Courts Commons^™

Grass Roots Procedure: Local Advisory Groups And The Civil Justice Reform Act Of 1990, Lauren K. Robel

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Pluralism, The Prisoner's Dilemma, And The Behavior Of The Independent Judiciary, Thomas W. Merrill

Faculty Scholarship

Discussions of Thayer's conception of judicial review, as this symposium amply demonstrates, tend to be normative. Professor Nick Zeppos's paper, which offers more of a positive analysis, is therefore a welcome addition. Zeppos's paper includes three especially valuable insights. First, he demonstrates the close parallel between Thayer's theory of judicial review and the Supreme Court's Chevron doctrine. The former would have the judiciary enforce clear constitutional commands but otherwise defer to legislative understandings of constitutional meaning; the latter would have courts enforce clear legislative commands but otherwise defer to administrative interpretations of statutes. Second, he offers evidence that in both …

Specifying Grounds For Judicial Disqualification In Federal Courts., Leslie W. Abramson

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

One essential component of equal justice under the law is a neutral and detached judge to preside over the court proceedings. Public confidence in the legal system is maintained when a judge has no interest in the parties, attorneys or subject matter of the litigation. Sua sponte or by motion of a party, a federal judge is subject to disqualification for conflicts of interest on both constitutional and statutory grounds

Historical Framework For Reviving Constitutional Protection For Property And Contract Rights , James L. Kainen

Faculty Scholarship

Post-New Deal constitutionalism is in search of a theory that justifies judicial intervention on behalf of individual rights while simultaneously avoiding the charge of "Lochnerism."' The dominant historical view dismisses post-bellum substantive due process as an anomalous development in the American constitutional tradition. Under this approach, Lochner represents unbounded protection for economic rights that permitted the judiciary to read laissez faire, pro-business policy preferences into the constitutional text. Today's revisionists have mounted a substantial challenge to the dismissive views of traditionalists. Indeed, some claim Lochner reached the right result, but for the wrong reason. The revisionists characterize substantive due process …

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 …

Review Of The Supreme Court's 1992-93 Term For The Transnational Practitioner, J. Clark Kelso

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Pretext Or Pretext-Plus: What Must A Plaintiff Prove To Win A Title Vii Lawsuit? An Analysis Of St. Mary's Honor Center V. Hicks, Barbara J. Fick

Journal Articles

This article previews the Supreme Court case St. Mary's Honor Center v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502 (1993). The author expected the Court to address whether, in the context of an employment discrimination case under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a plaintiff should prevail upon proof that the legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons advanced by the defendant as its motives for an adverse employment action are pretextural.

Does Sexual Harassment Require Proof Of Psychological Injury? An Analysis Of Harris V. Forklift Systems, Barbara J. Fick

Journal Articles

This article previews the Supreme Court case Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc., 510 U.S. 17 (1993). The author expected the Court to address whether, under Title VII the Civil Rights Act of 1965, a plaintiff is required to prove that he or she suffered psychological injury as a result of sexual harassment in the workplace in order to prove a hostile-environment.

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 Case Of The Disappearing Briefs: A Study In Preservation Strategy, Margaret A. Leary

Articles

Federal appellate court records and briefs are significant to researchers in many disciplines, but academic law libraries are discarding them. Ms. Leary chronicles the demise of paper holdings in law libraries, the rise of microforms, and the contents and usage of the National Archives and Records Administration's files. She then derives principles for preservation strategies that may apply to other categories of legal material.

Does Sec Rule 10b-5 Provide An Implied Private Right Of Action For Aiding And Abetting Securities Fraud?, Matthew J. Barrett

Journal Articles

This case concerns the civil liability of persons who aid and abet securities fraud in violation of federal law. First, the Supreme Court will decide if federal securities law recognizes an implied private right of action against those who aid and abet securities fraud. Second, if the Court concludes that there is a private right of action, it is asked to decide if recklessness satisfies the mental-state requirement which lower courts have held is a prerequisite for imposing civil liability.

Recognizing And Enforcing State And Tribal Judgements: A Roundtable Discussion Of Law, Policy, And Practice, Richard E. Ransom, Christine Zuni, P. S. Deloria, Robert N. Clinton

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reel Time/Real Justice, Kimberlé W. Crenshaw

Faculty Scholarship

Like the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings a few months before, the Rodney King beating, the acquittal of the Los Angeles police officers who "restrained" him and the subsequent civil unrest in Los Angeles flashed Race across the national consciousness and the gaze of American culture momentarily froze there. Pieces of everyday racial dynamics briefly seemed clear, then faded from view, replaced by presidential politics and natural disasters.

This Essay examines in more depth what was exposed during the momentary national focus on Rodney King. Two main events – the acquittal of the police officers who beat King and the civil …

Abortion And The Pied Piper Of Compromise, Annette E. Clark

Faculty Articles

In this article, Professor Clark offers a detailed analysis of the controversy among legal scholars which has long surrounded the issue of legal regulation of abortion. Professor Clark begins by focusing on a recent book by Professor Laurence Tribe, Abortion: The Clash of Absolutes. She argues that although Tribe claims to seek a compromise solution to the abortion problem, he fails in this pursuit both because he does not truly search for compromise and because he is unwilling to explore intermediate moral or legal positions that are not acceptable to either the pro-choice or pro-life movements. In contrast, Professor Clark …

A Date With Justice: Prostitution And The Decriminalization Debate, Margaret A. Baldwin

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article critiques the decriminalization of prostitution, arguing that it fails to address the systemic exploitation and violence faced by women in prostitution. The author contends that decriminalization would empower pimps, johns, and legal systems to further exploit women, as it legitimizes their power dynamics. The analysis emphasizes the need to prioritize the survival and empowerment of prostituted women over legal reforms that benefit their exploiters.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Equal Educational Opportunity: The Rehnquist Court Revisits Green And Swann, Brian K. Landsberg

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Identity, George P. Fletcher

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Comment, Agnes Heller

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Court’S Role In Interbranch Disputes Over Oversight Of Agency Rulemaking, John J. Gibbons

Cardozo Law Review

This paper is adapted from the Uri and Caroline Bauer Memorial Lecture delivered at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University, on March 10, 1992.

Grand Jury Charges Delivered By Supreme Court Justices Riding Circuit During The 1790s, David J. Katz

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Aspirational Constitution, Robin West

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Firmly embedded in every theory of judicial decisionmaking lies an important set of assumptions about the way government is supposed to work. Sometimes these theories about government are made explicit. More often they are not. Moreover, deeply embedded in every theory of government is a theory of human nature. Although these assumptions about human nature generally remain latent within the larger theory, because they provide the underpinnings for our ideas about the way government is supposed to work, they drive our notions about judicial decisionmaking. For example, the theory of government reflected in the United States Constitution reveals what one …

New Rule 50 May End Directed Verdicts For Plaintiffs, Michael J. Waggoner

Publications

No abstract provided.