Judges Commons^™

Twitter And The #So-Calledjudge, Elizabeth G. Thornburg

SMU Law Review

Two-hundred-eighty characters may be insufficient to deliver a treatise on the judiciary, but it is more than enough to deliver criticism of the third branch of government. Today, these tweeted critiques sometimes come not from the general public but from the President himself. Attacks such as these come at a challenging time for court systems. We live in a highly politicized, polarized society. This polarization is reflected in attitudes toward the courts, particularly the federal courts. Unfortunately, public doubts about the court system come at a time when public understanding of the structure of government, and especially the court system, …

Deep Pocket Jurisprudence: Where Tort Law Should Draw The Line, Victor E. Schwartz, Phil Goldberg, Christopher E. Appel

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ohio's Modern Courts Amendment Must Be Amended: Why And How, Richard S. Walinski, Mark D. Wagoner Jr.

Cleveland State Law Review

A 1968 amendment to the Ohio Constitution granted the Supreme Court of Ohio the authority to promulgate “rules governing practice and procedure” for Ohio courts. The amendment also provided that “[a]ll laws in conflict with such rules shall be of no further force or effect after such rules have taken effect” and that no rule may “abridge, enlarge, or modify any substantive right.”

Although the amendment was explicit about automatic repeal of existing laws, it says nothing about whether the General Assembly may legislate on a procedural matter after a court rule takes effect. That silence has caused enduring confusion. …

Stuck In Ohio's Legal Limbo, How Many Mistrials Are Too Many Mistrials?: Exploring New Factors That Help A Trial Judge In Ohio Know Whether To Exercise Her Authority To Dismiss An Indictment With Prejudice, Especially Following Repeated Hung Juries, Samantha M. Cira

Cleveland State Law Review

Multiple mistrials following validly-prosecuted trials are becoming an increasingly harsh reality in today’s criminal justice system. Currently, the Ohio Supreme Court has not provided any guidelines to help its trial judges know when to make the crucial decision to dismiss an indictment with prejudice following a string of properly-declared mistrials, especially due to repeated hung juries. Despite multiple mistrials that continue to result in no conviction, criminal defendants often languish behind bars, suffering detrimental psychological harm and a loss of personal freedom as they remain in “legal limbo” waiting to retry their case. Furthermore, continuously retrying defendants cuts against fundamental …

How Big Money Ruined Public Life In Wisconsin, Lynn Adelman

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article discusses how Wisconsin fell from grace. Once a model good government state that pioneered many democracy-enhancing laws, in a very short time, Wisconsin became a state where special interest money, most of which is undisclosed, dominates politics. This Article identifies several factors as being critical to Wisconsin’s descent. These include the state’s failure to nurture and build on the campaign finance reforms enacted in the 1970s and both the state’s and the United States Supreme Court’s failure to adequately regulate sham issue ads. As evidence of Wisconsin’s diminished status, this Article describes how several of the state’s most …

Towards A Jurisprudence Of Public Law Bankruptcy Judging, Edward J. Janger

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

In this essay Professor Janger considers the role of bankruptcy judges in Chapter 9 cases in light of the scholarly literature on public law judging. He explores the extent to which bankruptcy judges engaged in the fiscal restructuring of a municipality use tools, and face constraints, similar to those utilized by federal district court judges in structural reform cases, where constitutional norms are at issue.

The Senate Blue-Slip Process As It Bears On Proposals To Split The Ninth Circuit, Wyatt Kozinski

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

A New Deal Approach To Statutory Interpretation: Selected Cases Authored By Justice Robert Jackson, Charles Patrick Thomas

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

Do Judges Make Law?, Michael L. Barker

The University of Notre Dame Australia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Disqualification—Confusion, Clarification And Continued Considerations: A Closer Look At Arkansas's Judicial Disqualification Rules In Light Of Ferguson V. State, Elizabeth James

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judge Eugene B. Strassburger Iii And His Court Cases In Family Division, Court Of Common Pleas Of Allegheny County (1980-1990), Joel Fishman

Law Faculty Publications

In the last two issues of the Pennsylvania Family Lawyer, I compiled a list of family law cases decided by Judges R. Stanton Wettick, Jr. and Lawrence W. Kaplan for the decade of the 1980s when the Divorce Code was first introduced into the Commonwealth. The local court was a leader in deciding cases that set forth many of the principles that the appellate courts adopted as new law. In this article, I present the cases of Judge Eugene B. Strassburger, III, who served in the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas from June 28, 1978, until his retirement on …

The Seventeenth Annual Albert A. Destefano Lecture On Corporate, Securities & Financial Law At The Fordham Corporate Law Center, Caroline M. Gentile, The Honorable Karen L. Valihura

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.

Diversification Of The Japanese Judiciary, Daniel H. Foote

Washington International Law Journal

Japan has a career judiciary. The Courts Act of 1947 provides that judges may be appointed from among prosecutors, attorneys, and law professors. In practice, however, the vast majority of judges come from a fourth category, “assistant judges,” who are appointed directly upon completion of the legal training program and typically serve through retirement. This continues a career tradition that dates back to the late nineteenth century. For nearly that long, the Japanese bar has been advocating that the career system should be abolished and that a substantial portion of the judiciary, if not all judges, should be drawn from …

Who's Afraid Of Judicial Activism? Reconceptualizing A Traditional Paradigm In The Context Of Specialized Domestic Violence Court Programs, Jennifer L. Thompson

Maine Law Review

The Specialized Domestic Violence Pilot Project (Pilot Project), implemented in York and Portland in July and August 2002, is the result of the collaborative efforts of the District Court system, law enforcement, prosecutors, members of the defense bar, and various community agencies offering services to victims and perpetrators. District court judges are largely responsible for overseeing the changes in court procedures and implementing the new protocols in domestic violence cases. The Pilot Project, and the changes it is making to the role that courts play in domestic violence cases, represents a significant departure from the procedures followed by traditional court …

The False Idolarty Of Rules-Based Law, John C. Sheldon

Maine Law Review

When the Supreme Court outlawed segregation in public schools in 1954, it acknowledged this social truth: assigning separate public facilities to separate classes of people fosters inequality among those classes. Although Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka addressed only educational facilities, the Court quickly broadened the scope of its decision, applying it to racial discrimination in or at public beaches, buses, golf courses, parks, municipal airport restaurants and state courtrooms. And although Brown addressed only racial discrimination, it quickly became the basis for condemning many forms of discrimination, including race, religion, wealth, gender, age, and disability. What gave Brown …

Introduction: The Effects Of Selection Method On Public Officials, Clayton J. Masterman

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Reflections On The Challenging Proliferation Of Mental Health Issues In The District Court And The Need For Judicial Education, Jessie B. Gunther

Maine Law Review

Maine's courts constantly deal with litigants with mental health issues. Historically, our decisions have relied on expert testimony addressing specific issues of responsibility, risk, and treatment. In recent years, by my observation, court involvement in the treatment process has increased, but the availability of expert evidence has decreased. Thus, we as judges have become the ultimate decision-makers regarding litigants' mental health treatment in both criminal and civil contexts, without supporting expert testimony. In the face of this development, three interconnected issues arise. The first issue is whether judges should even attempt to fill the void caused by lack of expert …

Abuse Of Discretion: Maine's Application Of A Malleable Appellate Standard, Andrew M. Mead

Maine Law Review

It is not unusual for an appellate court to simply announce: “In the circumstances of this case, the trial justice did not abuse his discretion ....” No further clarification or elaboration is offered by the learned justices of the court. The parties are left with a final judgment, but little understanding of the appellate court's review process. Although the objective of finality is satisfied, the objective of clarity is ignored. When litigants and counsel are faced with similar factual or legal circumstances in the future, they remain without guidance or insight into the factors that the appellate court deemed to …

Judges, Racism, And The Problem Of Actual Innocence, Stephen J. Fortunato Jr.

Maine Law Review

The facts and data are in and the conclusion they compel is bleak: the American criminal justice system and its showpiece, the criminal trial, harbor at their core a systemic racism. For decades, criminologists, law professors, sociologists, government statisticians, and others have been collecting and collating data on crime, punishment, and incarceration in the United States. These intrepid scholars have looked at crime, criminals, and the justice system from all angles—the race of defendants and victims; the relationship of poverty to criminality; severity of crime; severity of punishment; incarceration rates for different racial groups; sentencing and sentence disparities; and so …

Witness For The Client: A Judge's Role In Increasing Awareness In The Defendant, Joyce Wheeler

Maine Law Review

My participation in a new drug treatment court over the last few years signifies a transformation of this judge's application of herself in the courtroom. I have moved from the traditional role of judge to a more fluid role in which I begin from the stance as witness for the client and, when necessary, move to the more traditional decision-making responsibility of a judge. Awareness of the change occurred over time, but became most apparent in the context of an adult drug treatment court that integrates drug and alcohol treatment into the criminal justice system. A number of factors support …