State Courts

2020 Election Litigation: The Courts Held

by , and

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 […]

Read More »

State Courts Brace for Budget Hit

by

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 […]

Read More »

Judicial Honors (Spring 2017)

by

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 […]

Read More »

Saving Our Profession: It’s Up to Us

by

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 […]

Read More »

Rebuild our Courts with graphic of lady justice being carried on a forklift

Rebuild our Courts: State Chief Justices Call for Action to Achieve Civil Justice for All

by and

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

Many remember the alarming call to mission control from the Apollo 13 spacecraft crew. “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” Well, dear Judicature readers, we denizens of the judicial system have […]

Read More »

Picking Judges: How Judicial-Selection Methods Affect Diversity in State Appellate Courts

by

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

In the beginning, judges in the 13 original states either were appointed by the governor or selected by the legislature. Over the next 80 years, however, a majority of states […]

Read More »

Chief Tammy Morris, Sheriff Mike Williams, Judge Virginia Baker Norton, Richard McKissick, and Mayor Lenny Curry visiting the D.A.W.N. program in 2015.

Lastly: A Judge Honors the Activist Who Brought Her to Jail

by

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

Pictured Above, Left to Right: Chief Tammy Morris, Sheriff Mike Williams, Judge Virginia Baker Norton, Richard McKissick, and Mayor Lenny Curry visiting the D.A.W.N. program in 2015. I met Richard […]

Read More »

Person marking paper with red pen

A better first paragraph, please (PDF)

by

Vol. 101 No. 2 (2017) | Can science save justice?

Start strong. Our writing guru, Joseph Kimble, breaks down an opinion’s first paragraph to show a better way. Original Pending before the Court is a letter motion by plaintiff Amy […]

Read More »

Building Administrative Scaffolding in Small Courts: Experiences in the U.S. and Abroad

by

Vol. 104 No. 3 (2020-21) | Judges on the March

In 2014, two years after graduating law school, I was appointed to serve as a municipal court judge in Guadalupe, Ariz.1 The town had the highest unemployment rate in Maricopa […]

Read More »

Assessing Safety and Security Challenges in State Courts

by and

Vol. 104 No. 3 (2020-21) | Judges on the March

As the number of reported incidents of courthouse violence has increased,1 awareness of the need to improve security in state courts has also grown. At the same time, courts have […]

Read More »