Archive: March 2024

Can Judges Help Ease Mass Incarceration?

A scholar considers how judges have contributed to historically high incarceration rates — and how they can help reverse the trend. While the American criminal justice system was once known […]

Free Speech on Campus: Examining the Campus Speech Debate Through a First Amendment Lens

PICTURED ABOVE: College students protest the Vietnam War at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1970s. (Classic Stock/Alamy stock Photo) Examining the campus speech debate through a First Amendment lens […]

Invaluable Knowledge: How Trial Judge Experience Shapes Intermediate Appellate Review

As is true in many professions, experience matters. Specifically, prior experience as a trial judge can help intermediate appellate judges analyze trial rulings.3 For this conclusion, I rely on a case […]

Redrafting All the Federal Court Rules: A 30-Year Odyssey

The Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States oversees the work of the five advisory committees that draft proposed new and […]

Neutrality Can Be Maddening to the Public. And to Judges, Too.

Those drawn to careers in law often want to save the world. When we decided on law school, we hoped to wield the armor and lance of the law to ensure civil rights, make people whole, and do justice. Some of us became judges, many accepting a reduction in salary to do public service. […]

Is Disclosure and Certification of the Use of Generative AI Really Necessary?

The news abounds with articles on the promises — and perils — of generative AI (GenAI) […]

What Can Be Done About Backlogs?

No new judgeships have been authorized for the federal courts of appeals in more than 40 years, resulting in a system that is burdened by large caseloads: By 2021, filings […]

John Marshall’s Judicial Robe: Witness to Constitutional History

Over time, Chief Justice John Marshall’s black judicial robe has assumed a status as fabled as his opinion for the Court in Marbury v. Madison — and one that is just as steeped in myth. […]

Plea Bargains: Efficient or Unjust?

The vast majority of state and federal cases end in plea bargains. The practice has eased backlogs and may benefit some defendants — but the trade-offs, some say, are too […]

Judge carrying a huge ball of stress

The State of Judges’ Well-Being: A Report on the 2019 National Judicial Stress and Resiliency Survey

Judges have always faced significant stressors, including the burden of consequential decision-making, exposure to disturbing evidence, and isolation. While every judicial assignment has its own mix of concerns, challenge is […]