Litigation

links for 2009-07-02

Posted on July 02, 2009
Chief Justice takes aim at US system of judicial elections Recusal ruling reopens Massey lawsuit against West Virginia court – The Herald Dispatch that judgesonmerit.org » Electing Judges is Absurd The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times : Campaign Finance Case and the Vote on Sotomayor Judge Declines to Delay Enactment of Law Recognizing Gay Marriage – washingtonpost...

links for 2009-07-01

Posted on July 01, 2009
Supreme Court draws line on Checkbook Justice « The Blackacre Journal judgesonmerit.org » One Dollar Is Too Much Thoughts on this Term and the Next | SCOTUSblog

links for 2009-06-30

Posted on June 30, 2009
Prop. 8 under legal attack again (OneNewsNow.com) Why the Supreme Court Got It Wrong in the Massey case « Voir Dire

links for 2009-06-27

Posted on June 27, 2009
Lawmakers can do better — chicagotribune.com

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links for 2009-06-26

Posted on June 26, 2009
Symmetry vs. entitlement. (12) – By Walter Dellinger, Linda Greenhouse, and Dahlia Lithwick – Slate Magazine US Attorney Conspired to Force Miss. Judge Off the Bench, Lawsuit Contends | ABA Journal – Law News Now judgesonmerit...

High Court Decision Prompts Recusal Review in Nevada

Posted on June 26, 2009
The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that Nevada has ordered a commission studying Nevada’s court system to make recommendations on how the state should respond to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Caperton v. Massey.   The commission was asked to set guidelines when a judge should recuse him or herself in cases involving major campaign supporters...

West Virginia Reform Commission

Posted on June 26, 2009
Articles in the West Virginia Record and the Charleston Daily Mail reported on, and Wednesday June 17 and Thursday June 18 that a reform commission is being created in West Virginia, with former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O?Connor as the chairperson...

N.J. Radio Host Arrested for Threatening Judges

Posted on June 26, 2009
A radio talk show host in New Jersey has been arrested on charges of levying death threats against three federal judges, the New York Times reports. Hal Turner, regarded by many as an anti-Semitic white supremacist, said that the three judges, William J...

links for 2009-06-25

Posted on June 25, 2009
Albin gets panel's approval for lifetime tenure on N.J. Supreme Court | State | NewJerseyNewsroom.com — Your State. Your News. BROWNSVILLE VOICE – HOW TO DUPE THE SENATE WITH LOADED QUESTIONS IN FAVOR OF SOTOMAYOR – IF YOU ARE A LIBERAL Legal Profession Blog: Post-Caperton Judicial Education Nevada eyeing when judges can hear donors' cases – San Jose [...

links for 2009-06-24

Posted on June 24, 2009
judgesonmerit.org » ?The Real Problem is the Election of Judges? Supreme Court justice drives into store – Breaking News – ReviewJournal.com Big money undercuts judicial credibility — chicagotribune.com Legal Profession Blog: New Rules For Ohio Judges Law...

Recusal Debate and the First Amendment

Posted on June 24, 2009
Amanda Bronstad writes an article for the National Law Journal, titled “Stage Set for Litigation Over Judicial Recusal”.  The aftermath continues for the Caperton v. Massey ruling as Bronstad discusses both sides of the recusal debate.  She states that the Court’s ruling: “prompted the American Bar Association and several states to consider stricter rules to help [...

links for 2009-06-23

Posted on June 23, 2009
National Journal Online — The Ninth Justice — Klobuchar Takes Aim At Sotomayor's Critics Keeping the judges honest | HeraldTribune.com | Sarasota Florida | Southwest Florida's Information Leader The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times : ACS Panel: In Selecting State Judges, No System Is Perfect Judicial elections or appointments? You be the judge OP/ED: Judging the Judges « [...

Times Column Cites Brennan Panel, Sotomayor Debate

Posted on June 23, 2009
In a column called “What Kind of Judges Do We Want,” law professor Stanley Fish dissects questions raised by the Sonia Sot0mayor nomination, including the role of “empathy” and personal background in judicial decision-making. The backdrop of the column is a panel hosted last week by the Brennan Center for Justice on judging, which is described [...

ACS Panel Debates Judicial Elections, Caperton

Posted on June 22, 2009
As part of its annual conference, the American Constitution Society on Saturday held a panel discussion on how the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Caperton v. Massey will affect judicial elections. According to a Washington Legal Times blog, the panel debated the pros and cons of various options, unable to reach a single solution...

links for 2009-06-20

Posted on June 20, 2009
Editorial: A question of integrity : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis THEIR VIEW: Judicial reform and public opinion in W.Va. | West Virginia Record Letter _Web version__ Selecting judges on merit best | The Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, Ind.

links for 2009-06-19

Posted on June 19, 2009
judgesonmerit.org » Caperton Matters to All of Us Judge lifts stay on Massey case against Supreme Court | West Virginia Record Charleston Daily Mail - West Virginia News and Sports - Editorials - Just politicians in judicial robes?  Poll: 94% of New Jerseyans can't name a state Supreme Court Justice | Politicker NJ | New Jersey Politics News, [...

House Impeaches Federal Judge for Just 14th Time in History

Posted on June 19, 2009
CNN reports that the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to impeach Fifth Circuit Judge Samuel Kent. Kent has been the target of an unusually fast impeachment process since his obstruction of justice conviction last May in a case involving allegations of sexual assault from two of Kent’s female staffers...

Why Caperton Matters to ?All of Us?

Posted on June 19, 2009
Shira Goodman of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts writes a good entry at their “Choose Judges on Merit” blog on why the Caperton v. Massey case matters to average people. She expands on a Philadelphia Inquirer article by PMC Chair Bob Heim, which includes the following anecdote from Heim’s op-ed: Some years ago, I was told of a lawyer [...

House Measure to Halt Gitmo Closing Fails by Single Vote

Posted on June 19, 2009
An amendment to the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill that would have barred the use of funds to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba has been defeated by a single vote. The amendment, proposed by Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis of California, was voted down by a final tally of 212 yeas to 213 nays...

links for 2009-06-18

Posted on June 18, 2009
Senator Once Denied a Judgeship Is Concerned About ?Empathy? Nominations | ABA Journal - Law News Now Sotomayor embracing affirmative action, then and now - Los Angeles Times It's Hard to Have Human Judges With No Biases - WSJ.com judgesonmerit...

Status Quo in Illinois

Posted on June 18, 2009
The earthquake caused by the criminal prosecution and impeachment of Governor Rod Blagojevich has led to few significant reforms in Illinois, a New York Times article said this week. The title of the article is, “For Some in Illinois, Talk of Reform Was Just That...

Tennessee Bill Goes to Governor

Posted on June 18, 2009
An article in the Memphis Commercial Appeal said that Tennessee’s governor is reviewing a measure that would retain an appointment system for state ’s Supreme Court and appellate judges, but modify the process to assuage some critics. Under the bill, the governor will continue to appoint judges, from slates of nominees submitted by a commission, and they will [...

Immigration-Court Backlogs Growing, Report Says

Posted on June 18, 2009
The New York Times today reports on a recent study released by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) that finds a major backlog in the nation’s immigration courts. The report finds that, despite a 2006 Justice Department recommendation to hire more immigration judges, the courts have seen a 19 percent increase in backlogs and 23 percent [...

NY Times Cites Continuing Surveillance Threat

Posted on June 18, 2009
The  New York Times has published an editorial saying the U.S. government’s eavesdropping program continues to be too aggressive, and urged revisions in laws allowing anti-terrorism surveillance of U.S. citizens. Its conclusion: We do not believe that Mr...

links for 2009-06-17

Posted on June 17, 2009
judgesonmerit.org » Philadephia Bar Association Calls for Merit Selection Big money and the courts: When should judges step aside? Ohio Judicial Campaign Contribution Conundrum | InjuryBoard Cincinnati Lincoln Walks At Midnight: More Fallout from SCOTUS' Benjamin Ruling (Updated) Governor Appoints Judicial Review Reform Commission - WOWK-TV - WOWKTV...

links for 2009-06-16

Posted on June 16, 2009
The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports - News - Supreme Court appoints judge in rehearing of Massey case  Shark and Shepherd: What Caperton ought not to mean Judges and justice should not be for sale - Carl Hiaasen - MiamiHerald.com A black mark for judicial election Necessary recusal | courier-journal...

Wisconsin Reforms Advance

Posted on June 16, 2009
Two important reform bills moved ahead in Wisconsin today, when an Assembly committee endorsed public financing for state Supreme Court candidates and backed a bill that would force special interest groups to disclose their financial sources for any electioneering ads...

JAS, Brennan Center Quoted in CNN Report

Posted on June 15, 2009
Bert Brandenburg, executive director of Justice at Stake, and Adam Skaggs of the Brennan Center for Justice both were quoted in a June 12 CNN report on whether justice is for sale, following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Caperton v. Massey.  Brandenburg told the “Lou Dobbs Show”: In the end, we want judges to be [...

States React to Caperton

Posted on June 15, 2009
   Since the Caperton decision came down last week, the reaction from the states that have judicial elections, or may potentially have them, has been mixed. Starting in West Virginia, where legislative options are being studied to prevent a situation like Caperton from happening again, the reaction was positive...

40 Questions About Caperton v. Massey

Posted on June 15, 2009
In his dissenting opinion in Caperton v. Massey, Chief Justice John Roberts posed 40 “fundamental questions” that he said the majority did not answer. At the blog Judicial Ethics Forum, Arizona attorney Keith Swisher, a specialist in legal ethics, takes a crack at answering them.

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