Courts Commons^™

Issue 3: Table Of Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Demographic Snapshot Of America's Federal Judiciary: A Prima Facie Case For Change, Jonathan K. Stubbs

Law Faculty Publications

Nearly a decade ago, then judge Sonia Sotomayer gave a speech at the U.C. Berkeley Law School and asked a simple question: “What it all will mean to have more women and people of color on the bench?” This article places Justice Sotomayer’s perceptive question in historical context by providing a demographic profile of the gender and race of federal judges confirmed to the bench from September 24, 1789 through January 13, 2011. The paper focuses principally upon federal courts of general jurisdiction, specifically, the Supreme Court, the various Courts of Appeal and the federal district courts. After presenting historical …

Courts Re-Examine The Application Of Goldfinger-Era Electronic Tracking Cases To Law Enforcement Use Of Gps Tracking Devices, Joshua A. Engel

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

GPS tracking devices have become inexpensive, small, and can easily be attached to a vehicle quickly. Law enforcement is increasingly using these devices to track the exact location of a suspect's vehicle over a long period of time. In most instances, relying on Supreme Court cases from the early 1980's, law enforcement has not sought a warrant before using these devices. This paper examines how courts have attempted to apply Supreme Court precedents based on "primitive" tracking devices to modern GPS tracking devices. These precedents established that the use of electronic tracking devices on vehicles did not constitute a search …

Courts Re-Examine The Application Of Goldfinger-Era Electronic Tracking Cases To Law Enforcement Use Of Gps Tracking Devices, Joshua A. Engel

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

GPS tracking devices have become inexpensive, small, and can easily be attached to a vehicle quickly. Law enforcement is increasingly using these devices to track the exact location of a suspect's vehicle over a long period of time. In most instances, relying on Supreme Court cases from the early 1980's, law enforcement has not sought a warrant before using these devices. This paper examines how courts have attempted to apply Supreme Court precedents based on "primitive" tracking devices to modern GPS tracking devices. These precedents established that the use of electronic tracking devices on vehicles did not constitute a search …

Preface, Stanley W. Hammer

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Issue 1: Table Of Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fool Me Once, Shame On Me; Fool Me Again And You're Gonna Pay For It: An Analysis Of Medicare's New Reporting Requirements For Primary Payers And The Stiff Penalties Associated With Noncompliance, Brent M. Timberlake, Monica A. Stahly

University of Richmond Law Review

This article discusses the new requirements and the issues that currently face insurers, claimants, and attorneys in cases involving Medicare-eligible beneficiaries.

Improving Federal Judicial Selection, Carl Tobias

University of Richmond Law Review

Part I descriptively analyzes the volume. Part II evaluates the many insights Wittes contributes to readers' appreciation of contemporary federal judicial selection. Part III details numerous recommendations.

The Managerial Judge Goes To Trial, Elizabeth G. Thornbug

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Issue 3: Table Of Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Smart Grid Technology: The Future Of The Electric Utility Industry, Michael W. Yackira

University of Richmond Law Review

Energy is leading many agendas these days, and, indeed, the energy landscape is changing-taking it a step further, it is actually transforming. This could be as big a transformation for the electric utility industry as the automated teller machine was for the banking industry and the cell phone was for telecommunications.

Compelling The Courts To Question Gonzalez V. O Centro: A Public Harms Approach To Free Exercise Analysis, Ari B. Fontecchio

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Part I will set forth the analytical framework established by the Supreme Court in the RFRA and RLUIPA contexts before 0 Centro." This Part will provide a brief background to RFRA and RLUIPA and set forth the definition of "compelling interest" before 0 Centro. Part II will focus on the decision in 0 Centro; specifically, how the Supreme Court's redefinition of "compelling interest" significantly elevates the government's burden. Part III will compare the government's chance of winning on a "compelling interest" argument before 0 Centro" with the chance of winning in its wake. This Part will discuss the merits, flaws, …

Compelling The Courts To Question Gonzalez V. O Centro: A Public Harms Approach To Free Exercise Analysis, Ari B. Fontecchio

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Part I will set forth the analytical framework established by the Supreme Court in the RFRA and RLUIPA contexts before 0 Centro." This Part will provide a brief background to RFRA and RLUIPA and set forth the definition of "compelling interest" before 0 Centro. Part II will focus on the decision in 0 Centro; specifically, how the Supreme Court's redefinition of "compelling interest" significantly elevates the government's burden. Part III will compare the government's chance of winning on a "compelling interest" argument before 0 Centro" with the chance of winning in its wake. This Part will discuss the merits, flaws, …

Jamming The Revolving Door: Legislative Setbacks For Mental Health Court Systems In Virginia, Sheila Moheb

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Proponents of MHCs assert that alternative court systems will provide efficient jail diversion programs and reduce the number of individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice system by directing them to appropriate community treatment facilities. At the same time, MHCs must serve as only one branch of a larger, cohesive community effort to deter individuals with mental illness from incarceration, if not from conviction. Both advocates and adversaries of MHCs remain wary of the potential misuse of mental health courts, which may subject people with mental illness to greater criminalization or lead to greater fragmentation of the mental health …

Jamming The Revolving Door: Legislative Setbacks For Mental Health Court Systems In Virginia, Sheila Moheb

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Proponents of MHCs assert that alternative court systems will provide efficient jail diversion programs and reduce the number of individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice system by directing them to appropriate community treatment facilities. At the same time, MHCs must serve as only one branch of a larger, cohesive community effort to deter individuals with mental illness from incarceration, if not from conviction. Both advocates and adversaries of MHCs remain wary of the potential misuse of mental health courts, which may subject people with mental illness to greater criminalization or lead to greater fragmentation of the mental health …

Issue 2: Table Of Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Improving Federal Judicial Selection, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Review of Benjamin Wittes, Confirmation Wars: Preserving Independent Courts in Angry Times (2006).

A Fourth Circuit Photograph, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The Commission on Structural Alternatives for the Federal Courts of Appeals issued a report and proposals after carefully evaluating the appellate system for a year, while the data have minimally changed since the report's issuance. The Commission's principal focus was the Ninth Circuit, as Congress had instructed, yet the Commission assembled much useful information on each circuit court of appeals and found that all operate efficaciously. Because how the Fourth Circuit addresses a large docket is critical to appellate justice, the Commission's analysis of the tribunal and the court itself merit scrutiny, which this Article undertakes.

Part I of this …

The Doctrinal Side Of Majority Will, Corinna Barrett Lain

Law Faculty Publications

What is the Supreme Court's relationship with public opinion? Barry Friedman's answer in The Will of the People scours some 200 years of history to provide a distinctly political view of the Court, and the story he tells is compelling. Yet it is also incomplete. The Will of the People presents a largely external account of the law; it sees the influence of majority will as a force that moves outside the jurisprudence we lawyers spend so much of our time researching, writing, and talking about. By this account, there is what the Justices say is driving their decisionmaking-legal …

Fourth Circuit Judicial Appointments, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Fourth Circuit judicial selection deserves an examination, which this Article undertakes. The first part investigates the background of the Fourth Circuit appointments process, emphasizing relevant developments throughout the Bush Administration. The second part descriptively and critically assesses nomination and confirmation in the Obama Administration. The third part derives lessons from the Fourth Circuit selection efforts by comparing them with Obama's national selection efforts and processes in other administrations. For example, all four Obama nominees are ethnic minorities or women and were sitting judges when nominated, and one is younger than fifty-five. Accordingly, their confirmation increases the appeals court's ethnic and …

Professor Robert E. Shepherd, Jr.: Tending To His Flock To Improve Its Lot, John P. Cunningham

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: Robert E. Shepherd, Jr., John G. Douglass

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Professor Robert E. Shepherd, Jr. September 22, 1937 - December 11, 2008, Hon. Walter S. Felton Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Look Back And A Look Forward: Legislative And Regulatory Highlights For 2008 And 2009 And A Discussion Of Juvenile Transfer, Andrew K. Block

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Unmasking Judicial Extremism, Carl Tobias

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Issue 4: Table Of Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Terrorist Detention: Directions For Reform, Benjamin J. Priester

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Applying Geneva Convention Principles To Guantánamo Bay, Kyndra Rotunda

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Extraordinary Rendition: A Wrong Without A Right, Robert Johnson

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Unmasking Judicial Extremism, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Review of Cass R. Sunstein, Radicals in Robes: Why Extreme Right-Wing Courts Are Wrong for America (2005)