Witness For The Client: A Judge's Role In Increasing Awareness In The Defendant,
2017
University of Maine School of Law
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 …
When The Court Speaks: Effective Communication As A Part Of Judging,
2017
University of Maine School of Law
When The Court Speaks: Effective Communication As A Part Of Judging, Daniel E. Wathen
Maine Law Review
One of my early judicial role models, Justice James L. Reid of the Maine Superior Court, was sentencing a defendant for a murder committed within the confines of the Maine State Prison. The defendant was already serving a life sentence for another murder at the time the offense was committed. Because Maine has no parole or capital punishment, the sentencing options were limited and ultimately meaningless. As Jim imposed a life sentence consecutive to the existing life sentence, the defendant rose in his manacles and uttered an early Anglo-Saxon version of “screw you.” Jim, rising from the bench and moving …
Court-Connected Alternative Dispute Resolution In Maine,
2017
University of Maine School of Law
Court-Connected Alternative Dispute Resolution In Maine, Howard H. Dana Jr.
Maine Law Review
With these words of prophecy the Commission to Study the Future of Maine's Courts launched its discussion of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Although conceding that “the adversary process ... has served the people of the state well” and acknowledging that “the state must continue to provide a forum for forceful advocacy that produces a definite and binding judicial decision” the Commission asked the Maine judicial and legislative branches to embrace ADR. For the last dozen years, the Author has been the Supreme Judicial Court's (SJC's) liaison to its ADR Planning and Implementation Committee and Chair of the Court's Advisory Committee …
Some Reflections On Dissenting,
2017
University of Maine School of Law
Some Reflections On Dissenting, Kermit V. Lipez
Maine Law Review
In the collegial world of appellate judging, where the dominant impulse is consensus, dissents depart from the norm. If their language is sharp, the dissents may offend colleagues and worry court watchers who expect consensus. These self-assigned opinions also add to the pressures of the work. Given these implications, the choice to dissent should never be a casual one. You must weigh the institutional and personal costs and benefits, understand the purpose of the dissent and the audiences for it, and always be attentive to style and tone. In a haphazard sort of way, I consider these issues when I …
The Possibility Of Naturalistic Jurisprudence: Legal Positivism And Natural Law Theory Revisited,
2017
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
The Possibility Of Naturalistic Jurisprudence: Legal Positivism And Natural Law Theory Revisited, Dan Priel
Articles & Book Chapters
Contemporary legal philosophy is predominantly anti-naturalistic. This is true of natural law theory, but also, more surprisingly, of legal positivism. Several prominent legal philosophers have in fact argued that the kind of questions that legal philosophers are interested in cannot be naturalized, such that a naturalistic legal philosophy is something of a contradiction in terms. Against the dominant view I argue that there are arguable naturalistic versions of both legal positivism and natural law. Much of the essay is dedicated to showing that such views are possible: I identify naturalistic versions of a “natural law” view, a “positivist” view, as …
Judges And Judicial Process In The Jurisprudence Of St. Thomas Aquinas,
2017
St. John's University School of Law
Judges And Judicial Process In The Jurisprudence Of St. Thomas Aquinas, Charles P. Nemeth, J.D., Ph.D., Ll.M.
The Catholic Lawyer
No abstract provided.
China's Judiciary: Current Issues,
2017
University of Maine School of Law
China's Judiciary: Current Issues, Jianli Song
Maine Law Review
Since 1978, China has been engaged in a major reform program of economic modernization and growing openness to the outside world. The movement towards a market economy has resulted in impressive economic growth. It has also led to social change, including increasing pressure from segments of the population for greater participation in decision making and respect for human rights. The Chinese government is taking steps towards the rule of law. The legal reforms being carried out go beyond the economic sphere, and also gradually will affect the relationship between individuals and the state. Dialogue with the international community has broadened …
Consent Decrees, The Enlightenment, And The "Modern" Social Contract: A Case Study From Bates, Olmstead, And Maine's Separation Of Powers Doctrine,
2017
University of Maine School of Law
Consent Decrees, The Enlightenment, And The "Modern" Social Contract: A Case Study From Bates, Olmstead, And Maine's Separation Of Powers Doctrine, Dana E. Prescott
Maine Law Review
On December 17, 2004, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, issued its decision in Bates v. Department of Behavioral & Developmental Services, which affirmed in part, and vacated in part, the decision of Superior Court Chief Justice Nancy Mills, and remanded for further proceedings in the so-called Augusta Mental Health Institute (AMHI) Consent Decree case. In the underlying litigation, patients at the mental health hospital filed motions for sanctions and findings of contempt alleging the State of Maine failed to comply with the 1990 Consent Decree and incorporated settlement agreement. After a seventeen-day trial on whether …
Assigning Infringement Claims: Silvers V. Sony Pictures,
2017
University of Maine School of Law
Assigning Infringement Claims: Silvers V. Sony Pictures, Heather B. Sanborn
Maine Law Review
The Copyright Act establishes protection for original, creative works of authorship as a means of providing ex ante incentives for creativity. But how real is that protection? Imagine that you have written a script and managed to have your play produced in a local community theater. A few years later, you find that a major Hollywood studio has taken your script, adapted it slightly, and made it into the next summer blockbuster, raking in millions without ever obtaining a license from you. Of course, you can sue them for infringement. But how much will that litigation cost and what are …
International Investment Law Through The Lens Of Global Justice,
2017
University of Michigan Law School
International Investment Law Through The Lens Of Global Justice, Steven Ratner
Law & Economics Working Papers
The last decade has witnessed a series of criticisms from states, NGOs, and scholars of international investment law’s rules and procedures. Running in parallel, and for a longer period, political philosophers have developed theories about what would constitute a just international economic order. Yet international law and philosophy have not directly engaged with one another regarding the justice of international investment law. This article attempts to breach that gap by analyzing the key critiques of investment law from the perspective of theories of global justice. Philosophical approaches are useful for appraising investment law because they offer a rigorous framework for …
Defective Construction Cgl Coverage: The Subcontractor Exception,
2017
University of Michigan Law School
Defective Construction Cgl Coverage: The Subcontractor Exception, Christian H. Robertson Ii
Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review
In the construction industry, commercial general liability (CGL) insur-ance is the standard policy for managing property damage risks. Histori-cally, CGL policies do not cover an insured’s own defective construction because the insured controls its own work and can reasonably foresee the damage that may result from defective work. But what about the defective work of an insured’s subcontractor? Practical considerations limit an in-sured’s effective control of every aspect of a subcontractor’s work, and this limitation complicates the insured’s ability to foresee future risks. In 1986, the increasing involvement of subcontractors led general contractors to in-sist upon protection from subcontractor work …
The Collapse Of The New Deal Conceptual Universe: The Schmooze Project,
2017
University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
The Collapse Of The New Deal Conceptual Universe: The Schmooze Project, Mark A. Graber
Maryland Law Review
No abstract provided.
Picking And Choosing Text: Lessons For Statutory Interpretation From The Philosophy Of Language,
2017
Georgetown University Law Center
Picking And Choosing Text: Lessons For Statutory Interpretation From The Philosophy Of Language, Victoria Frances Nourse
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Textualists claim that they follow statutory text. This Article argues that, in practice, textualists often create meaning rather than find it. Deploying the analytics of linguistic philosophy, this Article takes a deep dive into textualist methodology. The philosophy of language reveals what legal scholarship has left submerged: The very choice of text can put the thumb on the scales of any interpretation. When one pulls a term out of a statute and isolates it from the rest of the text (what I call “isolationist” method), this decontextualization offers the opportunity for adding and subtracting meaning from the statute by “pragmatic …
Introduction: Perceived Legitimacy And The State Judiciary,
2017
Texas A&M University School of Law
Introduction: Perceived Legitimacy And The State Judiciary, G. Alexander Nunn
Faculty Scholarship
Professor Nunn provides an introduction for the Symposium: The Least Understood Branch: The Demands and Challenges of the State Judiciary.
The Judge And His Clerks,
2017
University of Maine School of Law
The Judge And His Clerks, Barbara F. Riegelhaupt, Kaighn Smith Jr., J. Peter Byrne
Maine Law Review
In his memoir, Life and Times in the Three Branches, Judge Coffin recounts the history of the institution of the law clerk and observes, “I was the first such creature Maine had seen.” He served as a clerk from April 1947 to June 1949 for United States District Court Judge John D. Clifford, working in the same chambers that he would later inhabit as a judge. Over the course of his more than four decades on the Court of Appeals, Judge Coffin would have sixty-eight clerks of his own. Those of us lucky enough to be in that family of …
The Speeches Of Frank M. Coffin: A Sideline To Judging,
2017
University of Maine School of Law
The Speeches Of Frank M. Coffin: A Sideline To Judging, Daniel E. Wathen, Barbara Riegelhaupt
Maine Law Review
The Authors of this Article are engaged in a separate project to publish the full collection of law-related speeches delivered by Judge Coffin during his tenure on the bench. That collection in its entirety consists of more than 125 speeches, and it is a treasure trove of thoughts on the judiciary as an institution, the law, judging, the legal profession, legal education, and legal luminaries past and present. The speeches are also worthy of study purely as examples of communication, advocacy, speechcraft, composition, humor, and whimsy. Within the confines of this Article, the modest goal is to provide samples of …
In His Own Words: Judge Coffin And Workability,
2017
University of Maine School of Law
In His Own Words: Judge Coffin And Workability, William C. Kelly Jr.
Maine Law Review
Early in his judicial career, Judge Coffin proffered the concept of “workability” as one of the core factors in judging. Justice and Workability: Un Essai, his first published reflection on this idea, appeared in the Suffolk University Law Review in 1971. To frame the discussion, he started with a formal definition: “[T]he extent to which a rule protecting a right, enforcing a duty, or setting a standard of conduct—which is consistent with and in the interests of social justice—can be pronounced with reasonable expectation of effective observance without impairing the essential functioning of those to whom the rule applies.” This …
The Ways Of A Judge And On Appeal,
2017
University of Maine School of Law
The Ways Of A Judge And On Appeal, Kermit V. Lipez
Maine Law Review
What do you do when your judicial hero, the author of two important books on appellate judging, was for many years your neighbor, friend, colleague, and mentor? You revel in your good fortune, and you share your admiration for his books. Judge Coffin’s long involvement in the political world contributed significantly to a primary focus of his two books on appellate judging, The Ways of a Judge, published in 1980, and On Appeal, published in 1994. As a political organizer, a candidate for public office, a Congressman, and an administrator in a federal agency, Judge Coffin understood his accountability to …
Coffin's Court: A Colleague's View,
2017
University of Maine School of Law
Coffin's Court: A Colleague's View, Levin Campbell
Maine Law Review
These reminiscences focus on the eleven years, from 1972 to 1983, that Frank M. Coffin of Maine was the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. While Coffin’s judicial career extended over more than forty years, I chose this period because it was a time when his influence over the court’s work was at its peak, as well as because he himself later singled it out as a “judicial Garden of Eden,” during which the First Circuit enjoyed its status as the last remaining three-judge federal court of appeals in the nation.
Frank Morey Coffin's Political Years: Prelude To A Judgeship,
2017
University of Maine School of Law
Frank Morey Coffin's Political Years: Prelude To A Judgeship, Donald E. Nicoll
Maine Law Review
Each day when I go to my study, I see a wood block print of two owls gazing at me with unblinking eyes. Ever alert, they remind me of the artist, who in his neat, fine hand, titled the print “Deux Hiboux,” inscribed it to the recipients and signed it simply “FMC 8-2-87.” In addition to his talents as an artist and friend in all seasons, FMC was a remarkable public servant in all three branches of the federal government and, with his friend and colleague Edmund S. Muskie, a creative political reformer for the State of Maine. Throughout his …
