Jurisprudence Commons^™

Efficiency Run Amok: Challenging The Authority Of Magistrate Judges To Hear And Accept Felony Guilty Pleas, Tomi Mendel

Vanderbilt Law Review

In an ideal world, a trial would never be unreasonably delayed or cut short. Judges would never need to juggle multiple difficult trials or drown in administrative tasks that distract from the fair adjudication of cases, and lawyers and litigants could be reassured that each judgment was arrived at fairly and after proper reflection. Congress created the magistrate system in an attempt to move the federal judiciary closer to this ideal state of affairs.' The purpose of this Article I judicial system is to facilitate the resolution of less significant disputes and speed the administration of procedural tasks. When district …

Judges As Guardian Angels: The German Practice Of Hints And Feedback, Robert W. Emerson

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The German practice of Richterliche Hinweispflicht is a judicial duty to give hints and feedback. In a very proactive position, the German judge asks questions of the parties designed to clarify and sharpen the key facts and issues and to give the parties a chance to correct matters that may be grounds for disposition. German judges also must ensure that the parties understand all matters that could affect the outcome of the case. In effect, the German judge's roles may be viewed as civil servant, teacher, and activist, rather than as umpire and overseer, as in the United States.

American …

An Administrative Jurisprudence: The Rule Of Law In The Administrative State, Kevin M. Stack

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Essay offers a specification of the rule of law's demands of administrative law and government inspired by Professor Peter L. Strauss's scholarship. It identifies five principles'authorization, notice, justification, coherence, and procedural fairness which provide a framework for an account of the rule of law's demands of administrative governance. Together these principles have intriguing results for the evaluation of administrative law. On the one hand, they reveal rule-of-law foundations for some contested positions, such as a restrictive view of the President's power to direct subordinate officials and giving weight to an agency's determination of the scope of its own authority. …