Courts Commons^™

The Federal Judiciary Engendered, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The dearth of women named to cabinet level positions in the George H.W. Bush Administration does not augur well for appointment of women to the federal bench. Equally discouraging was Mr. Bush's campaign response to the question whether there should be special efforts to select more women for the federal judiciary: "[I] remain committed to appointing to the bench the best qualified candidates we can find-regardless of ... gender--and the record shows that we have been successful in fulfilling this commitment. " The record compiled by the Administration in which he served as Vice-President for two terms was deplorable.

To …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: The Rules Of Court For The General District Courts Of Virginia, J. R. Zepkin

University of Richmond Law Review

In the spring of 1986, a proposal was made to the Advisory Committee on the Rules of Court to the Judicial Council of Virginia (the "Advisory Committee") for a reorganization and review of the Rules of Court for the general district courts. The Advisory Committee authorized the creation of a subcommittee.

When Racists And Radicals Meet, Ronald J. Bacigal, Margaret Ivey Bacigal

Law Faculty Publications

In order to stimulate scholarly discussion, this Essay presents an empirical account of the Greensboro incident from the perspective of those who participated in the episode and in the resulting civil rights trial. The Essay traces the circumstances leading to the violence and reviews the resultant litigation with special attention given to the role of the trial judge in politically volatile cases. The candid reflections offered by the trial judge and other participants allow the reader to examine both the event and the litigation, not merely in the abstract, but as implemented by flesh-andblood lawyers, litigants, and judges. .

Grand Jury Reform: A Proposal For Change In Virginia, Charles E. Wall

University of Richmond Law Review

Once a cornerstone of American jurisprudence, the requirement of prosecution based upon grand jury indictment no longer stands unchallenged. Instead, alternate means of commencing prosecution, most notably by information and the preliminary hearing, have prompted lawmakers to look at the grand jury with a heightened scrutiny. Subsequently, such alternatives have become the primary prosecutorial tools in many states. Virginia, however, retains the grand jury system which was implemented in colonial times.

The School Pays The Piper, But How Much? Attorneys Fees In Special Education Cases After The Handicapped Children’S Protection Act Of 1986, Thomas F. Guernsey

Law Faculty Publications

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (the EHA) imposes significant responsibilities on local and state educational authorities to ensure that handicapped children are receiving free and appropriate public education. To protect this substantive right to education, Congress mandated extensive procedural protections, including the right to file a judicial action following exhaustion of administrative remedies. The EHA did not provide for the recovery of attorneys' fees, however, until the statute was recently amended. ...

Court Costs In Virginia, William Hamilton Bryson

Law Faculty Publications

Costs are certain official expenses of litigation that the court orders the losing party to pay to the prevailing party. They are not a part of the judgment but are appurtenant to it.

An Empirical Case Study Of Informal Alternative Dispute Resolution, Ronald J. Bacigal

Law Faculty Publications

The following Article is taken from that portion of Merhige's biography that addresses the Westinghouse uranium case of the 1970s, perhaps the first of the major "complex cases" to attract national attention. This case study provides an opportunity to examine a judicial decision making process involving four years of litigation, international discovery proceedings, judicial administrative guidelines, diverse national precepts of economics and politics, the interplay between the free market and multinational cartels and embargoes, and lastly, the personality of the trial judge. Shunning any pretense of passivity, Merhige initiated proceedings in the Westinghouse case by ignoring administrative protocol in order …

Appellate Delay As A Catalyst For Change In Virginia, Julie M. Carpenter

University of Richmond Law Review

A Virginia citizen injured in an automobile accident in 1988 who is denied compensation through trial court error will wait an average of 1,165 days (3.2 years) after trial for the Supreme Court of Virginia to rectify the matter. Of course, that wait is only for the seventeen percent of cases that the supreme court elects to review, since Virginia is one of the only states that grants no right of appeal in most civil and criminal cases. By way of limited contrast, a civil appeal in the North Carolina Supreme Court averages be- tween 241 days and 257 days. …

Bounds And Beyond: A Need To Reevaluate The Right Of Prisoner Access To The Courts, Steven D. Hinckley

University of Richmond Law Review

There is little doubt that a prisoner's most important right is access to the courts. Without access, prisoners have neither a forum in which to question the conditions and constitutionality of their confinement, nor an arena in which to seek vindication of other alleged rights violations. Therefore, the right of access is the foundation upon which other prisoners' rights are built.

Toward A Unified Approach To Privileges And Relevancy, Thomas F. Guernsey

Law Faculty Publications

No topic in evidence has received more attention from commentators than evidentiary privileges. In the writings on privilege, however, there has been little discussion that the auxiliary public policies excluding otherwise logically relevant evidence under relevance analysis are essentially the same as the public policies that underlie the creation of privileges. In fact, as a general matter, if no topic has received more attention than privileges, few topics have received less attention than relevancy, and there has been virtually no discussion of the connection between privilege analysis and relevancy analysis. ...

Virginia Should Open Its Courthouse Doors To Review Administrative Decisions Involving Public Assistance, Christopher Allen Stump, Jill A. Hanken

University of Richmond Law Review

Virginia's courts interpret the Virginia Administrative Process Act (VAPA) to prohibit judicial review of administrative decisions that grant or deny public assistance funds. Virginia is therefore one of only three states which fail to provide judicial review of such decisions. This article advocates judicial review of public assistance hearing decisions on the basis of principles of statutory construction and constitutional law. The article concludes that Virginia's minority status indicates a failure to meet traditional notions of fairness.

Review Of Virginia Lawyers Practice Handbook: Appellate Practice: Virginia And Federal Courts, William Hamilton Bryson

Law Faculty Publications

A book review on Virginia Lawyers Practice Handbook: Appellate Practice: Virginia and Federal Courts by the Committee on Continuing Legal Education of the Virginia Law Foundation.

The Federal Court Across The Street: Constitutional Limits On Federal Court Assertions Of Personal Jurisdiction, Pamela J. Stephens

University of Richmond Law Review

Twenty years ago, in a clear break with accepted theory, it was suggested that there were certain constitutional limitations on a federal court's authority to exercise personal jurisdiction. Such a departure from the traditional view might be expected to prompt an extensive examination of that issue by commentators. However, while assertions of personal jurisdiction by state courts have been the subject of intense scrutiny and ongoing constitutional refinements, this has not been the case regarding assertions of personal jurisdiction by federal courts. Generally, federal district courts sitting in diversity cases must look to personal jurisdiction limitations inherent in the state …

Hearings On Jury Bias Or Misconduct, Ronald J. Bacigal

Law Faculty Publications

In the recent cases of Smith v. Phillips, and Rushen v. Spain, the United States Supreme Court recognized that judicial review of ex parte contacts with a sitting jury may raise a number of separate but interrelated constitutional rights: (1) the right to an impartial jury; (2) the right to a due process post-trial hearing on jury bias; (3) a possible due process right to a mid-trial hearing on jury bias; (4) the defendant's right to be present at such mid· trial hearings; and (5) the right to be represented at such mid-trial hearings. As Justice Stevens noted in his …

From O'Callahan To Chappell: The Burger Court And The Military, Stephen J. Kaczynski

University of Richmond Law Review

In 1969, the United States was deeply committed to a ground war in Southeast Asia in which the suffering and death was brought home daily to the American television viewer. Distrust of the military was never higher, as the repeated assertions of the imminent collapse of the enemy had apparently been graphically belied a year earlier in the Tet Offensive. As a newly elected President pledged to bring "peace with honor" to a war which seemed amenable to neither, Justice Douglas announced the decision of the Court in O'Callahan v. Parker.

The Prejudicial Effects Of Cameras In The Courtroom, Robert J. Fuoco

University of Richmond Law Review

The Supreme Court recently held in Chandler v. Florida, that absent a showing of actual prejudice, it is not per se unconstitutional to televise trials over the objection of the defendant. This decision has a direct bearing on state court procedures, as over one-half of the states currently permit television coverage of trials in one form or another. However, sheer numbers supporting a proposition do not make that proposition "right", nor does a Supreme Court decision upholding its constitutionality imply an unqualified stamp of approval. In fact, previous Supreme Court decisions have overturned convictions because the defendant's right to a …

The Marsh Trilogy: The Virginia Supreme Court Examines The Freedom Of Information Act, Steven L. Higgs

University of Richmond Law Review

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act ("the Act" or "the Virginia Act") requires that all meetings of public bodies be open to the public. One of the purposes of the Act is "to ensure to the people ... free entry to meetings of public bodies wherein the business of the people is beifig conducted." In three cases decided March 12, 1982, the Virginia Supreme Court examined some of the exceptions to this general requirement provided by the Act in section 2.1-344 of the Virginia Code. This section provides the specific purposes for which "executive or closed meetings" may be held …

Overview Of Virginia Supreme Court Cases On Domestic Relations: 1970-1980, Peter N. Pross

University of Richmond Law Review

The Supreme Court of Virginia examined a variety of domestic relations problems and issues during the last decade. Most of the court's decisions involved divorce issues such as jurisdiction, alimony or support and maintenance, and child custody or support orders. However, the court also decided cases on annulment, the enforcement of support and maintenance decrees, legitimacy and paternity, adoption, name changes and intrafamily tort immunity.

The Virginia Judicial Council's Intermediate Appellate Court Proposal, Martha B. Brissette

University of Richmond Law Review

The ever-expanding volume of appellate litigation in Virginia has engendered a crisis in appellate justice in this state which can be adequately addressed only by the creation of an intermediate appellate court. Not only is Virginia the most populous state without such an intermediate court, its highest court also has the largest caseload of any single state appellate court.

Discovery Of Penalites, William Hamilton Bryson

Law Faculty Publications

The purpose of this essay is to discuss some aspects of the scope of the privilege against self-incrimination. It will consider first what can not be and then what can be discovered by the common law of England before 1776, when the first republican constitution of Virginia was promulgated. Finally, the developments in Virginia and federal practice will be dealt with.

Service Of Process In Virginia, William Hamilton Bryson

Law Faculty Publications

Initial process is an official summons to a person requiring him to appear in court and defend himself or suffer default judgment. The purpose of the summons is notification to the defendant.

The Fcc, Cable Tv, And Visions Of Valhalla: Judicial Scrutiny Of Complex Rulemaking And Institutional Competence, Allen E. Shoenberger

University of Richmond Law Review

A number of recent decisions by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, its counterpart for the Eighth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court, have substantially curtailed the power of the FCC to regulate the growth of cable television. Such regulation has proved to be a very complicated and extended saga of FCC activity, one measure of which was the extraordinary justification for publishing a per curiam opinion in Home Box Office, Inc. v. FCC: "not because it has received less than full consideration by the court, but because the complexity of the issues raised …

A Family Court For Virginia, Frederick P. Aucamp

University of Richmond Law Review

The 1976 and 1977 sessions of the General Assembly of Virginia established a legislative study commission to consider the establishment of a family court system in Virginia. The study was conducted by the Family Court Subcommittee of the Virginia Advisory Legislative Council Committee to Study Services to Youthful Offenders, and its report was submitted to the Governor and to the General Assembly on January 6, 1978.

The Revision Of Virginia's Juvenile Court Law, Lelia Baum Hopper, Frank M. Slayton

University of Richmond Law Review

Since 1899, the year in which the state of Illinois established a separate statutory framework for addressing the problems of children before the courts, the juvenile justice system has been struggling to establish its identity in the jurisprudence of the United States. The juvenile court laws of this country, including those of the Commonwealth of Virginia, have historically been based on the doctrine of "parens patriae", which is formally defined as the "sovereign power of guardianship over persons under disability."' According to this doctrine, the state, through the court system, can be trusted to fulfill its obligation with respect to …

Sentencing Alternatives For Virginia General District Courts, Jose R. Davila Jr., Robert L. Mordhorst

University of Richmond Law Review

The endless parade of humanity that passes before the benches of Virginia's general district courts accused of minor offenses presents to those charged with deciding these cases one of the most challenging judicial tasks of our day. The challenge in addition to deciding guilt or innocence is also determining what to do with those judged guilty. Those decisions influence to one degree or another the direction of peoples lives for their own and society's good or ill. Most of the offenders appearing before these courts are young people, often first offenders. The behavior patterns of their lives are not yet …

Juvenile Court And Arrest Records, Adrienne E. Volenik

Law Faculty Publications

Recognizing the near impossibility of changing societal views toward juvenile offenders, many legislators have at- tempted instead to combat the harmful effects of a delinquency adjudication by providing for concealment of juvenile records, on the grounds that such concealment will aid the child's reintegration into society.

Workmen's Compensation Benefits Recoverable On The Existence Of A Quasi Contract, David Frisch

Law Faculty Publications

An analysis on a worker's compensation case decided by the Supreme Court of Florida.

The Virginia Supreme Court: Authority Versus Power To Abolish The Common Law

University of Richmond Law Review

The question of whether a state supreme court has the authority to abolish or modify a common law rule which is incorporated into the law of that state has been a frequent issue in courts throughout the United States. Every state, except Louisiana, has adopted the common law by statute or constitutional provision. Virginia has employed both methods.

The Burger Court: Discord In Search And Seizure, Robert S. Irons

University of Richmond Law Review

The accession of Mr. Chief Justice Burger to the Supreme Court of the United States was expected to signal the limitation of constitutional doctrines by which the Court had enhanced the rights of the criminal defendant. The fulfillment of this expectation has been generally marked by decisions which have been readily and quickly comprehensible. For example, the prosecution was prohibited by the Warren Court from employing any products of the defendant's custodial interrogation in the absence of a warning of his right to counsel and his right to remain silent; the statement so procured is still barred in the case …

Jim Payne - The Man, Julian E. Savage

University of Richmond Law Review

Others will remember him as a teacher; as a colleague; as a scholar. I remember the man-a very human man-an exceptionally sensitive man. Some, who had contact with him only during the last year or two of his life, should know that illness and fatigue were then his' daily companions, forcing concessions of his time and brilliance, and making it impossible for him to give as fully of himself to his students as he had done for so many years past.