diminution of judges' "compensation". The Compensation Clause does not address the subject of taxation, but it has always been understood to affect the federal government's taxing power. This article examines the framing of the Compensation Clause, some nineteenth-century detours that are inconsistent with the original understanding of the Clause, and the Supreme Court's jurisprudence on taxation of judges under the Clause. The article critically analyzes the Court's most recent case on the subject, United States …

Taxation, Compensation, And Judicial Independence: Hatter V. United States, Jonathan L. Entin, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

Article III of the Constitution seeks to protect judicial independence, partly through a guarantee of life tenure and partly through a clause that prohibits the diminution of judges' "compensation". The Compensation Clause does not address the subject of taxation, but it has always been understood to affect the federal government's taxing power. This article examines the framing of the Compensation Clause, some nineteenth-century detours that are inconsistent with the original understanding of the Clause, and the Supreme Court's jurisprudence on taxation of judges under the Clause. The article critically analyzes the Court's most recent case on the subject, United States …

United States V. Hatter And The Taxation Of Federal Judges, Jonathan L. Entin, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

Does the constitutional requirement that the "compensation" of federal judges "not be diminished during their Continuance in office" preclude Congress from subjecting sitting judges to the social security taxes from which they had previously been exempt? In Hatter v. United States, the Federal Circuit ruled for judges claiming such an exemption, and, after the Supreme Court granted cert, the authors wrote the first of these two articles, arguing why, for a multitude of reasons, the Supreme Court should reverse and make it clear that judges may constitutionally be subject to a tax of general application. After the Supreme Court held …

Introduction: “Atrocious Judges” And “Odious” Courts Revisited, Robert N. Strassfeld

Faculty Publications

Introduction to the symposium "Judicial Independence and Judicial Accountability: Searching for the Right Baalance," Cleveland, Ohio.

Judicial Selection And Political Culture, Jonathan L. Entin

Faculty Publications

This article proceeds in four stages. Part I examines the major rulings, relating to tort reform and school funding, that prompted the harsh and expensive Ohio campaign. Part II compares the process for appointing federal judges, particularly Supreme Court justices, which has also become notably contentious over the past three decades. Part III discusses the trend away from strict limitations on campaign speech by judicial candidates, which combined with the expansive protections afforded to independent expenditures in election campaigns will facilitate sharp rhetoric by those inclined in that direction. Finally, Part IV assesses the prospects for elevating the level of …