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Accountability Courts In Georgia: Judges In The State Of Georgia Explain How They Have Been Empowered By Visionary Political And Judicial Leaders To Tackle Crime, Prison Population, Mental Illness, And Drug Dependency Through Service In Accountability Courts, W. James Sizemore Jr.

Mercer Law Review

Georgia leads the way nationally when it comes to promoting and funding the expansion of accountability courts (commonly called drug courts or mental health courts). The fact that the effort to expand such courts in Georgia was spearheaded by Republican Governor Nathan Deal is surprising to some. This article provides a peek behind the curtain at the massive judicial and political effort to make accountability courts an essential part of criminal justice reform in the State of Georgia.

The article begins with a brief look at the history of accountability courts in Georgia, specifically focusing on several Superior Court Judges …

Georgia Uniform Superior Court Rule 43.6: A Solution In Search Of A Problem, Robert V. Rodatus

Mercer Law Review

On February 11, 2021, the Supreme Court of Georgia approved Uniform Superior Court Rule 43.62 (Rule) relating to mandatory continuing education requirements for assisting superior court judges. The amended rule provides:

A judge appointed as an assisting superior court judge from another class of court pursuant to OCGA § 15-1-9.1 and who sits as a superior court judge for more than 15 days during a calendar year, or handles a final hearing or bench or jury trial as a superior court judge, shall attend superior court specific judicial education programs or training (the “training”) totaling a minimum of 12 hours …

Open Chambers Revisited: Demystifying The Inner Workings And Culture Of The Georgia Court Of Appeals, Stephen Louis A. Dillard

Mercer Law Review

I was sitting in my cluttered but comfortable office, preparing for what would ultimately be my last hearing as a lawyer, when the phone rang. On the other end of the line was Governor Sonny Perdue's executive assistant: "Mr. Dillard, do you have time to speak with the governor?" I did, of course. And less than two weeks after that brief but life-changing conversation with Governor Perdue, I was one of Georgia's two newlyappointed appellate judges (and the seventy-third judge to serve on the court of appeals since 1906).

Over six years have passed now, and during that time a …

The Odd Couple: How Justices Kennedy And Scalia, Together, Advanced Gay Rights In Romer V. Evans, Tobin A. Sparling

Mercer Law Review

Amidst the excitement surrounding the flurry of decisions supporting gay marriage' which culminates in the United States Supreme Court's affirmation of same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges, Romer v. Evans, the Supreme Court's first step on the road to marriage equality, has not received the recognition it deserves. Yet, as its twentieth anniversary nears, Romer warrants a reexamination and greater recognition of its place in the advancement of gay rights. Decided in 1996, Romer held that Amendment to the Colorado constitution violated the Equal Protection Clause because the amendment discouraged the enactment of laws banning discrimination based on …

Open Chambers: Demystifying The Inner Workings And Culture Of The Georgia Court Of Appeals, Stephen Louis A. Dillard

Mercer Law Review

I vividly remember the day I learned of my appointment to the Georgia Court of Appeals. I was sitting in my cluttered but comfortable office, preparing for what would ultimately be my last hearing as a lawyer, when the phone rang. On the other end of the line was Governor Sonny Perdue's executive assistant: "Mr. Dillard, do you have time to speak with the governor?" I did, of course. And less than two weeks after that brief but life-changing conversation with Governor Perdue, I was one of Georgia's two newly appointed appellate judges (and the seventy-third judge to serve on …

What Is A Judicial Author?, Peter Friedman

Mercer Law Review

Martha Woodmansee has pointed out that

the law has yet to be affected by the "critique of authorship" initiated by Foucault and carried forward in the rich variety of post-structuralist research that has characterized literary studies during the last two decades. Indeed, . . . it would seem that as creative production becomes more corporate, collective, and collaborative, the law invokes the Romantic author all the more insistently.

Woodmansee wrote about the conceptions of authorship that legal institutions bring to bear in deciding copyright-related disputes.2 Nevertheless, the law's ignorance of the "critique of authorship" includes a willful ignorance of the …

Judicial Professionalism In A New Era Of Judicial Selection, Patrick Emery Longan

Mercer Law Review

On October 22, 2004, the Mercer Law Review and the Mercer Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism co-sponsored a Symposium on recent developments related to the election of judges. The Symposium was the Fifth Annual Georgia Symposium on Professionalism, the latest in a series of programs funded by a consent order and judgment that settled allegations of litigation misconduct involving the du Pont Corporation several years ago. That order awarded $2.5 million to each of the four ABA-accredited law schools in Georgia to establish professorial chairs devoted to ethics and professionalism, and it also granted each law school $250,000 to …

Perspectives On Judicial Selection, Norman L. Greene

Mercer Law Review

The Symposium entitled "Judicial Professionalism in a New Era of Judicial Selection," held on October 22, 2004, at the Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, generated important questions on judicial selection reform: how are judges selected, how should they be selected, what makes a good judge, how should we deal with a bad judge, what changes need to be made in judicial selection, where are they being made, how can they be made in other states, and how long will it take to accomplish them. Shall we have a justice system where judgeships are …

Tripping The Rift: Navigating Judicial Speech Fault Lines In The Post-White Landscape, Barbara E. Reed

Mercer Law Review

This Article is presented in large part as a synthesis of existing jurisprudence, conventional public policy wisdom, and new approaches to navigating the post-White landscape, including recommendations derived from years of collaboration with judges, lawyers, scholars, policy specialists, and other stakeholders. To a greater or lesser degree, much of what is contained herein is thus subjective and should be approached with that in mind. The views herein, and any errors, are mine alone.

Awakening A Slumbering Giant: Georgia's Judicial Selection System After White And Weaver, Camille M. Tribble

Mercer Law Review

Judicial selection, no matter its format, is an inherently political process. In the broadest analysis, judges are selected either directly by a popular election or indirectly by an executive branch appointment. The President of the United States appoints federal judges with the advice and consent of the Senate. In keeping with the states' role as the laboratories of democracy, judicial selection varies widely from state to state. In Georgia, judges are elected in nonpartisan elections along with the general primaries in even-numbered years. In particular, the Georgia Constitution grants the governor the power to appoint a judge when a judgeship …

Judicial Jabberwocky In The Presidential Election 2000: When Law And Facts Collide With Politics, Theresa H. Hammond

Mercer Law Review

Long before the United States Constitution was ratified, Americans displayed a deep skepticism of the judiciary. Codification of extremely detailed and complex laws was the palliate to judicial activism. People believed that if the laws were all published and readily accessible, judges would have less ability to substitute their own personal values and predilections for the will of the people, established through the legislation promulgated by their chosen representatives. Hamilton's first essay on the judiciary assured New Yorkers that "the judiciary is beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power" and that "the liberty of the people can …

Not Interaction But Melding—The "Russian Dressing" Theory Of Emotions: An Explanation Of The Phenomenology Of Emotions And Rationality With Suggested Related Maxims For Judges And Other Legal Decision Makers, Peter Brandon Bayer

Mercer Law Review

Even after centuries of contrary philosophy and psychology, many commentators, jurisprudes, and law makers insist that emotions have no legitimate place in most legal decision making. This recalcitrance, of course, is misplaced in light of the powerful body of theory explaining that without emotions, decisions, including matters of law and policy, simply cannot be made. Judges, along with all societal actors, must disabuse themselves of the fallacious belief that emotions obstruct or obscure reason in all endeavors, particularly morality, law, and justice.

The project of truly apprehending emotions, however, requires more than appreciating that they play a crucial role in …

Independence Of The Judiciary For The Third Century, Deanell Reece Tacha

Mercer Law Review

For I agree, that "there is no liberty, if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers... the complete independence of the courts of justice is peculiarly essential in a limited constitution."
The Federalist No. 78, at 402 (Alexander Hamilton)

Alexander Hamilton's impassioned advocacy of an independent judiciary rings as true now as it did when Hamilton was attempting to convince the people of the State of New York to ratify the new Constitution. For over 200 years, the independent federal judiciary has been a powerful tool in guarding the Constitution and the rights of …

The Independence Of Judges, James Zagel, Adam Winkler

Mercer Law Review

One might begin by asking why we are having this symposium. "Judicial independence" arises infrequently in litigation, so there are few snarling doctrinal knots to loosen and even fewer precedents to ponder. The truth is that our legislative and executive branches of government rarely attempt to interfere with the decisions of the federal judiciary. Of the few cases that have been decided, most seem surprisingly minor in their importance and insight.' It seems to us immensely difficult to make many judgments about judicial independence in the abstract that are likely to win widespread agreement, and in this area abstraction abounds. …

Federal Judges And The Judicial Branch: Their Independence And Accountability, Gordon Bermant, Russell R. Wheeler

Mercer Law Review

This issue of the Mercer Law Review was stimulated in part by a concern expressed by some federal judges that federal judicial independence is at risk. For example, the Committee on the Judicial Branch of the United States Judicial Conference expressed its hope that the symposium and other efforts will "address the concerns of judges about the protections afforded to them individually and to the Judiciary as an institution."' The Committee emphasized that those concerns "extend beyond the salary and tenure guarantees of the Constitution."' To many judges they also involve legislative and executive intervention into the operation of the …

Introduction To Mercer Law Review Symposium On Federal Judicial Independence, L. Ralph Mecham

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Separateness But Interdependence, Autonomy But Reciprocity": A First Look At Federal Judges' Appearances Before Legislative Committees, Harvey Rishikof, Barbara A. Perry

Mercer Law Review

The Founding Fathers established judicial independence as a central tenet of the Constitution of the United States in order to insulate federal judges from the President, the Congress, and the electorate. Yet because of the complicated nature of the Constitution and overlapping powers, the judiciary has not remained totally isolated from the legislative process. Our research has discovered hundreds of instances of federal jurists testifying before congressional committees on subjects such as court administration, federal jurisdiction, budgetary policy, and pending legislation in a variety of fields. Indeed, our findings buttress a key argument of Justice Robert H. Jackson's concurring opinion …

Judicial Independence: Can It Be Without Article Iii?, Richard B. Hoffman, Frank P. Cihlar

Mercer Law Review

1. ANALYSIS OF JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE OF ALJS AND ARTICLE I COURTS VERSUS ARTICLE III JUDICIARY
2. THE EXPERIENCE AND EVOLUTION OF THE TAX COURT
3. SHAKING UP SOCIAL SECURITY
4. COURT OR CORPS?

Federal Judicial Independence: Constitutional And Political Perspectives, Martin H. Redish

Mercer Law Review

Since the nation's beginning, the concept of federal judicial independence has been almost as confusing to political and constitutional theorists as it is fundamental to the successful operation of our form of constitutional democracy. On the one hand, the Constitution's framers consciously chose to insulate members of the federal judiciary from at least the most acute forms of potential political pressure by expressly providing for the protection of their salary and tenure. On the other hand, the framers simultaneously provided the groundwork to facilitate the exercise of seemingly substantial congressional control of the jurisdiction of the federal courts, thereby potentially …

In Re Grabill Corporation; Appeal Of Ncnb National Bank Of North Carolina: Four To One Against Jury Trials In Bankruptcy Courts, Merritt Mcgarrah

Mercer Law Review

In In re Grabill Corporation; Appeal of NCNB National Bank of North Carolina, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals joined the majority of the federal circuits in holding that bankruptcy judges do not have the express or implied authority to conduct jury trials. When the Seventh Amendment grants the right to a jury trial, the district court must conduct the trial.

Democracy In The Age Of Television, Theodore Y. Blumoff

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cardozo: A Study In Reputation. By Richard A. Posner, Joseph E. Claxton

Mercer Law Review

Biography, wrote the great American historian Barbara Tuchman, is "a prism of history," useful as a genre of literature because of two factors. First, "biography attracts and holds the reader's interest in the larger subject." Second, in its best form it provides a structure within which intellectual analysis may find parameters that, far from being restrictive, actually provide a necessary channel for bringing the larger subject matter (a subject matter that transcends the life and work of one individual) into perspective. In Tuchman's words:

[Bliography is useful because it encompasses the universal in the particular. It is a focus that …