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Voting And Electoral Politics In The Wisconsin Supreme Court, Jason J. Czarnezki Jan 2003

Voting And Electoral Politics In The Wisconsin Supreme Court, Jason J. Czarnezki

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article examines criminal cases decided by the Wisconsin Supreme Court over a fifteen-year period in an effort to discern whether judicial elections undercut judicial independence by affecting the ways justices vote. Wisconsin was chosen for this study because the state's mix of appointed and elected judges allows a researcher to control for different judicial selection systems. Specifically, this Article questions whether voting patterns may be affected by a justice's proximity to judicial elections, election margins, and whether a justice was appointed or elected in the initial term, since the governor may appoint a justice to fill a vacancy on …


Sixth Circuit Federal Judicial Selection, Carl W. Tobias Jan 2003

Sixth Circuit Federal Judicial Selection, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Many of the 179 active federal appeals court judgeships authorized by Congress have remained vacant for protracted times. Over the last dozen years, the appellate system has experienced numerous openings, which have generally comprised ten percent of those seats. Particular tribunals' situations have been worse. At various times since 1996, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fourth, and Ninth Circuits operated without a third of their judges. However, the most egregious and recent illustration is the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Almost half of that court's positions are now empty, while a number …