Courts Commons^™

Ring V. Arizona And Capital Proceedings: Brave New World Or A Reversion To The Old World, Bruce T. Cunningham, Heather Rattelade, Amanda Zimmer

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Is So "Grand" About The West Virginia Grand Jury System? A Desperate Need For Reform After The Duek Lacrosse Rape Scandal, Nicholas James

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Brennan V. Scalia, Justice Or Jurisprudence? A Moderate Proposal, Travis A. Knobbe

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Is Judicial Review Compatible With Democracy?, Scott M. Noveck

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article argues that judicial review can be compatible with democracy, particularly when democracy is viewed instrumentally as a means to achieve just outcomes rather than solely as a procedural ideal. It critiques Jeremy Waldron's procedural objections to judicial review and supports Ronald Dworkin's result-driven approach, emphasizing that non-majoritarian institutions like the judiciary can enhance democratic legitimacy by ensuring equal respect and protecting against flawed majoritarian processes.

The Ubiquity Of Greed: A Contextual Model For Analysis Of Scienter, Ann Morales Olazabal, Patricia S. Abril

Articles

Some securities fraud plaintiffs contend that greed-in the form of perpetuating a prestigious executive position, ensuring a gainful bonus, or maintaining the appearance of corporate profitability-is a bona fide motive evidencing scienter. But currently, no single judicial standard or analytical rubric guides the analysis of whether allegations of greed indicate scienter in these cases. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) requires that the complaint state "with particularity" facts giving rise to a "strong inference" that the defendant acted with the scienter required for the cause of action. Plaintiffs have long established scienter through "motive and opportunity" pleading: …

After Philip Morris V. Williams: What Is Left Of The "Single-Digit" Ratio?, Anthony J. Sebok

Articles

This short essay was written for a symposium on The Future of Punitive Damages held at the Charleston School of Law in 2007. I argue that the ratio rule (that punitive damages that exceed a single digit ratio presumptively violate the Due Process Clause), introduced by the Supreme Court in Campbell, is unlikely to survive. I argue this for three reasons. First, many lower courts have found ways to conceal punitive damages awards that impose, in reality, ratios in the double-digits. Second, the refusal of the Court to reverse the plaintiffs punitive damages award in Williams under the ratio rule …

The Verdict On Juries, Valerie P. Hans, Neil Vidmar

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In reviewing debates and research evidence about jury trials for our book, American Juries: The Verdict (Prometheus Books, 2007), we have had the chance to reflect on the status of the jury system in the United States. High profile jury trials put the spotlight on the American practice of using its citizens as decision makers. When jury verdicts are at odds with public opinion, criticisms of the institution are common. The civil jury has been a lightning rod for those who want tort reform. This article draws together some of our reflections about the health of the jury system …

Improving Asylum-Seeker Credibility Determinations: Introducing Appropriate Dispute Resolution Techniques Into The Process, Daniel Forman

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note argues that incorporating Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques into asylum adjudications can enhance the fairness and accuracy of credibility determinations. It proposes a two-step process, including preliminary fact-finding and early neutral evaluation, to address challenges such as cultural differences, trauma, and adversarial dynamics.

War Tales And War Trials, Patricia M. Wald

Michigan Law Review

In this foreword, I will compare my experiences as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the work of war crimes tribunals generally, with a few of the recurrent themes in epic tales of war. Books and trials strive to educate and to persuade their audiences of the barbarity of war and its antipathy to the most fundamental norms of a humane society.3 War crimes tribunals began with Nuremberg and have proliferated in the past fifteen years. These tribunals were established to try and to punish individuals for violations of international humanitarian law ("IHL")-the so-called …

Deconstructing International Criminal Law, Kevin Jon Heller

Michigan Law Review

After nearly fifty years of post-Nuremberg hibernation, international criminal tribunals have returned to the world stage with a vengeance. The Security Council created the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ("ICTY") in 1993 and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ("ICTR") in 1994. Hybrid domestic-international tribunals have been established in Sierra Leone (2000), East Timor (2000), Kosovo (2000), Cambodia (2003), Bosnia (2005), and Lebanon (2007). And, of course, the international community's dream of a permanent tribunal was finally realized in 2002, when the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court ("ICC") entered into force. This unprecedented proliferation of international …

Advocacy Through Briefs In The U.S. Court Of Appeals., Susan B. Haire, Laura P. Moyer

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The focus of this paper is to evaluate the role of advocates in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit by examining the characterization of issues offered in appellate briefs against the issues addressed in the court's decisions. Specifically, in an environment in which attorneys are expected to frame the issues on appeal and judges are expected to respond to those issues, what accounts for judges addressing some issues while suppressing others? By explicitly focusing on how the substantive content of an opinion is shaped, we depart from other, earlier scholarship on the advantages of "repeat player" litigants …

Reevaluating Where We Stand: A Comprehensive Survey Of America’S Family Justice Systems, Barbara A. Babb

All Faculty Scholarship

The call for court reform remains critical in the face of the growing complexity of burgeoning family law cases nationwide. Many states have restructured their court systems using the unified family court model, resolving legal, personal, emotional, and social disputes with the aim of improving the well-being of families and children. Other states utilize the traditional approach, resulting in cases being handled in a fragmented, time-consuming and expensive manner. In this article, Professor Barbara A. Babb presents the results of her nationwide survey regarding how each state handles family law matters. The survey is a follow-up to her comprehensive 1998 …

Introduction To Special Issue On Unified Family Courts, Barbara A. Babb, Gloria Danziger

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Substantial Evidence In The Law Of International Trade: Meaningful Judicial Review Of Antidumping Actions Or Perpetuation Of The Yo-Yo Effect?, Bryan A. Edens

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The note argues that the Court of International Trade (CIT) should have the authority to remand agency decisions with specific instructions to reach a judicially determined outcome, particularly in cases involving international trade disputes. This expanded role for the CIT is necessary to prevent unchecked executive discretion, address the inefficiencies of the "yoyo effect" (repeated remands between courts and agencies), and ensure the rule of law in international trade. The note critiques the current deferential standard of review and advocates for a more substantive and less formalistic approach to judicial review, particularly under the substantial evidence standard.

Brief Amici Curiae Of Iowa Professors Of Law And History, Frederick Adams, Victoria Bissell Brown, Patricia Cain, Lois Cox, Ann Laquer Estin, Sally Frank, Elizabeth Heineman, Linda K. Kerber, Karen Leroux, Suzanne J. Levitt, Jean Love, Linda A. Mcguire, Kevin Mumford, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Sarah J. Purcell, Margaret Raymond, Mark E. Schantz, Johanna Schoen, Leslie A. Schwalm, Mark Sidel, Peggie Smith, Maura Irene Strassberg, Shelton Stromquist

Faculty Scholarship

This case calls upon the State of Iowa to reaffirm its historic commitment to protecting the equality and individual liberties of all of its citizens, including its lesbian and gay male citizens. It requires this Court to interpret Iowa’s unique constitution with due respect for both text and tradition. The case must be analyzed against the backdrop of Iowa’s leadership and courage in the areas of civil rights and family law, and the willingness of its judiciary to uphold constitutional mandates in the face of efforts to legislate prejudice and discrimination.

Plaintiff-Appellees seek nothing more than to share in the …

Letter To Clerk Of Court Re: David Collic, Roger J. Miner '56

Correspondence

No abstract provided.

Online Access To Court Records - From Documents To Data, Particulars To Patterns, Peter W. Martin

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

For over a decade the public has had remote access to federal court records held in electronic format, including documents filed by litigants and judicial rulings. First available via dial-up connections, access migrated to the Web in 1998. That and a succession of other improvements to the federal "Public Access to Court Electronic Records" system or PACER prompted the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to proclaim in 2001 that "the advancement of technology has brought the citizen ever closer to the courthouse." Unquestionably, what the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and Judicial Conference of the United States …

Letter To Clerk Of Court Re: Michael Williams, Roger J. Miner '56

Correspondence

No abstract provided.

The President's Signing Statement Upon Signing The National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2008: Hearing Before The Subcomm. On Oversight And Investigations Of The H. Comm. On Armed Services,, 110th Cong., Mar. 11, 2008 (Statement Of Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Geo. U. L. Center), Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz

Testimony Before Congress

No abstract provided.

The Court's Missed Opportunity In Harper V. Poway, Andrew Canter, Gabriel Pardo

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Cunningham V. California: The U.S. Supreme Court Painted Into A Corner, Jacob Strain

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

Plausibility Pleading, A. Benjamin Spencer

Faculty Publications

Last Term, in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, the U.S. Supreme Court dramatically reinterpreted Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) (2), which requires a "short and plain" statement of a plaintiffs claim. The Court was unabashed about this change of course: it explicitly abrogated a core element of its 1957 decision in Conley v. Gibson, which until recently was the bedrock case undergirding the idea that ours is a system of notice pleading in which detailed facts need not be pleaded. Departing from this principle, the Court in Twombly required the pleading of facts that demonstrate the plausibility of the …

"Manifest" Destiny?: How Some Courts Have Fallaciously Come To Require A Greater Showing Of Congressional Intent For Jurisdictional Exhaustion Than They Require For Preemption, Colin Miller

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Redefining The Question: Applying A Hierarchical Structure To The Mens Rea Requirement For Section 875(C), Karen Rosenfield

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Barren County, Kentucky - Court Records, 1916 (Mss 198), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 198. Three indices for Barren County, Kentucky Quarterly Court records; the actual court records are not part of this collection and are located in the Barren County courthouse. Two of the indices are not dated, and the third one marked "Executions" is dated 1916.

Presidential Authority And The War On Terror, Joseph W. Dellapenna

Working Paper Series

Immediately after the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush claimed, among other powers, the power to launch preemptive wars on his own authority; the power to disregard the laws of war pertaining to occupied lands; the power to define the status and treatment of persons detained as “enemy combatants” in the war on terror; and the power to authorize the National Security Agency to undertake electronic surveillance in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. With the exception of the power to launch a preemptive war on his own authority (for which he …

National Jury Improvement Efforts, Paula Hannaford-Agor, Nicole L. Waters

Faculty Publications

Until recently, the impact of specific jury improvement efforts was based on anecdotal reports from courts scattered across the country. In April 2007, the NCSC Center for Jury Studies released its findings from the State-of-the-States Survey of Jury Improvement Efforts, which provides a comprehensive snapshot of jury procedures, operations, and practices in state and local courts. For the first time, courts have base-line information about their peers against which they can assess their own performance on a number of key operational measures. This issue of Caseload Highlights describes these measures and the approaches that state courts have implemented to improve …

The Justiciability Of Eligibility: May Courts Decide Who Can Be President?, Daniel P. Tokaji

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

The 2008 election cycle has been a busy one for legal disputes over the qualifications of presidential candidates, with federal cases having been filed to challenge both major candidates’ eligibility under the “natural born Citizen” clause. These cases unquestionably present vital questions of constitutional law, touching on matters of self-evident national importance. It is doubtful, however, that they are justiciable in lower federal courts. Standing requirements and the political question doctrine make it unlikely that a federal court will reach the merits in cases of the type filed to date.

William Thaddeus Coleman, Jr.: Breaking The Color Barrier At The U.S. Supreme Court, Todd C. Peppers

Scholarly Articles

The purpose of this essay is twofold: It will endeavor to succinctly summarize the important events of Coleman’s life and professional career, while making the argument that these achievements were as groundbreaking in the legal community as Robinson’s were to baseball. Admittedly, looking to our national pastime is hardly an original literary maneuver; The myriad similarities and links between baseball and the law have offered rich material for many legal writers.2 Moreover, this article does not wish to diminish Coleman’s accomplishments by comparing them to a mere “game.” By drawing upon the sixtieth anniversary of Robinson’s debut, my hope is …

Law Clerk Influence On Supreme Court Decision Making: An Empirical Assessment, Todd C. Peppers, Christopher Zorn

Scholarly Articles

Here, we undertake the first effort at assessing the existence and extent of law clerk influence in the U.S. Supreme Court. Drawing upon original survey data on the political ideology of 532 former law clerks, we evaluate the extent to which both the Justice's personal policy preferences and those of his or her law clerks exert an independent influence on the Justice's votes. While our results are preliminary, they nonetheless support the contention that--over and above "selection effects" due to Justices choosing like-minded clerks--clerks' ideological predilections exert an additional, and not insubstantial, influence on the Justices' decisions on the merits. …