State Courts

From the Editor-in-Chief Cheri Beasley

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Vol. 100 No. 4 (2016) | Steady As She Goes

The ability to pay court fines, including jail and prison fees, has remained an issue since Michigan first authorized the imposition of correctional fees in 1846.1 Today, many courts order […]

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Money or Justice? How Fees and Fines Have Contributed to Distrust and What Chief Justices Can Do About It

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Vol. 100 No. 4 (2016) | Steady As She Goes

Duke Law Dean David F. Levi recently convened a roundtable discussion among leaders of a national task force that aims to study and address the courts’ role in the problems […]

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Judges Can Fix the System: Here’s How

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Vol. 100 No. 4 (2016) | Steady As She Goes

Melissa J. Showed up in my court last year with four kids in tow. Her children quietly watched from a nearby table while I spoke with her. The charges against […]

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Disorder in the Courts: The varied ways states establish and oversee courts presents challenges for reform

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Vol. 100 No. 4 (2016) | Steady As She Goes

Limited jurisdiction courts are coming under new scrutiny and criticism amid calls for criminal justice reform. The Department of Justice’s report on police and court practices in the city of […]

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What do Americans want in their state judges?

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Vol. 105 No. 1 (2021) | The Courts Held

As scholars regularly document, states have frequently changed their systems of judicial selection and retention. What remains unknown is whether these systems actually address the kinds of qualities citizens value […]

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State Courts Brace for Budget Hit

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Vol. 105 No. 1 (2021) | The Courts Held

The COVID-19 pandemic forced drastic changes in the way courts operate and function. It also caused many courts to change their budgetary practices. An October 2020 survey of the Conference […]

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Person marking paper with red pen

At Least Do The Easy Stuff (PDF)

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Vol. 105 No. 1 (2021) | The Courts Held

In these two examples, I have done very little rewriting. I simply used plain words and cut unnecessary words (including the egregiously unnecessary parentheticals). And in the second one, I […]

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2020 Election Litigation: The Courts Held

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Vol. 105 No. 1 (2021) | The Courts Held

We had an extraordinary election in November 2020. More Americans voted than in any other election, even though an infectious virus still stalked the nation. Immediately following election day, we […]

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Judicial Honors (Spring 2017)

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Vol. 101 No. 1 (2017) | Citizen-centered Courts

Senior Judge MICHAEL M. BAYLSON of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania received the James Wilson Award from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in honor […]

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Saving Our Profession: It’s Up to Us

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Vol. 101 No. 1 (2017) | Citizen-centered Courts

A number of years ago, a man told me he had been charged with a crime. I asked him how his case was going. With all sincerity and with an […]

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