Law Commons^™

Comparing Judicial Selection Systems, Lee Epstein, Jack C. Knight, Olga Shvetsova

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Questioning Of Lower Federal Court Nominees At Senate Confirmation Hearings, William Ross

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Introduction To The Symposium: The Judicial Process Appointments Process, Carly Van Orman

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Aba's Role In Prescreening Federal Judicial Candidates: Are We Ready To Give Up On The Lawyers?, Laura E. Little

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The "Blue Slip": Enforcing The Norms Of The Judicial Confirmation Process, Brannon P. Denning

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Bush Administration And Appeals Court Nominees, Carl Tobias

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Competency Conundrum: Problems Courts Have Faced In Applying Different Standards For Competency To Be Executed, John L. Farringer, Iv

Vanderbilt Law Review

Throughout Anglo-American legal history, there has been a general agreement, based on numerous rationales, that mentally incompetent inmates should not be executed for their crimes. The recurring problem, however, is how to define "incompetence" or "insanity." Legislatures and courts have sought to provide a common- sense definition, but in practice judges must confront highly technical terminology from the ever evolving field of psychiatry. Additionally, the definition must be flexible enough to apply to a variety of cases, while being universal enough to assure that all defendants are treated fairly and equally.

At hearings to determine a prisoner's competency to be …

Evaluating The Judges In Baton Rouge, Susan E. Howell

Survey Research Center Publications

The Baton Rouge Bar Association seeks to provide the public, lawyers, and the judges with some sort of evaluation of the judges in the Baton Rouge area. Since it is difficult for the public to obtain information on judges, the Bar Association relied on its own members and the members of the Louis Martinet Society to evaluate all judges, including city, state, and federal courts. Hopefully, the results will be useful to the public, the lawyers, and especially to the judges. Most judges can take satisfaction in the high regard with which they are held by the hundreds of lawyers …

Now You See It, Now You Don't: Depublication And Nonpublication Of Opinions Raise Motive Questions, Bennett L. Gershman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The basis for these comments is a decision last year by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Anastasoff v. United States. The court held that an Eighth Circuit local rule, which authorized nonpublication of opinions and explicitly stated that unpublished opinions were to have no precedential effect, was unconstitutional. The panel, in an opinion by Judge Richard S. Arnold, reasoned that a court rule purporting to confer upon appellate judges an absolute power to decide which decisions would be binding and which would not be binding went well beyond the “judicial power” within the meaning of Article III of …

Section 2: Direction Of The Rehnquist Court, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Judicial Nomination And Confirmation Process: Hearing Before The S. Comm. On The Judiciary, 107th Cong., Sept. 4, 2001 (Statement Of Mark V. Tushnet, Prof. Of Law, Geo. U. L. Center), Mark V. Tushnet

Testimony Before Congress

No abstract provided.

Picking Federal Judges: A Note On Policy And Partisan Selection Agendas, Micheal W. Giles, Virginia A. Hettinger, Todd C. Peppers

Scholarly Articles

The importance of lower federal courts in the policymaking process has stimulated extensive research programs focused on the process of selecting the judges of these courts and the factors influencing their decisions. The present study employs judicial decisionmaking in the U.S. Courts of Appeals as a window through which to reexamine the politics of selection to the lower courts. It differs from previous studies of selection in three ways. First, it takes advantage of recent innovations in measurement to go beyond reliance on political party as a measure of the preferences of actors in the selection process. Second, employing these …

Book Review: The Business Of Judging, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

Lord Bingham of Cornhill is no stranger to the business of judging. Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, former Lord Chief Justice of England, former Master of the Rolls, he has been sitting on the bench in one capacity or another for the last twenty years - twenty-five if one counts his tenure as a recorder. Although he began his career at the bar in 1959 as a commercial and civil lawyer, his appointment in 1996 as Lord Chief Justice placed him at the apex of the criminal justice system. In becoming senior Law Lord, Lord Bingham has expanded his …

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 …

Inside The Judicial Mind, Chris Guthrie, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski, Andrew J. Wistrich

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The quality of the judicial system depends upon the quality of decisions that judges make. Even the most talented and dedicated judges surely commit occasional mistakes, but the public understandably expects judges to avoid systematic errors. This expectation, however, might be unrealistic. Psychologists who study human judgment and choice have learned that people frequently fall prey to cognitive illusions that produce systematic errors in judgment. Even though judges are experienced, well-trained, and highly motivated decision makers, they might be vulnerable to cognitive illusions. We report the results of an empirical study designed to determine whether five common cognitive illusions (anchoring, …

Judicial Reform And The State Of Japan's Attorney System: A Discussion Of Attorney Reform Issues And The Future Of The Judiciary, Kohei Nakabō, Yohei Suda

Washington International Law Journal

Based on the Judicial Reform Council's article "Points at Issue in Judicial Reform," this paper presents basic issues on the current status of the Japanese attorney system and areas to be addressed in judicial reform. [[Translator's Note] This Article formed the basis of Nakabō's report at the twelfth meeting of Judicial Reform Council held on February 8, 2000. It was originally published as the first of a two part paper in SERIES JUDICIAL REFORM I: [LEGAL PROFESSIONAL TRAINING; THE LAW SCHOOL CONCEPT] (2000).]

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 …

Why Judges Don't Like Petitions For Rehearing, Richard S. Arnold

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

Petitions for en banc rehearings are rarely granted. A Senior Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit provides a history and reasoning of the rehearing process and his personal observations on those petitions and processes in today's court.

Appellate Rule 16(B): The Scope Of Review In An Appeal Based Solely Upon A Dissent In The Court Of Appeals, Thomas L. Fowler

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judge Baxter's Appeal, Melissa Stein

Articles About GGU Law

No abstract provided.

The Judiciary In The United States: A Search For Fairness, Independence And Competence, Stephen J. Shapiro

All Faculty Scholarship

Alexander Hamilton referred to the judiciary as “the least dangerous branch” because it could neither make nor enforce the law without help from the other two branches of government. In the years since then, however, courts and judges in the United States have assumed a much more prominent role in society. American judges preside over criminal trials and sentence those convicted, decide all kinds of civil disputes, both large and small, and make important decisions involving families, such as child custody. They have also become the primary guarantors of the civil and constitutional rights of American citizens.

The case of …

Objective Interpretation And Objective Meaning In Holmes And Dickerson: Interpretive Practice And Interpretive Theory, Patrick J. Kelley

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Legal Arguments In The Opinions Of Montana Territorial Chief Justice Decius S. Wade, Andrew P. Morriss

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Judges Cooperating With Scientists: A Proposal For More Effective Limits On The Federal Trial Judge's Inherent Power To Appoint Technical Advisors, Robert L. Hess, Ii

Vanderbilt Law Review

Scientifically complex cases challenge the expertise of federal trial judges.' Nonetheless, the United States Supreme Court has held that federal trial judges must take an active role in deter- mining the admissibility of scientific evidence. The Court in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. expressed its view that the adversary system is capable of handling most scientific issues, and noted that trial judges may seek the help of third-party experts. Thus, the federal trial judge confronted with a scientifically complex case may rely on the adversaries or may seek help from a third-party expert. When faced with this choice, judges …

China's Post-Modern Legal Research And Its Prospects（中国的后现代法学研究及其前景）, Meng Hou

Hou Meng

No abstract provided.

Justice Under Siege: The Rule Of Law And Judicial Subservience In Kenya, Makau Wa Mutua

Journal Articles

The piece examines the tortured history of the judiciary in Kenya and concludes that various governments have deliberately robbed judges of judicial independence. As such, the judiciary has become part and parcel of the culture of impunity and corruption. This was particularly under the one party state, although nothing really changed with the introduction of a more open political system. The article argues that judicial subservience is one of the major reasons that state despotism continues to go unchallenged. It concludes by underlining the critical role that the judiciary has to play in a democratic polity.

Conjunction And Aggregation, Saul Levmore

Michigan Law Review

This Article begins with the puzzle of why the law avoids the issue of conjunctive probability. Mathematically inclined observers might, for example, employ the "product rule," multiplying the probabilities associated with several events or requirements in order to assess a combined likelihood, but judges and lawyers seem otherwise inclined. Courts and statutes might be explicit about the manner in which multiple requirements should be combined, but they are not. Thus, it is often unclear whether a factfinder should assess if condition A was more likely than not to be present - and then go on to see whether condition B …

Making Progress The Old-Fashioned Way, Stephen B. Burbank

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Remarks Delivered By Videotape For Ceremonies Celebrating Howard Munson's 25th Year As A Federal Judge, Roger J. Miner '56

Tributes & Testimonials

No abstract provided.

Book #23, Roger J. Miner '56

Scrapbooks

No abstract provided.