Courts Commons^™

Civil Justice Reform Symposium: Introduction, James F. Hogg

Faculty Scholarship

Many people in the United States are not happy about the way in which litigation proceeds. In a country sometimes thought to be overpopulated with lawyers, either one party or both parties in a significant percentage of civil cases apparently cannot afford, or decline to retain, legal counsel. Financing for legal aid seems to be less than adequate, pro bono services are helping to some extent, but the administration of civil justice is in danger of sinking in the swamp of pro se ("do-it-yourself') litigation. The articles in this symposium discuss ideas for reform, such as introductory resources directed at …

The Breard Case And The Virtues Of Forbearance, John G. Douglass

Law Faculty Publications

At a time when the scheduled execution of Angel Francisco Breard made Virginia the focus of a groundbreaking controversy over the reach of internationallaw into the domestic criminal process of the United States, law students and faculty at the University of Richmond had the unique opportunity to consider the case along with Philippe Sands, then a Visiting Allen Chair Professor at the University.

Civil Justice Reform Sunset, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

This article uses the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 (CJRA) as the backdrop for addressing efforts to increase uniformity, simplicity, and transsubstantivity, and to decrease expense and delay in civil litigation. Professor Tobias discusses both the origin and the implementation of the CJRA. By requiring each federal district court to formulate a civil justice expense and delay reduction plan, the purpose of the CJRA is to decrease expense and delay in civil litigation. Professor Tobias argues that the CIRA has been successful because districts have applied techniques that have saved cost and time and have provided new data that …

Historical Water Use And The Protection Of Vested Rights: A Challenge For Colorado Water Law, James N. Corbridge Jr.

Publications

No abstract provided.

Second Circuit: Study Of Gender, Race, And Ethnicity, George Lange Iii

University of Richmond Law Review

In 1993, at the request of then Chief Judge Jon O. Newman, the Judicial Council of the Second Circuit created a Task Force on Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts. The Task Force, which was comprised of six judicial officers and a citizen participant from each of the Circuit's three states, was asked to study issues of gender, race, and ethnicity in the courts of the Second Circuit, and to report back to the Judicial Council on its findings and recommendations.

Third Circuit: Gender, Race, And Ethnicity- Task Force On Equal Treatment In The Courts, Dolores K. Sloviter

University of Richmond Law Review

The March 1993 vote of the Judicial Conference of the United States endorsing the provision of the proposed Violence Against Women Act that encouraged circuit judicial councils to conduct studies with respect to gender bias in their respective circuits provided an official imprimatur of approval to such inquiries by the policy making body of the federal courts. Thereafter, the extent to which each federal circuit undertook to accept the invitation to proceed may have depended in large part on the zeal for the inquiry by the chief judge of the circuit or his or her delegated committee.

Ninth Circuit: The Gender Bias Task Force, Procter Hug Jr., Marilyn L. Huff, John C. Coughenour

University of Richmond Law Review

In 1990, the federal courts of the Ninth Circuit began to examine the effects of gender on the business of the courts. The pioneering FinalReport of the Ninth Circuit Gender Bias Task Force1 was issued in July 1993 and the Ninth Circuit has worked to implement the task force's recommendations for several years. To assist others setting forth on a similar journey, this article summarizes the circuit's experience in undertaking a study of this magnitude and duration.

Death In The Federal Courts: Expectations And Realities Of The Federal Death Penalty Act Of 1994, John P. Cunningham

University of Richmond Law Review

"Thou shalt not kill." These four words have echoed throughout the churches, judicial courts, and political meeting places of men and women for time immemorial. Along with their deep religious and political significance, they carry with them a haunting contrast to the current state of mankind: men and women can kill other men and women-legally. In the United States, this "legal" killing, commonly referred to as the "death penalty," traditionally takes place within the confines of the individual state judicial systems, and generally involves the execution of felons tried and convicted of some form of intentional murder.

D.C. Circuit: Study Of Gender, Race, And Ethnic Bias, John Garrett Penn, Matthew J. Devries

University of Richmond Law Review

The District of Columbia Circuit became the first federal circuit to establish a Task Force on race and gender bias. In 1992, the Task Force, which was comprised of judges from the D.C. Circuit, created two committees-the Special Committee on Gender and the Special Committee on Race and Ethnicity-to assist the Task Force in its research. The committees were comprised of academics, social science advisors of national recognition, and leading attorneys.

Interview: The Federal Courts: Observations From Thirty Years On The Bench, Robert R. Merhige Jr., J. Christopher Lemons

University of Richmond Law Review

This is an interview of Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr of the Eastern District of Virginia.

Will Inquiry Produce Action? Studying The Effects Of Gender In The Federal Courts, Lynn Hecht Schafran

University of Richmond Law Review

When the Ninth Circuit Gender Bias Task Force released its report at the Circuit's 1992 Judicial Conference, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor offered this perspective:

A couple of years ago, I gave a speech in which I discussed the existence of a glass ceiling for women. The next day, headlines and newspaper articles trumpeted my statements as if I had made a surprising new discovery. But it is now 1992, and I don't think most of us were surprised to learn that the [Ninth Circuit] Task Force found the exis- tence of gender bias in a federal circuit. After all, over …

Austin Owen Lecture: Difficulties, Dangers & Challenges Facing The Judiciary Today, Robert E. Payne

University of Richmond Law Review

Judge Payne presented this address at The Sixth Annual Austin Owen Lecture on November 18, 1997. The Honorable Austin E. Owen attended Richmond College from 1946-47 and received his law degree from The T.C. Williams School of Law in 1950. During his distinguished career, Judge Owen served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; a partner in Owen, Gray, Rhodes, Betz, Smith and Dickerson; and was appointed Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit of Virginia where he served until his retirement in 1990. The Law School community grieved the loss of this distinguished alumnus upon his …

Understanding Mahon In Historical Context, William Michael Treanor

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Despite its enormous influence on constitutional law, Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon is just such an opinion; the primary purpose of the author’s article Jam for Justice Holmes: Reassessing the Significance of Mahon is to clarify Holmes's intent by placing the opinion in historical context and in the context of Holmes's other opinions. While other scholars have also sought to place Mahon in context, his account differs in large part because of its recognition, as part of the background of Mahon, of a separate line of cases involving businesses affected with a public interest.

The author argues that at …

Does New York's Death Penalty Statute Violate The New York Constitution?, Honorable Stewart F. Hancock Jr., Christopher Quinn, Richard Klein

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Note To Our Readers, The Editors

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Reliance On Regulatory Interpretations In Sec No-Action Letters: Current Problems And A Proposed Framework, Donna M. Nagy

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Judicial descriptions of SEC no-action letters have run the gamut from law, to orders, to rulings, to informal opinions, to prosecutorial decisions. This judicial failure to characterize no-action letters consistently is symptomatic of a more fundamental problem: many courts treat informal regulatory interpretations in no-action letters as interchangeable with formal and official regulatory interpretations that the full Commission has promulgated. Consequently, courts often defer automatically to the regulatory interpretations in no-action letters. In other words, many courts accept no-action letter authority as definitive interpretations of the federal securities statutes and SEC rules and regulations without independently analyzing the particular regulatory …

State Of Ohio V. Richard D. Chilton And State Of Ohio V. John W. Terry: The Suppression Hearing And Trial Transcripts, John Q. Barrett

Faculty Publications

This appendix to Deciding the Stop and Frisk Cases: A Look Inside the Supreme Court’s Conference, 72 St. John’s L. Rev. 749 (1998), includes Biographical Information on the Participants in the Case; and transcripts of the complete pretrial and trial proceedings in the 1964 criminal prosecutions of Richard Chilton and John Terry, arranged by Prof. Barrett to create the organization reflected in the Table of Contents at the beginning of the appendix. Footnotes were added to provide citations and, in a few instances, to clarify the text. Bracketed material was added to correct obvious slips of the tongue or the …

First Circuit: A Study Of Gender Bias In And Around The Courts, Bruce M. Selya

University of Richmond Law Review

Beginning with the state courts of New Jersey in 1984, almost every state in the country and numerous federal circuits have mounted initiatives to address issues of gender bias in the courts. While individual approaches have varied, each of these judicial units has displayed an increasing sensitivity to the potential problems of bias in the courts and a desire to actively improve the treatment of female litigants, witnesses, employees, and attorneys throughout the judicial system.

Tenth Circuit: Gender Bias Study- Continuing Education And Training, David M. Ebel

University of Richmond Law Review

The Tenth Circuit Study of Gender Bias and Sexual Harassment was initiated in September 1995 with a study of the District of Wyoming. Prior to that time a number of federal courts and individual states had undertaken comprehensive studies of gender bias. Most of the existing literature was based upon quantitative data using survey research methodology calculated to obtain a number of confidential responses, which produced substantial valuable information.

Advisory Opinions By Federal Courts, Phillip M. Kannan

University of Richmond Law Review

Since 1793, the affirmative grant of authority to federal courts in Article III of the Constitution to hear and decide cases or controversies has been interpreted to prohibit these courts from giving advisory opinions. In that year, United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Jay, Justice Cushing, and District Judge Duane rejected a provision in a 1792 act of Congress that would have required the Supreme Court to settle federal pension claims of widows and orphans subject to the approval of the Secretary of War. The basis for the position taken by the Chief Justice was "that neither the legislative nor …

The Eastern District Of Virginia: A Working Solution For Civil Justice Reform, Heather Russell Koenig

University of Richmond Law Review

It has been referred to as "the fastest, fairest, federal court in the country," "the most efficient, professional federal court in the nation," the court "known for moving things along quickly" and where "cases zoom through the system faster than at any other federal court in the nation." Where is this court that is "so efficient that it could be used as a model for the rest of the country?" It is the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Eleventh Circuit: "Executive Summary" - Report Of The Eleventh Circuit Task Force On Gender Bias, Joseph W. Hatchett

University of Richmond Law Review

In 1993 the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Council's Task Force on Gender Bias was established. It was the Mandate of this Task Force to study the effects of gender in the Eleventh Circuit and the courts that comprise the Eleventh Circuit. The Task Force elected to employ survey methods to discover whether or not various members of the court family believed that gender bias existed, if so in what form, and whether or not such bias affects the judicial process.

The New York Court Of Appeals: 150 Years Of Leading Decisions, Stewart E. Sterk

Articles

During its first 150 years, the New York Court of Appeals has had more impact on more areas of law than any other court in the United States. Other state courts-the California Supreme Court in the Traynor era, the New Jersey Supreme Court under Chief Justice Weintraub, to take two obvious examples-have had enormous impact, but no other state court has generated leading case after leading case in every decade for 150 years. Federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court, have had an enormous impact on American law, but that impact has been concentrated in public law; no federal …

[1997 Developments Concerning] International Courts And Tribunals, Roger P. Alford, Peter H.F. Bekker

Journal Articles

The most significant developments in 1997 regarding international courts and tribunals are reviewed herein, particularly events relating to the International Court of Justice, the United Nations Compensation Commission (a quasi-tribunal), the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, and the proposed permanent International Criminal Court. Other significant developments relating to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and dispute settlement within the World Trade Organization are detailed in other reports in this issue.

[1997] Enforcement Of Foreign Judgments, Roger P. Alford, Christopher Gibson

Journal Articles

From the Article

As was the case last year, neither the Supreme Court nor Congress addressed the general area of enforcement of foreign judgments in 1997. The new cases therefore continue to reflect the well established comity principles articulated in the Supreme Court's seminal 1895 decision in Hilton v. Guyot. Several developments occurred with respect to two cases that were discussed in last year's section, and these cases are given first treatment below.

Who's Responsible? Employer Liability For Supervisors' Hostile-Environment Sexual Harassment: An Analysis Of Faragher V. City Of Boca Raton, Barbara J. Fick

Journal Articles

This article previews the Supreme Court case Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775 (1998). The author expected the Court to address the issue of under what circumstances an employer is liabile under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for a supervisor's sexual harassement that creates a hostile work environment.

Cynicism, Reconsidered, Pauline Kim

Scholarship@WashULaw

Occasionally I encounter among students the suspicion that law is nothing but politics. In the field in which I teach-employment law-this attitude amounts to the cynical belief that if judges (or at least those judges hostile to workers) can possibly find a way for the employee to lose and the employer to win, they will do so. While I must admit my own misgivings about the extent to which doctrine and precedent actually decide cases, I push these students to try to understand case outcomes as something other than pure politics. Believing that it is important for law students, as …

Does A Conspiracy To Terminate At-Will Employment Constitute An Injury To Property? An Analysis Of Haddle V. Garrison, Barbara J. Fick

Journal Articles

This article previews the Supreme Court case Haddle v. Garrison, 525 U.S. 121 (1998). The author expected the Court to determine whether the termination of an at-will employee can be compensible under 42 U.S.C. § 1985, one of the Reconstruction Era Civil Rights Act.

Why Do Juries Get A Bum Rap: Reflections On The Work Of Valerie Hans, Richard O. Lempert

Articles

The paper by Professor Valerie Hans that I have been asked to comment on examines the widespread expectation that jurors are prepared to hold businesses responsible in tort actions when they would not hold individual actors similarly responsible.1 Two reasons are commonly offered for this expectation. The first is that jurors naturally sympathize with individuals (like themselves) when people sue businesses, either because they identify with the plaintiffs as individuals or because they hold antibusiness attitudes. The second is that because businesses are often wealthy, a "deep pockets" effect exists such that jurors in negligence cases will find for undeserving …

Jam For Justice Holmes: Reassessing The Significance Of Mahon, William Michael Treanor

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

When courts and commentators discuss Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, they use the same word with remarkable regularity: famous. Mahon has achieved this fame in part because it was the occasion for conflict between judicial giants, and because the result seems ironic. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.--the great Lochner dissenter and a jurist generally considered a champion of judicial deference to legislatures in the sphere of economic decision-making--wrote the opinion striking down a Pennsylvania statute barring coal mining that could cause the surface to cave-in. Sharply dissenting from Holmes's opinion was his consistent ally on the Court, Justice Louis …