Judges Commons^™

Clarence X?: The Black Nationalist Behind Justice Thomas's Constitutionalism, Stephen F. Smith

Journal Articles

The opinions of Justice Thomas reflect a jurisprudence that is uniquely his own. His well-known commitment to textualism and originalism combines with a weak commitment to stare decisis on constitutional questions. This often puts Thomas at odds with Justice Scalia and other Justices who are far more willing to defer to precedents with which they disagree. The most distinctive aspect of Thomas's jurisprudence, however, involves cases of particular concern to black Americans. In these cases, his originalism and textualism are powerfully supplemented by another -ism—namely, "black nationalism."

Throughout his tenure, Justice Thomas has repeatedly explored the implications of controversial rulings …

"But For The Grace Of God There Go I": Justice Thomas And The Little Guy, Nicole Stelle Garnett

Journal Articles

This Essay, prepared for a NYU Journal of Law and Liberty symposium on “The Unknown Justice Thomas,” challenges the oft-repeated criticism that Justice Clarence Thomas’s opinions reflect a lack of empathy for the less fortunate. The Essay argues that, on the contrary, Justice Thomas’s opinions are replete with expressions of concern for the “little guy,” which are frequently overlooked or misinterpreted. The Essay explores three themes reflecting this concern in Thomas’s opinions.

Symposium: Stare Decisis And Nonjudicial Actors: Introduction, Amy Coney Barrett

Journal Articles

This essay is as an introduction to a symposium on stare decisis and nonjudicial actors. It frames the questions explored in the symposium by pausing to reflect upon the variety of ways in which nonjudicial actors have, over time, registered their disagreement with decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Both public officials and private citizens have battled the Court on any number of occasions since its inception, and historically, they have employed a diverse range of tactics in doing so. They have resisted Supreme Court judgments. They have denied the binding effect of Supreme Court opinions. They have sought …

William H. Rehnquist: A Life Lived Greatly, And Well, Richard W. Garnett

Journal Articles

Chief Justice Rehnquist leaves behind a formidable and important legacy in constitutional law. His work on the Court was animated and guided by the view that We the People, through our Constitution, have authorized our federal courts, legislators, and administrators to do many things - but not everything. Because the Nation's powers are few and defined, Congress may not pursue every good idea or smart policy, nor should courts invalidate every foolish or immoral one. However, for those of us who knew, worked with, learned from, and cared about William Rehnquist, it is his unassuming manner, the care he took …

Reforming Securities Class Actions From The Bench: Judging Fiduciaries And Fiduciary Judging, Lisa L. Casey

Journal Articles

The attorneys' fees awarded to plaintiffs’ counsel in securities fraud class actions have generated controversy for years. Critics have claimed that enormous fee awards come at the expense of defrauded investors and simply spur extortionate lawsuits against issuers and other potential deep pocket defendants. Commentators also have raised concerns that plaintiffs' class action lawyers manipulated class representatives, persons who had little incentive to monitor class counsel’s activities.

To address these concerns, Congress enacted the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act ("PSLRA"). Among other things, the statute sought to protect absent class members by giving control of the litigation to lead plaintiffs …

Clerking For Scrooge, Barry Cushman

Journal Articles

During the Supreme Court’s memorable October,1936 term, a young man named John Knox clerked for Justice James Clark McReynolds. Knox kept a diary during the term, and between 1952 and 1963 converted the diary into a 978-page memoir. Yet his own efforts to publish the memoir came to naught. In 1978 he deposited all or a portion of the manuscript at a series of libraries. But there it languished until rescued from obscurity by David Garrow and Dennis Hutchinson, who in 2002 published an edition of the manuscript with the University of Chicago Press. This essay reviews Knox’s remarkable memoir …

Taking Lessons From The Left?: Judicial Activism On The Right, Stephen F. Smith

Journal Articles

The topic I would like to address in this essay is the subject of conservative judicial activism. Dismayed at the boldness of the Rehnquist Court's conservative majority in areas such as affirmative action and race-based redistricting, federalism, takings law, and my own field of constitutional criminal procedure, critics have accused the Court of being "activist." These attacks have become almost ubiquitous now, to the point that it is increasingly difficult to find any area of the Rehnquist Court's jurisprudence that has not been condemned as activist. Perhaps this is not surprising; the term "activism" packs a powerful rhetorical punch, especially …

Choosing The Judges Who Choose The President, John Copeland Nagle

Journal Articles

The stakes for the selection of judges have never been so high. Federal and state court judges have ruled on such divisive issues as education funding, exclusionary zoning, capital punishment, same-sex marriages, school prayer, affirmative action, partial birth abortion, and legislative redistricting.

The selection of those who possess such awesome powers is bound to be contested. But the mode of choosing judges is a secondary question. The debate concerning the selection of judges is fueled by a broader debate about the appropriate role of judges.

The procedures for choosing those judges are caught up in this larger substantive debate, and …

Notre Dame Lawyer - Spring 2000, Notre Dame Law School

Notre Dame Lawyer

Committed to the Common Good

Two Paths Toward Justice
Ann Claire Williams 75 J.D., '97 LL.D. and Charles Wilson 76,79 J.D.

Leading By Example - Gary Hall '96 J.D.

Honorable Kenneth F.Ripple - A Distinguished Teacher

Father Mike McCafferty Talent Show

Looking Forward, Jay Tidmarsh

Journal Articles

My task, as I understand it, is to make some observations about where complex litigation might head in the future - and some suggestions about how we might do our work today to make that future better. As I write this paper, I realize, of course, that this task is an impossible one. It is not impossible to imagine any of a number of possible futures for complex litigation; indeed, I spend a great deal of time imagining multiple possible futures. Since I am writing a month in advance of the conference, however, it is impossible to connect the ideas …

The Role Of The Law Review In The Tradition Of Judicial Scholarship, Kenneth F. Ripple

Journal Articles

This article explores one of the most important sources of judicial education, the law review. Part I first examines, by way of introduction, why continued intellectual growth is so important to the American jurist of today. It then sets forth the growth of the law review as an institution within the legal profession. Part II examines the various roles that law reviews play traditionally in the intellectual life of a judge and suggests, with respect to each, certain improvements in the judge-law review relationship designed both to enhance the effectiveness of the law review as an intellectual companion and to …

In Memoriam: Lord Lowry Of Crossgar (1919-1999): A Tribute, John Eric Smithburn

Journal Articles

In the Summer of 1985, I participated in a program in London on international judicial education, sponsored by the Judicial Administration Division of the American Bar Association. The keynote speaker for the program was Robert Lowry, The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. Lord Lowry noted that there was very little judicial training in Britain at the time and that before the 1960s judicial education didn't exist in Britain. In his address, Lord Lowry boldly advocated compulsory judicial education courses for all judges through the Judicial Studies Board. Our mutual interest in the judiciary and the education of judges began …

In Memoriam: Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr.—A Tribute, Kenneth F. Ripple

Journal Articles

In remembering Justice Powell, my memory invariably recalls three distinct images from the years I spent at the Supreme Court. Two of these memories are from my own work with him. The other is from my observation of him on the bench. In the days since his death this past autumn, all three have sparked a great deal of reflection about his enduring contribution to our jurisprudence and to our profession.

The Compromise Of '38 And The Federal Courts Today, John H. Robinson

Journal Articles

In 1998 the legal community of the United States should stop and take stock of two epochal events in the history of the federal judicial system. One of those events, as readers of a procedure symposium do not need to be told, is the sixtieth anniversary of the introduction of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. I shall have more to say about that event presently, but I want first to devote a few paragraphs to a second event, one which proceduralists ignore at their peril. The event I have in mind is the initiation of a new era of …

Catholic Judges In Capital Cases, Amy Coney Barrett, John H. Garvey

Journal Articles

The Catholic Church's opposition to the death penalty places Catholic judges in a moral and legal bind. While these judges are obliged by oath, professional commitment, and the demands of citizenship to enforce the death penalty, they are also obliged to adhere to their church's teaching on moral matters. Although the legal system has a solution for this dilemma by allowing the recusal of judges whose convictions keep them from doing their job, Catholic judges will want to sit whenever possible without acting immorally. However, litigants and the general public are entitled to impartial justice, which may be something a …

Scalia Slugs It Out, Gerard V. Bradley

Journal Articles

A Matter of Interpretation
Antonin Scalia, Princeton University Press, 1997, 159 pages, $20

Antonin Scalia, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, has done more to combat judicial activism than any other living person. Since taking his seat on the High Court in 1986, he has defended and applied a mode of constitutional interpretation - most often called "originalism," sometimes "textualism" - the precise aim of which is to reduce, if not eliminate, judicial lawmaking. Scalia maintains that judges, even Supreme Court Justices, must distinguish what they think law ought to be from what the rule of law in …

Notre Dame Lawyer - Spring 1997, Notre Dame Law School

Notre Dame Lawyer

Kevorkian and Women-Kaveny

How Many "Rights" Make a Wrong?-Kmiec

After Hours
Dean Pratt-Guide on the Road to Rhodes

Justice Antonin Scalia Visits NDLS

McCafferty Celebration

Faculty Profile: Frank Booker

The McCafferty stained-glass window description

The story of the "Back Row Bombers" and the pennants in the "Pit" of the old Law School

Is This Appropriate?, Thomas L. Shaffer, Julia B. Meister

Journal Articles

The word "appropriate" is so wildly overused in American culture that, as with other vacuous words and phrases, a person learns to read right through it. "Appropriate" is verbal tofu. This Essay pauses instead of reading through, particularly to notice the instances in which "appropriate" and its negative counterpart are used to give the appearance of a moral or legal judgment.

"Appropriate," chosen to express a legal judgment, is not only vacuous; it is also irresponsible. It catches the legislator, judge, or administrator in the act of passing the buck, as the President did when he ordered the Justice Department …

Remarks On The Dedication Of The Robing Room In Honor Of Judge Robert Allen Grant, Kenneth F. Ripple

Journal Articles

Today, Notre Dame Law School honors one of its most beloved and successful sons by naming in his honor the robing room of the courtroom. "Robing Room" is really a misnomer for this chamber. It serves a variety of functions for the court, and it is no exaggeration to term it the epicenter of the court's activity. If we take a few moments to review what judges do in this room and reflect on the significance of those activities in the American judicial tradition, it becomes readily apparent why it is particularly appropriate that this room be named in honor …

Process Of Constitutional Decision Making, Kenneth F. Ripple

Journal Articles

Over the past decade, our profession has engaged in an intense debate over the proper role of judges in the interpretation of our Constitution. This is not, of course, a new controversy. It has been with us ever since Chief Justice Marshall's decision in Marbury v. Madison.' However, during this last decade, the debate has taken on new dimensions. There is a new range and depth to the inquiry. What began as a discussion largely among members of the academic bar and some members of the judiciary has become a national political issue. Yet the basic question remains: In a …

The Judge And The Academic Community, Kenneth F. Ripple

Journal Articles

In the inaugural essay of this series, Judge Coffin described this unique effort of the editors of the Ohio State Law Journal as an opportunity for judges to engage in "reflective self-examination" in a time of "remorselessly increasing pressures" on the judicial way of life as it has existed since the founding of the Republic. When any institution—public or private—is experiencing great stress and, consequently, is in danger of undergoing cataclysmic change, the quality of its relationships with the other institutions with which it regularly interacts can determine its ability to deal effectively with the pressures. If those other institutions …

The Article Iii Judiciary In Its Third Century, Kenneth F. Ripple

Journal Articles

Tonight we celebrate the memory of one of the great American jurists of this century, Robert A. Ainsworth, Jr. In this bicentennial year of our Constitution, it seems most appropriate that we honor the memory of Judge Ainsworth by reflecting on that part of the Constitution to which he exhibited so much devotion—article III, the judicial article.

The Struggle For Judicial Independence In Antebellum North Carolina: The Story Of Two Judges, Walter F. Pratt

Journal Articles

The Supreme Court of North Carolina is an anomaly among state courts in the antebellum years. In a period dominated by democratic reforms of state government, the court did not merely survive unscathed it actually increased its independence. The remarkable success of this court is largely attributable to the personal reputations and political acumen of two of its judges, Thomas Ruffin and William Gaston. Without those two men it is likely that the Supreme Court would have been abolished in a wave of democratic reforms that peaked in North Carolina with the constitutional amendments of 1835.

The Supreme Court And The Constitution: The Continuing Debate On Judicial Review, Donald P. Kommers

Journal Articles

The three books reviewed in this essay are recent contributions to the growing literature of constitutional theory (Michael J. Perry, The Constitution, the Courts, and Human Rights (New Ha- ven: Yale University Press, 1982); Sotirios A. Barber, On What the Constitution Means (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984); and John Agresto, The Supreme Court and Constitutional Democracy (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1984). They explore important questions about the role of the Supreme Court and the meaning of the Constitution.

Judicial Disability And The Good Behavior Clause, Walter F. Pratt

Journal Articles

Justice Douglas's retirement ended months of speculation about his health and ability to remain on the Court. Coming at the end of a decade during which the fitness of judges was increasingly examined, his illness stimulated renewed consideration of judicial disability. Numerous remedies have been suggested. Two examples of such proposals in the present Congress are S. 1110 and H.R. 10439. S. 1110 would establish a Council on Judicial Tenure composed of judges in regular active service. The proposed Council would receive complaints about judges, conduct investigations, and report to the Judicial Conference of the United States. If a report …

Memorial Tribute To Roger J. Kiley, Thomas L. Shaffer

Journal Articles

The editors and staff of the Notre Dame Lawyer pay tribute in this final issue of our fiftieth volume to the late Roger J. Kiley, Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. In so doing, we honor him as the model of the Notre Dame lawyer.

Book Review, Clarence Emmett Manion

Journal Articles

Reviewing: THE PRICE OF PERFECT JUSTICE. By Macklin Fleming. The Adverse Consequences of Current Legal Doctrine on the American Courtroom. Justice of the California Court of Appeals (Basic Books, Inc. New York).

Introduction, Joseph O'Meara

Journal Articles

A symposium was held on February 29, 1964, devoted to the constitutional amendments proposed by the Council of State Governments. Very briefly these amendments would (1) vest power to amend the Constitution in State legislatures; (2) set up a "Court of the Union," composed of the chief justice of the supreme court of each of the 50 states, which would have authority to review "any judgment of the Supreme Court relating to the rights reserved to the states or to the people by this Constitution"; (3) take from the federal courts all jurisdiction over the apportionment of representation in State …

Natural Law And Everyday Law, Joseph O'Meara

Journal Articles

Like most terms "natural law" has had, and has, a variety of meanings. In most of its meanings it touches scarcely at all the professional concerns of the lawyer but moves, rather, on a plane widely separated from his daily cares and duties. Thus, for the most part, natural law stands aloof from the urgent here-and-now with which lawyer and judge necessarily are preoccupied; it inhabits a world apart.

In these remarks I hope to suggest an approach to natural law which will make it useful on a day-to-day basis in the perplexities by which practitioners and judges constantly are …

The Supreme Court In The American Constitutional System: Foreword, Joseph O'Meara

Journal Articles

Our Symposium’s purpose is to examine the function of the Supreme Court and the conditions under which it necessarily operates, and in this way, we hope, to illuminate some of the far-reaching questions which are involved.