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Full-Text Articles in Law
Courts Without Court, Andrew G. Ferguson
Courts Without Court, Andrew G. Ferguson
Vanderbilt Law Review
What role does the physical courthouse play in the administration of criminal justice? This Article uses recent experiments with virtual courts to reimagine a future without criminal courthouses at the center. The key insight of this Article is to reveal how integral physical courts are to carceral control and how the rise of virtual courts helps to decenter power away from judges. This Article examines the effects of online courts on defendants, lawyers, judges, witnesses, victims, and courthouse officials and offers a framework for a better and less court-centered future. By studying post-COVID-19 disruptions around traditional conceptions of place, time, …
Judicial Retention Elections For State Appellate Judges: The Implications Of The Ballot-Access Cases, James Blumstein
Judicial Retention Elections For State Appellate Judges: The Implications Of The Ballot-Access Cases, James Blumstein
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
This Article considers methods by which state appellate court judges are selected. It focuses on the evolution of and rationale for the so-called merit-selection system, a hybrid approach that prevails in a substantial number of jurisdictions. Under merit selection, there is an initial gubernatorial appointment based on recommendations from a nominating committee and a retention election, which is limited to a single candidate and a single question: whether the initially appointed appellate judge should be retained so as to serve a new term. The retention election is a form of election that satisfies states’ requirements that judges be elected. But …
The Overreach Of Limits On 'Legal Advice', Lauren Sudeall
The Overreach Of Limits On 'Legal Advice', Lauren Sudeall
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
Nonlawyers, including court personnel, are typically prohibited from providing legal advice. But definitions of “legal advice” are unnecessarily broad, creating confusion, disadvantaging self-represented litigants, and possibly raising due process concerns. This Essay argues for a narrower, more explicit definition of legal advice that advances, rather than undercuts, access to justice.