Courts Commons^™

Agency Action, Finality And Geographical Nexus: Judicial Review Of Agency Compliance With Nepa's Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement Requirement After Lujan V. National Wildlife Federation, Matthew C. Porterfield

University of Richmond Law Review

In recent years, there has been an increasing recognition of the need to address the complex and interrelated impacts that result from human interaction with the environment. One of the most effective tools for evaluating these impacts has been the preparation of programmatic environmental impact statements (EISs) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The status of programmatic EISs, however, has been called into question by the Supreme Court's decision in Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation, which has been interpreted by numerous commentators as heralding the end of "programmatic" environmental lawsuits. Even more significantly, Lujan has been …

The Tribunal In Albania, John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

Professor Jones explains and critiques "The Organization of Justice and the Constitutional Court," the1992 amendments to Albania's provisional constitution that established the nation's post-revolution judicial system.

The D.C. Circuit As A National Court, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Every President since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has appointed lawyers from across the country to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ("D.C. Circuit") and has been accused of ignoring the members of the D.C. Bar. The tradition of nationwide recruitment for appointment to the D.C. Circuit has served the District and the nation well, yielding some of the court's and America's finest judges.

The practice of seeking nominees nationally to fill vacancies on the D.C. Circuit recently faced a serious challenge. Many members of the D.C. Bar, who have long opposed this practice, developed a …

Silver Linings In Federal Civil Justice Reform, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Many observers, including most of the participants in the civil litigation symposium, have levelled considerable criticism at the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 ("CJRA" or "Act") and its implementation. This criticism--which encompasses numerous phenomena, as abstract as constitutional theory and as pragmatic as numerical limitations on interrogatories--emanates from several quarters and ranges across the political spectrum.

Notwithstanding the numerous criticisms that observers have lodged at the statute and its effectuation, a number of which have considerable validity, the federal reform initiative has afforded many advantages. Unfortunately, these benefits have received comparatively little recognition. Because the reform's salutary aspects could …

Closing The Gender Gap On The Federal Courts, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

When the Bush Administration placed comparatively few women on the bench during its initial half-term, I criticized President Bush's mediocre record. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Bush Administration ultimately appointed an unprecedented percentage of women to the federal courts; 36 of the 192 judges President Bush appointed were women (18.7%).

Notwithstanding the Bush Administration's efforts, the percentage of female judges remains significantly lower than the representation of women in the legal profession. Moreover, President Bush left 100 open judgeships. These vacancies mean that President Bill Clinton can greatly increase the numbers and percentages of female judges and …

President Clinton's Covenant And The Federal Courts, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

President Bill Clinton has eloquently invoked the concept of a new covenant with the American people. Claiming that the populace elected him with a mandate for change, the President has appointed individuals to high-level positions, particularly in the Cabinet, who have made the new government look like America. In no branch of the federal government are these ideas more apposite than the Third Branch.

Rethinking Federal Judicial Selection, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The inauguration of President Bill Clinton, who will appoint more than three hundred new federal judges, affords an auspicious occasion for rethinking the process of federal judicial selection. The current federal bench, two-thirds of whose members were appointed by Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, reflects increased conservatism and is quite homogeneous in terms of race, gender, and political perspectives. For instance, President Reagan appointed a dramatically smaller, and President Bush named a substantially lower, percentage of African-Americans than did President Jimmy Carter. The Republican chief executives made these appointments although they had much larger, more experienced, pools of female …

The Gender Gap On The Montana State Bench, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Governor Racicot should expeditiously and forcefully act to remedy the gender gap on the state courts for many reasons. First, there is a significant, highly qualified, pool of female attorneys in Montana who could render excellent judicial service. Numerous women have participated in the types of rigorous legal practices which would prepare them well for the bench. These female lawyers are intelligent, industrious, and independent, while they have exhibited the kind of impeccable integrity and appropriately measured judicial temperament to be fine judges. Some of the attorneys have engaged in challenging public law practices, others have been involved in rigorous …

Opt-Outs At The Outlaw Inn: A Report From Montana, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Report of Prof. Tobias' CLE presentation at the Montana State Bar Association's annual meeting, highlighting the 1993 revisions to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Civil Justice Reform Act.

Keeping The Covenant On The Federal Courts, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

When Governor Clinton was campaigning for the presidency, he contended that the federal court appointments of President Ronald Reagan and President George Bush significantly reduced the diversity that President Jimmy Carter had strongly promoted. Candidate Clinton pledged, if elected President, to rectify that situation. Since the election, Bill Clinton has fulfilled his promise by naming to the judiciary outstanding attorneys who reflect the diverse composition of American society. Now that President Clinton has completed his initial year of service, it is important to analyze the Clinton Administration's record of choosing judges to ascertain precisely how the President has kept his …

Civil Justice Reform In The Fourth Circuit, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Congress passed the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 (CJRA) because it was increasingly concerned about litigation and discovery abuse in federal civil cases, growing cost and delay in such suits, and decreasing access to federal courts. The statute requires that all ninety-four federal district courts develop civil justice expense and delay reduction plans by December 1993. Thirty-four districts issued plans by December 1991, and the Judicial Conference of the United States recently designated these districts as Early Implementation District Courts (EIDC).

Three of those EIDCs, the Eastern District of Virginia, the Northern District of West Virginia, and the Southern …

Recalibrating The Civil Justice Reform Act, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

In 1990, Congress enacted the Civil Justice Reform Act ("CJRA"), a measure which could substantially change the nature of federal civil litigation. One aspect of the CJRA that provides evidence respecting the progress of civil justice reform is the civil justice expense and delay reduction plans issued in late 1991 by the thirty-four federal district courts which the Judicial Conference of the United States designated as Early Implementation District Courts ("EIDCs").

Congress is currently attempting to assess the reforms included in these plans, which constitute the initial significant step in implementing the CJRA. By some oversight, Congress has not invited …

Civil Justice Reform In The Western District Of Missouri, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Congress passed the Civil Justice Reform Act (CJRA) of 1990 out of growing concern about litigation abuse in federal civil lawsuits, increasing cost and delay in those cases, and declining federal court access. The legislation commands every federal district court to promulgate a civil justice expense and delay reduction plan by December 1993. The statute also creates a demonstration program and designates the Northern District of California, the Northern District of West Virginia, and the Western District of Missouri as courts that are to "experiment with various methods of reducing cost and delay in civil litigation, including alternative dispute resolution. …

Executive Branch Civil Justice Reform, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The authors of several papers in this Symposium have justifiably criticized the essay that former Vice President Dan Quayle published in Volume 41 of The American University Law Review. Many knowledgeable observers of the civil justice system have leveled equally legitimate criticism at civil justice reform initiatives that the Bush administration instituted. Questionable data, arguable policy, or overheated political rhetoric supported certain aspects of the Vice President's paper, as well as most of the proposals developed by the Competitiveness Council that the Vice President chaired and numerous efforts of the Republican administration in the area of civil justice reform.

One …

Civil Justice Reform And The Balkanization Of Federal Civil Procedure, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The recent civil war ripping apart Yugoslavia is a trenchant reminder of the horrors of balkanization. Without trivializing the Yugoslavian experience, the term balkanization usefully applies to developments in American federal civil procedure that now threaten the continued viability of a uniform, simple system of procedure. Thirty-four federal courts' nascent implementation of the Civil Justice Reform Act (CJRA) of 1990 will exacerbate these developments; indeed, if the remaining sixty districts that must issue civil justice expense and delay reduction plans by December 1993 fail to halt this trend, the Act will further fragment procedure. This article cautions those responsible for …

Advice And Consent: Ensuring Judicial Freedom, Patrick J. Leahy

University of Richmond Law Review

Throughout this nation's history, Americans have turned to the Supreme Court to protect their rights against excesses of the legislative and executive branches. To protect this crucial role of the Court, the Framers realized that neither the executive nor the legislature should have the power to cast the Court in its own image. To prevent this usurpation of one branch by another, the Framers wisely required the President to obtain the advice and consent of the Senate in making appointments to the Supreme Court.

Judiciary: Know Thy Place, Thomas L. Jipping

University of Richmond Law Review

Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist No.78 that the judiciary "has no influence over ... the purse."' Yet in Missouri v. Jenkins, the Supreme Court approved indirect judicial taxation. Hamilton wrote that the judiciary "will always be the least dangerous" and "beyond comparison the weakest" branch of government. Yet in Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court created out of nothing a right to choose abortion, invalidated the abortion laws of all fifty states developed over more than a century, and shut millions of Americans out of the process of developing public policy on this important political issue. Hamilton wrote that …

The President And The Federal Bench, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Professor Tobias assesses the efforts of the George H.W. Bush Administration in appointing women and African-Americans to the federal bench.

Cameras In Virginia Courtroom, Teresa D. Keller

University of Richmond Law Review

On July 1, 1992, Virginia joined forty other states by allowing cameras into state courtrooms on a permanent basis. A pilot program had been underway since 1987, allowing news coverage by television cameras, audio recorders, and still cameras in a handful of state courtrooms. Lawmakers had extended the experiment twice, delaying a permanent decision in the face of varying opinions about the success of the program. The Supreme Court of Virginia issued two reports over the five year span indicating the pilot program had produced a negative effect on the judicial process. Broadcasters, on the other hand, consistently claimed the …

Conservative Supreme Court: Its Impact On Traditional Values, Donald E. Wildman, Benjamin W. Bull

University of Richmond Law Review

Most court watchers agree that the changing composition of the Supreme Court will ineluctably favor the interests of traditional values organizations like the American Family Association. The next decade will surely see the Court return to a more balanced approach in line with the preservation of family values. Certainly some will characterize the new Court as more conservative. To the extent that it will emphasize core principles in the Constitution as the bedrock from which it must proceed, it will be conservative. Yet this is simply a return of the Court to its intended function: interpretation and application of law …

The Supreme Court: New Hope For The Restoration Of Federalism, Beverly Lahaye, Ellen O. Smith

University of Richmond Law Review

The recent philosdphical shift of the Supreme Court toward a more restrained or "conservative" approach to constitutional adjudication brings with it hope for the revitalization of federalism as a constitutional and political principle.

Balancing The Federal Judiciary, Anne Bryant

University of Richmond Law Review

Since the American Association of University Women first published the associational brief "Balancing the Federal Judiciary" in 1988, two new Associate Justices (David Souter and Clarence Thomas) have joined the Supreme Court. The Court has continued to chip away at the rights of women and minorities, with damaging decisions in areas such as reproductive rights (e.g., Webster v. Reproductive Health Services) and employment discrimination(e.g., Wards Cove Packing Company v. Atonio). With a conservative majority in place on the Supreme Court until well into the next century and Reagan and Bush appointees comprising more than half of the nation's federal judges, …

Reagan, Bush And The Supreme Court, Arthur J. Kropp

University of Richmond Law Review

What may be the most significant achievement of the Reagan-Bush years is one we have only begun to appreciate: the radical revolution in the federal courts. After nearly three terms of conservative presidents bent on remaking the federal judiciary, the courts have been transformed. They are far more conservative, and, despite Administration rhetoric to the contrary, decidedly more activist.

A Social-Conservative Comment On The New Supreme Court, Gary L. Bauer

University of Richmond Law Review

I recall seeing a column, not long ago, which referred to the Supreme Court as increasingly "a right-wing playground." Liberal groups may be able to raise funds off this impression, but if conservatives rely on it, they are in for a rude awakening when the gavel falls.

Saving The Honorable Court: Assessing The Proper Role Of The Modern Supreme Court, Michael Allan Wolf

University of Richmond Law Review

There are few greater delights in legal scholarship than the opportunity to have the last word in a symposium featuring distinguished - and dramatically differing - viewpoints. The thirteen contributions that precede this afterword offer a provocative and representative set of reactions to the ongoing debate over the role of the Supreme Court in the American polity. This debate is by no means new, or even middle-aged. The struggle over the confirmation of Associate Justice Clarence Thomas is but the latest in a long line of pressure points in American constitutional history - events such as controversial Supreme Court decisions, …

Civil Justice Planning In The Montana Federal District, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The Montana Federal District Court recently finalized its civil justice expense and delay reduction plan under the Civil Justice Reform Act (CJRA) of 1990. In April, 1992, the Montana District essentially adopted whole cloth, and made effective, the civil justice plan that it had issued in December, 1991 to qualify for designation as an Early Implementation District Court (EIDC). Relatively few members of the Montana Bar exhibited much interest in the planning effort that preceded promulgation of the civil justice plan. Because the new procedural regime that the Montana District instituted could significantly change the character of federal court practice, …

More Women Named Federal Judges, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The essay initially assesses information pertinent to President Bush's record of appointments to the federal bench during his first three years in office. The prospects for future appointment of women are explored next. Finding these prospects inconclusive, this essay suggests that President Bush continue employing the constructive measures initiated during his administration's third year to name additional women while seriously considering the possibility of instituting even more vigorous efforts to appoint women in the future. Finally, the essay examines why greater numbers of women should be placed on the federal courts and how that goal can be attained.

Judicial Discretion And The 1983 Amendments To The Federal Civil Rules, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The first section of this Article briefly describes the developments which created the perception that the federal courts were experiencing a litigation explosion and which ultimately led to the promulgation of the 1983 amendments as one response to the perceived explosion. It also examines the substantive content of those changes, especially how the revisions enlarged federal judicial discretion. The second section evaluates the courts' implementation of the 1983 amendments and finds that this application has adversely affected numerous litigants, particularly civil rights plaintiffs, while providing some benefits, namely fostering more expeditious dispute resolution.

The third section provides suggestions for the …

The Gender Gap On The Federal Bench, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

This Commentary evaluates President George H.W. Bush's lackluster record of appointing women to the federal courts. The Commentary initially examines the relevant data on female judicial appointments and assesses why the Bush Administration has placed few women on the bench. It next recommends that President Bush name substantially more women in 1991 and 1992 and explores why and how this endeavor should be instituted. The Commentary then analyzes what the Bush Administration is likely to do about the paucity of female appointees. Because it is not clear that President Bush will place very many women on the federal courts, the …

Comparative American Judicial Systems, Jeffrey A. Parness

University of Richmond Law Review

Far too often when we discuss American courts and their judicial systems, we take little note of the significant differences in the ways in which cases are handled and law is practiced. We probably contemplate the dichotomy between trial and appellate courts; between rural and urban courts; between general and special jurisdiction courts; between state and federal courts; between courts with elected and selected judges; and between civil and criminal courts. We also surely contemplate the differences in attitudes, work habits, ideology, staff and the like which separate individual judges, and we inevitably contemplate the divergent judicial approaches to the …