Judges Commons^™

Are Senior Judges Unconstitutional?, Ryan W. Scott, David R. Stras

Articles by Maurer Faculty

With burgeoning caseloads and persistent vacancies in many federal courts, senior judges play a vital role in the continued well-being of our federal judiciary. Despite the importance of their participation in the judicial process, however, senior judges raise a host of constitutional concerns that have escaped the notice of scholars and courts. Many of the problems originate with recent changes to the statute authorizing federal judges to elect senior status, including a 1989 law that permits senior judges to fulfill their statutory responsibilities by performing entirely nonjudicial work. Others arise from the ambiguity of the statutory scheme itself, which seems …

Retaining Life Tenure: The Case For A Golden Parachute, Ryan W. Scott, David R. Stras

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The first vacancies on the Supreme Court in eleven years have sparked renewed debate about the continued viability of life tenure for federal judges. Scholars have decried life tenure as one of the Framers' worst blunders, pointing to issues such as strategic retirement, longer average tenure, and widespread mental infirmity of justices. In this Article, the authors argue that, notwithstanding the serious problem of mental and physical infirmity on the Court, life tenure should be retained. They also argue that recent statutory proposals to eliminate or undermine life tenure, for example through a mandatory retirement age or term limits, are …

Rescuing Judicial Accountability From The Realm Of Political Rhetoric, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The article examines the threat to judicial independence from political calls for more judicial accountability. The author begins by defining judicial accountability and discussing its purposes before breaking the concept down into three categories: institutional accountability, behavioral accountability, and decisional accountability. This process reveals that in the judicial accountability family, there is but one discrete sub-species, situated in the decisional accountability genus, that does not further accountability's proper purpose and is therefore conceptually problematic: direct political accountability for competent and honest judicial decision-making error that the politicians desire and a serious threat to judicial independence. The critical question becomes one …

The Federal Income Tax Consequences Of The Bobble Supreme Phenomenon, Leandra Lederman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Since 2003, the Green Bag Journal has been commissioning and distributing limited edition bobblehead likenesses of the Justices of the United States Supreme Court. Demand for the bobble Supremes has not been limited to existing recipients, and bobble longing has inspired purchases and even poetry. Given the importance of the bobble Supreme phenomenon to the national economy, the time has come for guidance on the tax consequences of their receipt, ownership, and transfer. Fortunately, draft proposed regulations on the federal income tax treatment of bobble Supremes recently surfaced. Although the regulations have not and never will be officially sanctioned (and, …

"Reasonably Predictable:" The Reluctance To Embrace Judicial Discretion For Substantial Assistance Procedures, India Geronimo Thusi

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Comment focuses on the nuances of post-Booker cooperation departures and sentence variances. Section 5K1.1 of the Guidelines governs the provision of cooperation, or substantial assistance, departures. This provision was the primary method for defendants to receive cooperation departures prior to Booker. The section 5K1.1 provision allowed substantial assistance departures where the prosecution actually benefited from the defendant’s cooperation.

First, Part I.A of this Comment will provide an overview of the original goals of the Sentencing Commission and the section 5K1.1 substantial assistance provision. Part I.B of the Comment summarizes United States v. Booker and its impact on cooperation departures. …

Should Ideology Matter In Selecting Federal Judges? Ground Rules For The Debate, Dawn E. Johnsen

Articles by Maurer Faculty

A recurring constitutional controversy of great practical and political importance concerns the criteria Presidents and Senators should use in selecting federal judges. Particularly contentious is the relevance of what sometimes is described as a prospective judge's ideology, or alternatively, judicial philosophy and views on substantive questions of law. This essay seeks to promote principled and productive discussion by proposing five ground rules to govern debate by all participants regarding appropriate judicial selection criteria. Because the continued controversy does not simply reflect principled disagreement on the merits, progress may be encouraged by focusing on deficiencies in current public discourse, including discouraging …

The Judgment Of The Boss On Bossing The Judges: Bruce Springsteen, Judicial Independence, And The Rule Of Law, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Hail To The Chief: Former Law Clerks For William Rehnquist Recall What They Learned And How He Touched Their Lives, Craig M. Bradley, Laura E. Little, John C. Englander, Celestine Richards Mcconville

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who died Sept. 3, is remembered for his disarming warmth and humor, breadth of knowledge about the law, and insistence that there is life outside the office. Few knew him better than the legions of clerks who tolled with and learned from him. Indeed, the sheer number who attended his funeral testifies to how highly he was regarded. Here, four former clerks from the decades of the 1970s, '80s and '90s write about their own particular memories of the late chief justice.

Must The Reports Of Tax Court Special Trial Judges Be Disclosed?, Leandra Lederman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

A Principled Approach To The Quest For Racial Diversity On The Judiciary, Luis Fuentes-Rohwer, Kevin R. Johnson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

As has been the case with respect to many political and social institutions in American society, diversity has been demanded, and at times pursued, in the nomination and appointment of state and federal judges. Nonetheless, commentators have long lamented the lack of diversity among judges in the United States.

U.S. Supreme Court appointments epitomize the glaring lack of diversity on the federal judiciary. Not until 1967 did President Lyndon Baines Johnson appoint the first African American Justice, Thurgood Marshall, to the Court. Since then, a more diverse group of judges has served on the state and federal courts than throughout …

Functional Departmentalism And Nonjudicial Interpretation: Who Determines Constitutional Meaning?, Dawn E. Johnsen

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Published as part of a Duke Law School symposium on Conservative and Progressive Legal Orders, this article considers the appropriate role of the political branches - Congress and the President - in the development of constitutional meaning, including the extent of presidential and congressional authority to act on constitutional views at odds with judicial doctrine. The article discusses deficiencies in strong forms of both judicial supremacy (such as that behind the Rehnquist Court's recent limits on Congress's section 5 authority) and what is described in the academic literature as departmentalism (which emphasizes near-plenary authority for each branch to act on …

Rethinking Judicial Elections, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Politics Of Crime And The Threat To Judicial Independence, Jeannine Bell

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Why Judicial Elections Stink, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Those who are concerned about judicial independence and accountability in the United States quite rightly focus their attention on state judicial election campaigns. It is there that the most sustained and successful efforts to threaten judicial tenure in response to isolated, unpopular judicial decisions have occurred; and it is there that escalating campaign spending has created a public perception that judges are influenced by the contributions they receive. Attempts to address these problems have been undermined by four political realities that the author refers to as "the Axiom of 80 ": Eighty percent of the public favors electing their judges; …

Publicly Financed Judicial Elections: An Overview, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Independence Of The Judicial Branch In The New Republic, Charles G. Geyh, Emily Field Van Tassel

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Sense And Sensibility: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Mentoring Style As A Blend Of Rigor And Compassion, David C. Williams, Susan H. Williams

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Religiously Devout Judges: Issues Of Personal Integrity And Public Benefit, Daniel O. Conkle

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Review. Courts, Congress, And The Constitutional Politics Of Interbranch Restraint, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

A Tribute To The Honorable Phyllis A. Kravitch, Joseph L. Hoffmann

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Elbert Parr Tuttle, Alfred C. Aman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Paradise Lost, Paradigm Found: Redefining The Judiciary's Imperiled Role In Congress, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Long perceived as acting in splendid isolation, the legislative and judicial branches have become increasingly intertwined. The judiciary is becoming more involved in the legislative province of statutory reform, and Congress has inserted itself more frequently into the judicial territory of procedural rulemaking. In this article, Professor Geyh observes that a new, interactive paradigm has replaced the perceived model of separation and delegation between the brandies. As the judiciary and Congress have grown more enmeshed, the judiciary's reputation has suffered, both from a Watergate-vintage mistrust of all things governmental and from a perception that judicial activism is born of self-interest …

Highlighting A Low Point On A High Court: Some Thoughts On The Removal Of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen And The Limits Of Judicial Self-Regulation, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Motley Is Distinguished Jurist In Residence, Lauren K. Robel

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Informal Methods Of Judicial Discipline, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Adverse Publicity As A Means Of Reducing Judicial Decision-Making Delay: Periodic Disclosure Of Pending Motions, Bench Trials And Cases Under The Civil Justice Reform Act, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

An Agency Cost Analysis Of The Sentencing Reform Act: Recalling The Virtues Of Delegating Complex Decisions, Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt

Articles by Maurer Faculty

For many outside the legal profession, the end of a legal case is the reading of the verdict. However, that is only the beginning for those being judged. One of the most significant and delicate tasks within the sphere of the legal system is that of sentencing those convicted. Because of the extreme personal impact that a judge's sentencing has on each individual, the most effective approach to creating guidelines for sentencing has been a hot topic of debate. Upon the birth of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, the system changed from one of standards to one of often …

Thinking About Elephants: Admonitions, Empirical Research And Legal Policy, J. Alexander Tanford

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

An "Internal" Critique Of Justice Scalia's Theory Of Statutory Interpretation, William D. Popkin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Politics Of Crisis In The Federal Courts, Lauren K. Robel

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.