Law Commons^™

When Children Object: Amplifying An Older Child’S Objection To Termination Of Parental Rights, Brent Pattison

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Each year, thousands of children become wards of the state when a court terminates the legal rights of their parents. Between 2010 and 2014, more than 307,000 children lost their legal relationships to their parents in Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) proceedings. A growing percentage of child welfare cases involve older children. At the same time, too many young people lose their legal relationships with their parents without a family waiting to adopt them. The stakes are high for children in TPR cases; nonetheless, many children—even older children—cannot meaningfully participate in proceedings. Moreover, TPR cases threaten parents’ and children’s rights …

Proportional Response: The Need For More—And More Standardized—Veterans’ Courts, Claudia Arno

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Over the past two decades, judges and legislators in a number of states have recognized significant shortcomings in the ways traditional systems of criminal corrections address cases involving criminal offenders who are veterans of the U.S. armed services. This recognition has come at a time when policy-makers have similarly recognized that, for certain subsets of criminal offenders, “diversionary” programs may achieve better policy results than will traditional criminal punishment. In accordance with these dual recognitions, some states have implemented systems of veterans’ courts, in which certain offenders, who are also U.S. veterans, are diverted into programs that provide monitoring, training, …

State Sentencing Policy And New Prison Admissions, Ben Trachtenberg

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

As the academy's focus has turned to sentencing in the wake of Blakely v. Washington and United States v. Booker, most commentators have continued their benign neglect of actual sentencing practices as they occur in state courts, not to mention whether and how such policies are effective in achieving the goals of criminal justice.

This Note examines trends in state sentencing policies and prison populations from the perspective of a would-be state reformer hoping to decrease her state's prison budget. Economic pressures, efficiency arguments, and social justice claims have combined to cause some states to desire lower prison populations, …

The United Mall Of America: Free Speech, State Constitutions, And The Growing Fortress Of Private Property, Jennifer Niles Coffin

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Scholars have called the shopping mall the modern replacement for the traditional town square, a claim that is supported by both public investment in infrastructure through municipal and state bond issues and by the presence of public services and events in many malls. Mall owners and tenants have exploited this quasi public character by inviting government agencies to become tenants in the malls ("City Hall at the Mall") despite claiming that malls are private property where constitutionally protected freedoms do not apply. After an initial and shortlived ruling that mall visitors do indeed have free speech rights, the Supreme Court …

Colorado's Answer To The Local Rules Problem, William H. Erickson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article examines the checkered history of local rules in the state and federal courts. Part I sketches the development of local rule-making power. Part II focuses on the abuses that have resulted from a nonuniform procedural system. It concludes that the most serious consequence of that abuse - an increase in court costs and delay - has not been addressed adequately by the courts. Part III explores ways in which the local rules problem can be brought under control. Although a number of proposals are discussed, the purpose of this section is to present the approach recently undertaken by …

Appellate Caseload: Meeting The Challenge In Rhode Island, Joseph R. Weisberger

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Two of the most challenging and frustrating problems facing appellate courts in America are increasingly congested dockets and the sluggish pace of litigation. In an effort to combat these problems, the Supreme Court of Rhode Island has recently initiated several procedural techniques for screening and settling criminal and civil cases on appeal. These techniques have proven highly effective and should provide other appellate courts at least a partial answer to the burgeoning appellate caseload.

The Organized Bar: A Catalyst For Court Reform, Paul R.J. Connolly

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article theorizes that state and local bar associations can play a vital role in ridding their courts of excessive costs and delay. Theory can become practice, however, only if state and local bars are reorganized to broaden their oversight and lobbying functions, in order to make them more effective vehicles of reform. This Article, then, discusses the role the organized bar can and should play in achieving procedural reform that will reduce the delay and cost of litigation. Part I describes the various stages of the reform process, using the Kentucky experiment as a model, and outlines the contributions …

A Proposed Analysis For Gender-Based Practices And State Public Accommodations Laws, Alan J. Hoff

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note argues that the proper test of gender-preferential practices in public accommodations proceeds from the principle of "equal treatment:'' separate standards are tolerable only where reasonable and applied evenhandedly. Part I sets out a typical public accommodations statute and criticizes the principle tests used to evaluate this type of legislation. Part II applies traditional methods of statutory construction which trigger an equal treatment analysis. Extrapolating from this analysis, Part III advocates a two-part test for examining gender-based practices in public accommodations.

Salvaging Proportionate Prison Sentencing: A Reply To Rummel V. Estelle, Thomas F. Cavalier

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this Note provides a capsule of the Court's holding in Rummel. Part II argues, contrary to Rummel, that precedential support can be mustered to support eighth amendment review of sentence length. Finally, part 11,1 discusses the continued viability of the proportionality test as a vehicle for assessing challenges to the length of imprisonment, and discounts the concerns voiced in Rummel regarding the difficulty of judicial review of legislative sentencing decisions.

Beyond Custody: Expanding Collateral Review Of State Convictions, Timothy C. Hester

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This article advocates extension of collateral review to embrace all parties alleging deprivation of federally guaranteed rights in the state criminal process, regardless of whether the party fulfills the habeas corpus custody requirement. Part I assesses the sufficiency of Supreme Court certiorari jurisdiction to monitor adequately state adjudications of federal constitutional rights, coupled with an evaluation of the technical competency and institutional posture of state courts. Part II examines the significance of the custody limitation on collateral review, both as a substantive element of habeas corpus relief and as a mechanism for funnelling limited judicial resources. Part III presents two …

The Impact Of The Uniform Probate Code On Court Structure, Ralph P. Dupont

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

After considering the present pattern of probate court structure in the United States, this article considers the need for probate court reform as reflected in the deficiencies of the present system. It further indicates that a realistic choice of court structure by legislatures will ultimately be made from among three options: (1) to enlarge the jurisdiction of the present probate court of the state more nearly to approximate the form currently obtaining in several states; (2) to appoint a new body of probate judges and thus create an entirely new court; and (3) to enlarge the jurisdiction of the present …