Courts Commons^™

Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pluralizing International Criminal Justice, Mark A. Drumbl

Michigan Law Review

From Nuremberg to The Hague scours the institutions of international criminal justice in order to examine their legitimacy and effectiveness. This collection of essays is edited by Philippe Sands, an eminent authority on public international law and professor at University College London. The five essays derive from an equal number of public lectures held in London between April and June 2002. The essays - concise and in places informal - carefully avoid legalese and arcania. Taken together, they cover an impressive spectrum of issues. Read individually, however, each essay is ordered around one or two well-tailored themes, thereby ensuring analytic …

Tribunals Organized To Convict: Searching For A Lesser Evil In The Capital Juror Death-Qualification Process In United States V. Green, Richard Salgado

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

University Of Richmond Law Review Index Volume Xxxix 2004-2005

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Process Affects Punishment: Differences In Sentences After Guilty Plea, Bench Trial, And Jury Trial In Five Guidelines States, Nancy J. King, David A. Soule, Sara Steen, Robert R. Weidner

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The research reported in this Essay examines process discounts-differences in sentences imposed for the same offense, depending upon whether the conviction was by jury trial, bench trial, or guilty plea-in five states that use judicial sentencing guidelines. Few guidelines systems expressly recognize "plea agreement" as an acceptable basis for departure, and none authorizes judges to vary sentences based upon whether or not the defendant waived his right to a jury trial and opted for a bench trial. Nevertheless, we predicted that because of the cost savings resulting from waivers, judges and prosecutors in any sentencing system would ensure that guilty …

When Does A Party Prevail?: A Proposed "Third-Circuit-Plus" Test For Judicial Imprimatur, Matthew B. Tenney

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Theory Wars In The Conflict Of Laws, Louise Weinberg

Michigan Law Review

Fifty years ago, at the height of modernism in all things, there was a great revolution in American choice-of-law theory. You cannot understand what is going on in the field of conflict of laws today without coming to grips with this central fact. With this revolution, the old formalistic way of choosing law was dethroned, and has occupied a humble position on the sidelines ever since. Yet there has been no lasting peace. The American conflicts revolution is still happening, and poor results are still frustrating good intentions. Now comes Dean Symeon Symeonides, the author of the choice of- law …

Securing A Journalist's Testimonial Privilege In The International Criminal Court, Anastasia Heeger

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article argues that given the unique and significant contribution of journalists to uncovering and documenting war crimes, the ICC should amend its evidentiary rules to recognize a qualified journalist's privilege. In doing so, the ICC should clearly identify who may benefit from such a privilege, clarify a procedure for balancing the need of reportorial testimony against prosecution and defense interests, and, lastly provide for mandatory consultations between the court and affected news organizations or journalists before allowing the issuance of a subpoena. Such clarity will benefit not only journalists working in war zones and the ICC, but will provide …

Moving From Impunity To Accountability In Post-War Liberia: Possibilities, Cautions, And Challenges, Rena L. Scott

ExpressO

Liberia has become the quintessential example of an African failed state. Though Liberia’s civil war is officially over, war criminals are free and some are even helping run the transitional government under the authority of Liberia’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). This peace agreement calls for the consideration of a general amnesty for those involved in the Liberian civil war alongside the parceling of governmental functions among members of various rebel groups. The drafters of the agreement claim that this was the only viable solution for sustainable peace in Liberia. Meanwhile, Charles Taylor relaxes in Nigeria’s resort city of Calabar. To …

The Paradox Of Omnipotence: Courts, Constitutions, And Commitments, David S. Law

ExpressO

Sovereigns, like individuals, must sometimes make commitments that limit their own freedom of action in order to accomplish their goals. Social scientists have observed that constitutional arrangements can, by restricting a sovereign’s power, enable the sovereign to make such commitments. This essay advances several claims about the commitment problems that sovereigns face. First, constitutions do not necessarily solve such problems but can instead aggravate them, by entrenching inalienable governmental powers and immunities. Second, sovereigns and other actors face two distinct varieties of commitment problems – undercommitment and overcommitment – between which they must steer: an actor that can bind itself …

Florida's Request For Admission Rule: 150 Years On The Road To Inconsistency, Ineffectiveness And Appellate Nullification, Mitchell J. Frank

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Shifting The Focus From The Myth Of "The Vanishing Trial" To Complex Conflict Management Systems, Or I Learned Almost Everything I Need To Know About Conflict Resolution From Marc Galanter, John M. Lande

Faculty Publications

To say that The Vanishing Trial is a myth is not to suggest that the facts or analysis in Professor Marc Galanter's seminal report on the vanishing trial are fictional or inaccurate. Indeed, he marshals a massive amount of data to show that the number of trials and the trial rates have been declining for the past four decades, particularly in the federal courts. The report documents an apparent paradox: the proportion of cases going to trial has dropped sharply during the past forty years despite substantial increases in many other legal indicators including the number of lawyers, the number …

Long-Term Solutions For Children In The Child Welfare System: Families For Teens, Alexandra Lowe

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article advocates for the Families for Teens Initiative, which focuses on engaging teenagers in the foster care system to identify and connect with family resources that are often overlooked. The initiative aims to prevent poor outcomes such as homelessness and incarceration by emphasizing the importance of maintaining family connections and providing normal developmental opportunities for teens.

Interrogation Warrants, Russell D. Covey

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Foreign Judgments At Common Law: Rethinking The Enforcement Rules, Tanya J. Monestier

Dalhousie Law Journal

England and Canada have adopted divergent approaches to the enforcement of foreign civil and commercial judgments. An English court will only enforce a foreign judgment where the defendant submitted to the junsdiction of the foreign court, or was present in the foreign jurisdiction when served with process. This position. while protecting domestic defendants, is outdated and does little to further the objectives underpinning judgment enforcement- Canadian courts, by contrast, have been far more liberal than their English counterparts, enforcing foreign judgments in cases where there is a "real and substantial connection" between the dispute and the judgment forum. While this …

Investor Protection And Foreign Investment Under Nafta Chapter 11: Prospects For The Western Hemisphere Under Chapter 17 Of The Ftaa, Jacqueline Granados

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The article argues that adopting NAFTA-like investor protection provisions in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) could significantly increase foreign direct investment (FDI) across the Americas, benefiting both investors and host countries. It emphasizes the importance of balancing investor rights with public interest considerations, such as environmental regulation, and highlights the need for clear definitions and procedural safeguards in the FTAA's investment chapter. The article also underscores the role of legal reforms and policy liberalization in Latin American and Caribbean countries (LAC) to maximize the agreement's potential benefits.

The Role Of Courts In Preventing International Child Abduction, Deborah M. Zawadzki

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note argues that international child abduction is a growing issue exacerbated by globalization, with existing legal frameworks like the Hague Convention and the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act (IPKCA) proving insufficient to address the problem. It advocates for a more proactive role for U.S. courts in preventing abductions through legislative support and comprehensive preventative measures, emphasizing the need for state-level reforms, such as Texas’s H.B. 1899, to fill gaps in current laws and protect children at risk

Tribunals Imitating Courts - Foolish Flattery Or Sound Policy?, David Mullan

Dalhousie Law Journal

In his 2004 Horace E Read Memorial Lecture, David Mullan assesses the impact of the "due process explosion." To what extent has the evolution of Canadian law (both statutory and common) in the domain of procedural fairness been responsible for the phenomenon of excessive judicialization of the administrative process? Has the increase in the number of decision-makers subject to the obligation of procedural fairness and the growth in the parallels between tribunal and court processes affected adversely the interests of the administrative justice system and the public that it is meant to serve? The author suggests that there is a …

The Supreme Court: A Unique Institution, John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

Established by the U.S. Constitution in 1789, the Supreme Court is both the final arbiter of significant legal cases and the prevailing authority on the constitutionality of individual laws. While the Constitution specifies the Court's original jurisdiction, it does not spell out how the Court should conduct its business, or even the number of justices who should serve on the Court or what their qualifications should be. Thus, the Founding Fathers provided a High Court for the nation with the adaptability to respond to the needs of its citizens.

The Proven Key: Roles And Rules For Dictionaries In The Patent Office And The Courts, Joseph Scott Miller, James A. Hilsenteger

Scholarly Works

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in its continuing effort to develop a patent claim construction jurisprudence that yields predictable results, has turned to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and similar sources with increasing frequency. This paper explores, from both an empirical and a normative perspective, the Federal Circuit's effort to shift claim construction to a dictionary-based approach. In the empirical part, we present data showing that the Federal Circuit has, since its own in banc Markman decision in April 1995, used reference works such as dictionaries to construe claim terms with steadily increasing frequency. In addition, and contrary to …

State Of Israel V. Peretz, Dorit Beinisch, Eliahu Mazza, Mishael Cheshin, Aharon Barak, Jacob Turkel, Eliezer Rivlin, Ayala Procaccia, Edmond E. Levy, Asher Grunis

Translated Opinions

Facts: In two unrelated cases, the prosecution and the defence made a plea bargain in the trial court that was subsequently rejected by the trial court, and the respondents were given stricter sentences than the ones recommended to the court in the plea bargain. The respondents appealed against the strictness of the sentences. In the appeals, which were heard jointly, the state defended the sentences that were handed down by the trial courts, rather than the plea bargains that were originally made by the state. The appeals were allowed, but the court expressed different views on the question whether …

Teaching Civil Procedure Stories, Nancy S. Marder

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Teaching Constitutional Law Stories, Thomas Ross

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Book Review, Michael D. Ramsey

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

The Irrational Supreme Court, Michael I. Meyerson

ExpressO

Abstract: The Irrational Supreme Court

The pejorative “irrational” is used to describe many defects in legal reasoning, but is generally not meant to be understood as a literal lack of rational thinking. Similarly, the “rational basis test” is not meant to determine whether a legislature is “not endowed with reason or understanding,” but rather if it has acted with some hidden, invidious motive. Incredibly, though, the Supreme Court has frequently issued truly “irrational opinions,” simply due to the fundamental nature of group decision-making.

Much has been written about Nobel Prize winner Kenneth Arrow’s “Impossibility Theorem,” which proved that, when faced …

Book Review: Forensic Linguistics, Dru Stevenson

ExpressO

Review of John Gibbons' text "Forensic Linguistics"

Jury Trials In Japan, Robert M. Bloom

ExpressO

The Japanese are seeking to involve their citizens in the judicial system. They are also establishing a check on the power of the judiciary. Towards these goals, they have enacted legislation to create jury trials. These remarkable ambitions envision adopting a mixed-jury system, slated to take effect in 2009. In this mixed-jury system, judges and citizens participate together in the jury deliberation.

This article first explores the differences between mixed-juries and the American jury system. It then suggests why the Japanese opted for a mixed-jury system. The article explores psychological theories surrounding collective judgment and how dominant individuals influence group …

Compliance Theory And The Inter-American Court Of Human Rights, Morse Hyun-Myung Tan

ExpressO

This essay fills a gap by exploring compliance theory in international law to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. After introducing the topic and setting the context, it delves into the question of why nations follow international law. Interacting with prominent theoretical models (including the managerial model, fairness and legitimacy, transnational legal process, self-interest, and a comparative perspective with Europe), it arrives at a critical synthesis in the conclusion.

Deterrence And Implied Limits On Arbitral Power, Michael A. Scodro

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

In Re Anderson And The Removal Of Utah State Court Judges: The Supreme Court Of Utah And Its Review Of Judicial Conduct Commission Orders, Daniel Swinton

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.