State Courts

Renaming Maryland’s Appellate Courts

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Vol. 107 No. 1 (2023) | Toward Fairer, Quicker, Cheaper Litigation

What’s in a name? According to Maryland’s voters, there’s something to it. […]

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Indelible: Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson

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Vol. 107 No. 1 (2023) | Toward Fairer, Quicker, Cheaper Litigation

Shirley Abrahamson’s enduring legacy exists not just in statistics, accolades, and awards. Rather it lies in her innovations in judicial administration, her significant contributions to the development of the law, and the indelible impression she left on the hearts and minds of so many who look to her with admiration and gratitude.

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Faith in Law

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Vol. 107 No. 1 (2023) | Toward Fairer, Quicker, Cheaper Litigation

David F. Levi interviews Dallin H. Oaks, a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and former justice of the Utah Supreme Court, on faith, democracy, and how believers and nonbelievers can work together toward a more free and fair society for all. […]

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How States Set Judicial Salaries

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Vol. 107 No. 1 (2023) | Toward Fairer, Quicker, Cheaper Litigation

The question of judicial compensation — not just how much, but the mechanism used to set the amount — has been a part of the American discourse on judicial independence since […]

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Trailblazing Chief Justices in the American States

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Vol. 106 No. 3 (2023) | Forging New Trails

The diversity of the American bench is frequently scrutinized by politicians, journalists, academics, and jurists themselves. This has been particularly true in recent years as the U.S. Supreme Court has […]

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Case Processing Time Standards Take Hold in State Courts

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Vol. 106 No. 3 (2023) | Forging New Trails

For centuries, courts have grappled with the question of speedy and timely justice. Until the 20th century, this was almost exclusively viewed as a legal question: At what point does […]

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Best Practices for Trauma-Informed Virtual Hearings

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Vol. 106 No. 2 (2022) | Losing faith?

When physical distancing measures required courts to quickly adapt operations, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) saw an opportunity to examine the experience of families and child welfare court […]

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‘The People’ Have Decided

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Vol. 106 No. 2 (2022) | Losing faith?

There are many great judges. Only some have a major impact on our law — or even more rarely on our larger culture and society — and most of those […]

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Trauma-Informed Judicial Practice from the Judges’ Perspective

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Vol. 106 No. 2 (2022) | Losing faith?

Research sends a clear message: The effects of trauma cannot be ignored within our court system. Up to 90 percent of adolescents and 75 percent of adults involved in the […]

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Judges, Judging and Otherwise

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Vol. 106 No. 2 (2022) | Losing faith?

Ask the average person to imagine what a judge does, and the answer will most likely be something right out of a courtroom from Law & Order — or Legally Blonde, Just Mercy, My […]

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