State Courts

Feature

Saving Our Profession: It’s Up to Us

by Joe Webster

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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Feature

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

by Gregory Mize and Thomas A. Balmer

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 […]

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Feature

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

by Diane M. Johnsen

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 […]

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Lastly

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

by Virginia Baker Norton

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 […]

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Redlines

A better first paragraph, please (PDF)

by Joseph Kimble

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 […]

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Judicial Honors

Judicial Honors Fall/Winter 2020–21

by Emma Roberts

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

Justice Michelle Keller of the Supreme Court of Kentucky received the Kentucky Bar Association’s Distinguished Judge Award. The award honors a judge who has made outstanding contributions to the legal […]

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Briefs

Court Communications for the Disinformation Age

by William Raftery

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

As communication tools evolve, it’s critical that courts understand how traditional and new media can be used, and on occasion misused, to communicate effectively with the public. Two recent publications […]

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Feature

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

by Lilia Alvarez

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 […]

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Feature

Assessing Safety and Security Challenges in State Courts

by Mary Ellen Barbera and Joseph Baxter

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 […]

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Feature

Jury Trials in a Pandemic Age

by Robert J. Conrad Jr.

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

The foundation of our justice system is the jury trial. In criminal cases, the Sixth Amendment provides that “the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, […]

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