Courts Commons^™

Building On Bedrock: The Continued Evolution Of Jury Reform, G. Thomas Munsterman, Paula L. Hannaford-Agor

Faculty Publications

Abundantly clear is that, far from being an enclave from the pressures and concerns of contemporary society, jury service readily absorbs and reflects those concerns in ways that can both support and challenge the American jus­tice system. Some of these concerns cut across many stages of jury service, and their effects are felt in unexpected ways. To sift through and identify the most noteworthy jury improvement efforts and concerns in the last seven years, we turned to technology (coincidently one of the hottest topics in jury service) and examined the topics that subscribers to Jur-E Bulletin, the National Center …

The Ultimate Independence Of The Federal Courts: Defying The Supreme Court In The Exercise Of Federal Common Law Powers, Ronald H. Rosenberg

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Retaining Judicial Authority: A Preliminary Inquiry On The Dominion Of Judges, Larry Catá Backer

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Why do the people and institutions of democratic states, and in particular those of the United States, obey judges ? This article examines the foundations of judicial authority in the United States. This authority is grounded on principles of dominance derived from the organization of institutional religion. The judge in Western states asserts authority on the same basis as the priest - but not the priest as conventionally understood. Rather, the authority of the judge in modern Western democratic states is better understood when viewed through the analytical lens of priestly function developed in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. Focusing …

Constitutional Empiricism: Quasi-Neutral Principles And Constitutional Truths, Timothy Zick

Faculty Publications

The absence of neutrality and objectivity in constitutional decision-making has vexed scholars and courts. In this Article, the author describes and analyzes "constitutional empiricism," a trend instituted by the Rehnquist Court, which is characterized by judicial reliance in constitutional review on empirical and scientific conventions and processes. Courts have generally relied upon traditional sources, such as text and history, to interpret consititutional powers and rights. In its search for neutrality and objectivity, however, the Court has recently turned not only to social science and other data, which are fast becoming common sources of interpretation, but also to the precepts and …

Evaluation Of The Centers For Complex Civil Litigation Pilot Program, Paula Hannaford-Agor, Nicole L. Mott, Timothy F. Fautsko

Faculty Publications

In January 2000, the Judicial Council responded to a recommendation of the Complex Litigation Task Force (task force) by establishing the Centers for Complex Litigation Pilot Program in the Superior Courts of Los Angeles, Orange, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Alameda, and San Francisco counties. The task force recommendation was one of several proposed to improve judicial management of complex cases as a means to expedite case resolution, keeps costs reasonable, and promote effective decision making by the courts, parties and counsel. Participation in the Pilot Program required each site to commit to an individual calendar system dedicated exclusively to complex …

Mass Torts: Lessons In Competing Strategies And Unintended Consequences, Paula Hannaford-Agor, G. Thomas Munsterman, Barbara Kelly

Popular Media

Most of the existing problems associated with the management of mass tort litigation are the result of fundamentally incompatible strategies that plaintiffs’ lawyers, defense lawyers, and state and federal judges have each adopted over time to deal with the logistics of resolving hundreds, even thousands, of similar cases filed in state and federal courts. Indeed, competing strategies can be found not only between the various players in litigation, but even within subgroups of players. Described in this article are the various strategies employed by different players and the consequences when those strategies have succeeded.

Congress And The Making Of The Second Rehnquist Court, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Research On Self-Represented Litigation: Preliminary Results And Methodological Considerations, Paula Hannaford-Agor, Nicole Mott

Faculty Publications

As various programs for self-represented litigants proliferate and costs increase, fund­ing agencies are beginning to demand that programs demonstrate their effectiveness through empirical evaluation. This article recounts some of the lessons learned from a National Center for State Courts' research project on improving access to justice for self-represented litigants. First, the article briefly describes the problems faced by courts as a result of the influx of self-represented litigants. The article then describes automated case-level data and litigant self-reported data from five jurisdictions and some preliminary findings. We conclude with a discussion of problems that we encoun­tered in analyzing those data.

Helping The Pro Se Litigant: A Changing Landscape, Paula Hannaford-Agor

Faculty Publications

This article describes how the influx of self-represented litigants has forced many within the court and legal communities to reconsider some of the fundamental premises on which the civil justice system is based and to respond in new and creative ways to changing litigant demands on existing court and legal resources. It focuses on changes to the delivery of legal services to low- and moderate-income people, especially the emergence of “unbundled” legal services, and addresses the practical implications related to the distinction between legal information and legal advice. Finally, it describes how judges and court staff are rethinking the conceptual …

Nullification At Work? A Glimpse From The National Center For State Courts Study Of Hung Juries, Paula Hannaford-Agor, Valerie P. Hans

Faculty Publications

In 1998, the National Institute of Justice awarded a grant to the National Center for State Courts ("NCSC") to examine the frequency and various causes of hung juries. One of the factors that the NCSC project staff investigated was jurors' perceptions of the fairness of the law they were asked to apply in felony trials as well as jury and case characteristics that are often associated with jury nullification. The project also asked judges and other court actors to rate the strength of the evidence in the case. Thus, the project enabled researchers to examine jurors' views, the evidence, and …

Judicial Selection As War, Michael J. Gerhardt

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Outcomes Analysis Of Scope Of Review Standards, Paul R. Verkuil

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Are Hung Juries A Problem?, Paula Hannaford-Agor, Valerie P. Hans, Nicole L. Mott, G. Thomas Munsterman

Faculty Publications

Providing an empirical picture of hung juries was the principal objective for this 4-year study by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) with funding by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). The research methodology was envisioned as a two-phase process. In the first phase, the NCSC proposed to conduct a broad-based survey of hung jury rates in state and federal courts while the second phase consisted of an in-depth examination of jury behavior in 10 jurisdictions to compare case and jury characteristics in felony trials that result in a verdict to those that result in jury deadlock. The types …

The Steel Seizure Case: One Of A Kind?, Neal Devins, Louis Fisher

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Disturbing And Inspiring, Paula Hannaford-Agor

Faculty Publications

Book review of A Trial by Jury, by D. Graham Burnett, Knopf, 2001.

Access To Justice For The Self-Represented Litigant: An Interdisciplinary Investigation By Designers And Lawyers, Ronald W. Staudt, Paula Hannaford-Agor

Faculty Publications

To assist courts, the National Center for State Courts, in partnership with the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design and the Chicago-Kent College of Law, launched a research project to examine court processes and recommend modifications to eliminate or reduce procedural barriers to access for self-represented litigants. The projects had three major tasks: (1) to identify major barriers to access to justice that self-represented litigants encounter due to court procedures and administrative requirements; (2) to employ system design methodology to redesign court processes to remove those barriers, and (3) to translate the conceptual model for redesigned court system into …

Speaking Rights: Evaluating Juror Discussions During Civil Trials, Paula Hannaford-Agor, Valerie P. Hans, G. Thomas Munsterman

Faculty Publications

The Arizona Supreme Court endorsed the objective that jury trials "allow for a more demo­cratic juror experience" and "are more educational and less adversarial" and urged judges and trial attorneys to be "open to doing some old things in new ways, to be more receptive to the jurors' needs to learn better and to actively par­ticipate to a greater degree in the fact-finding process. Acting on 55 recommendations of its Committee on the More Effective Use of Juries, the court enacted new rules. But one reform--permitting jurors in civil cases to discuss the evidence among themselves before final delib­erations--proved to …

The Bush Administration And Appeals Court Nominees, Carl Tobias

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The "Blue Slip": Enforcing The Norms Of The Judicial Confirmation Process, Brannon P. Denning

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Introduction To The Symposium: The Judicial Process Appointments Process, Carly Van Orman

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Comparing Judicial Selection Systems, Lee Epstein, Jack C. Knight, Olga Shvetsova

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Aba's Role In Prescreening Federal Judicial Candidates: Are We Ready To Give Up On The Lawyers?, Laura E. Little

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Questioning Of Lower Federal Court Nominees At Senate Confirmation Hearings, William Ross

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Courtroom Technology Wars Are Here!, Fredric I. Lederer

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Court Administration As A Tool For Judicial Reform, Christie S. Warren

Faculty Publications

This paper focuses on court administration as a component of judicial branch reform in the United States and other countries.

Over the past fifty years, state and federal court systems in the United States have undergone a process of significant change. At the beginning of the twentieth century, courts were largely dependent upon the executive branch of government for administrative support and were for the most part externally dominated, disorganized, and poorly managed. By the end of the century, they had undergone a process of administrative innovation and improvement that changed the way they were managed. In other countries, judicial …

Antitrust And The Information Age: Section 2 Monopolization Analyses In The New Economy, A. Benjamin Spencer

Faculty Publications

On April 3, 2000, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson declared that the Microsoft Corporation ("Microsoft") had maintained monopoly power in the personal computer operating system market by anticompetitive means, in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. A case of enormous significance, Microsoft raises difficult questions regarding how antitrust laws should be applied to information technology ("IT') companies. Specifically, many characteristics of what has come to be called the "New Economy" - and of the IT companies within it - suggest that traditional monopolization analysis may need modification. As the U.S. has moved toward an information- based …

Social Meaning And School Vouchers, Neal Devins

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Safeguarding Juror Privacy: A New Framework For Court Policies And Procedures, Paula Hannaford-Agor

Faculty Publications

This article briefly discusses the difficulty courts face in balancing the privacy of citizens summoned for jury service with the rights of litigants and the public to information about those individuals. I propose that focusing on the content of the information re­quested of prospective jurors and the purposes for which juror infor­mation is used by courts provides a more helpful analysis than the legal framework traditionally employed in case law. Specifically, I argue that distinguishing between information that is relevant and information that is not relevant to the fairness or im­partiality of prospective jurors should be the primary analytical framework …

Focus On Business And Complex Litigation Courts, Paula Hannaford-Agor, David Rottman, Roxana Gonzalez

Popular Media

On November 16, 1999, the National Center for State Courts convened a Justice Roundtable at which representatives from the Delaware, New York, and California business and complex litigation courts described their respective procedures to an audience of judicial, corporate and bar leaders. The Justice Roundtable is an annual joint meeting of the National Center's Board of Directors and Lawyers and Corporate Counsel Committees dedicated to a current issue in the administration of justice. The purpose of this Roundtable was to discuss innovative methods and successful approaches for managing business and complex litigation, and to identify the principle issues and problems. …

The Effect Of Courtroom Technologies On And In Appellate Proceedings And Courtrooms, Fredric I. Lederer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.