Law Commons^™

Electing Our Judges And Judicial Independence: The Supreme Court's "Triple Whammy", Martin Belsky

Akron Law Faculty Publications

In this article, Martin Belsky makes the case for judicial selection based on merit, as opposed to popular elections. Belsky cites Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Company and the recent defeat of three Iowa supreme court justices because of their opinion in a controversial gay marriage case for the proposition that judicial elections can, and do, yield unjust results. Belsky asserts the need for judicial independence, but concludes that this goal is not achievable through elections because of the "triple whammy" of constitutional limitations: (1) the First Amendment protection of the right of judges and judicial candidates to give specific, …

Kate Chase, The "Sphere Of Women's Work," And Her Influence Upon Her Father's Dissent In Bradwell V. Illinois, Richard Aynes

Akron Law Faculty Publications

Kate Chase was said to be the most beautiful and the most intelligent woman of her age. Her father, Salmon P. Chase, is remembered today as Lincoln’s secretary of the treasury and as a chief judge of the U. S. Supreme Court. In his own time, Chase was considered one of the nation’s political giants; Abraham Lincoln described him as “one and a half times bigger than any other man” he had ever known. Carl Schurz’s summary still echoes today: “More than anyone else he looked the great man. Tall, broad-shouldered, and proudly erect, . . . he was a …

Impartiality: Balancing Personal And Professional Integrity In Judicial Decisionmaking, Sarah M. R. Cravens

Akron Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Judging Discretion: Contexts For Understanding The Role Of Judgment, Sarah M. R. Cravens

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This article approaches from a new angle the problem of understanding the meaning and scope of discretion in the judicial role and how an appellate court can or should judge the use or abuse of a lower court’s freedom of judgment. This article considers the meaning and practical application of the appellate standard of review of “abuse of discretion” across three different areas of law: federal sentencing, injunctive relief, and civil case management. The purpose behind this approach is to attempt to find commonalities that can be drawn across subject matter lines on a topic that is currently rife with …

The Impeachment And Removal Of Tennessee Judge West Humphreys: John Bingham's Prologue To The Johnson Impeachment Trial, Richard Aynes

Akron Law Faculty Publications

At the beginning of the Civil War many individuals who held positions under the United States government submitted resignations which, in their minds, allowed them to assume positions with the so-called government of the Confederate States of America. One of the few individuals who did not do so, but nevertheless assumed a position under the Confederate States of America was U.S. District Judge West H. Humphreys. After the Confederacy was formed, he continued to hold court in the same courtroom but under the guise of a Confederate States Judge.

This presented two problems for President Lincoln and the Unionists. First, …