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How Biden Could Keep Filling The Federal Circuit Court Vacancies, Carl Tobias
How Biden Could Keep Filling The Federal Circuit Court Vacancies, Carl Tobias
Washington and Lee Law Review Online
In October 2020, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speculated that the fifty-four talented, extremely conservative, and exceptionally young, appellate court judges whom then-President Donald Trump and two relatively similar Grand Old Party (GOP) Senate majorities appointed had left the federal appeals courts “out of whack.” Problematic were the many deleterious ways in which Trump and both of the upper chamber majorities in the 115th and 116th Senate undermined the courts of appeals, which are the courts of last resort for practically all lawsuits, because the United States Supreme Court hears so few appeals. The nomination and confirmation processes which Trump …
Combating The Ninth Circuit Judicial Vacancy Crisis, Carl Tobias
Combating The Ninth Circuit Judicial Vacancy Crisis, Carl Tobias
Washington and Lee Law Review Online
No abstract provided.
Electing Justice Roush To The Supreme Court Of Virginia, Carl Tobias
Electing Justice Roush To The Supreme Court Of Virginia, Carl Tobias
Washington and Lee Law Review Online
In late April 2015, the Supreme Court of Virginia announced that Justice LeRoy F. Millette, Jr. would retire on July 31, 2015. Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe expeditiously created an open process for tapping a worthy successor. At July’s conclusion, the Governor appointed Fairfax County Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush, an experienced, consensus jurist. On a Sunday night, merely two days after Roush swore her oath of office, Republican General Assembly leaders proclaimed their caucuses’ intention to elect another individual, despite conceding that Roush was very qualified. During the August special session, this concerted GOP endeavor prompted a Republican senator to …
When Judges Have Reasons Not To Give Reasons: A Comparative Law Approach, Mathilde Cohen
When Judges Have Reasons Not To Give Reasons: A Comparative Law Approach, Mathilde Cohen
Washington and Lee Law Review
Influential theories of law have celebrated judicial reason-giving as furthering a host of democratic values, including judges’ accountability, citizens’ participation in djudication, and a more accurate and transparent decision-making process. This Article has two main purposes. First, it argues that although reason-giving is important, it is often in tension with other values of the judicial process, such as guidance, sincerity, and efficiency. Reason-giving must, therefore, be balanced against these competing values. In other words, judges sometimes have reasons not to give reasons. Second, contrary to common intuition, common law and civil law systems deal with this tension between reasons for …