Law Commons^™

Young Adults As A Cognizable Group In Jury Selection, Donald H. Zeigler

Michigan Law Review

In support of its thesis, this Article presents what the literature has failed to provide: a comprehensive analysis of the concept of cognizability and empirical data. Part I traces the history of cognizability; identifies the sources of the cross-sectional right; and defines the criteria of cognizability, drawing special attention to the interests which a designation of cognizability protects. Part I also discusses the different approaches courts have taken to cognizability and suggests several factors which may explain the many treatments of the concept.

Part II reviews the case law concerning the cognizability of young adults in particular. That Part also …

The Proposed Federal Rules Of Evidence: Of Privileges And The Division Of Rule-Making Power, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note proposes that the lower federal courts accord the same binding authority to the Proposed Rules that they give those judicially promulgated procedural rules, such as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, that have been implicitly approved by Congress.

Part I of the Note analyzes the constitutional division of the rule-making power by examining both the policy considerations involved and the relevant constitutional language and doctrines. That examination indicates that the power to establish such rules is shared by Congress and the Supreme Court. To determine when that power is appropriately exercised by one branch rather than the other, …

The Evolution Of State Supreme Courts, Robert A. Kagan, Bliss Cartwright, Lawrence M. Friedman, Stanton Wheeler

Michigan Law Review

Part I of this Article describes in broad quantitative terms the changing relationship between the caseload of supreme courts and the population of the states in which these courts sit. Part II examines the various means states used to control supreme court caseloads, the political problems involved, and the types of courts that have resulted. Part III presents evidence that changes in court organization in response to caseload pressure are accompanied by changes in the kinds of cases state supreme courts hear, the style of their opinions, and the results of the cases.

Appellate Justice, Ruggero J. Aldisert

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Justice on Appeal is a pithy analysis of the problem facing appellate courts. Dragon hunters Carrington, Meador, and Rosenberg were not content to look at the problem from an armchair. Instead, they walked to the mouth of the cave; pulled the troublesome dragon into the light, counted its teeth, measured its girth and tail, and decided neither to kill it nor kiss it. They decided to try taming it. I agree with their analysis of the specimen, its size, its growth, and the urgent necessity to bring the beast under control. I have some modest disagreements with some of their …

Justice On Appeal—One Way Or Many?, Michael E. Smith

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

After two centuries of our nation's existence, discussions of federalism are certain to sound familiar. The ground of argument has been worked so thoroughly, there is hardly a patch left unturned. Conventional watchwords suggest the competing interests: adaptability to local circumstances contrasted with efficiencies of scale, circumscribed experimentation contrasted with prevention of forum-shopping, local self-government contrasted with the cosmopolitan perspective. The most that can be done now, absent exceptional insight, is to display these choices in a fresh context.

What follows is yet another variation on the theme. It concerns the propriety, perhaps the desirability, of diversity among the federal …

The Trial Transcript—An Unnecessary Roadblock To Expeditious Appellate Review, William H. Erickson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

A number of innovations have been made in the appellate process which expedite appeals and tend to eliminate the need for a trial transcript. The American Bar Association Standards Relating to Judicial Administration and Standards Relating to Criminal Justice have provided the procedural means for improving our entire system of criminal justice. This article explores some innovations in the appellate process which eliminate the need for a complete record on appeal and discusses the various means to obtain a record of the proceeding in the trial court.

Judicial Administration And Invisible Justice, Mary Murphy Schroeder

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

My theme here is the conflict between the visibility of the appellate judge and recent procedural changes designed to cope with the quantum leaps in the numbers and complexity of cases. I will develop that theme, first, by suggesting the ways that three of the major controls on the system, namely the selection, evaluation, and discipline of judges, depend upon the exercise of recognizable and individual judicial responsibility; second, by illustrating how this "imperative" can be undermined if devices intended to cope with increased volume are adopted without vigilance; and finally by pointing up some approaches to permit courts to …