State Courts

Judge Pamela Chen speaking at a graduation ceremony

Judicial Honors

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Vol. 103 No. 2 (2019) | Pay NCAA athletes?

Nina Ashenafi-Richardson, a judge with the Leon County Court system in Florida and the first Ethiopian-born judge in the United States, received the Florida Bar’s 2019 Distinguished Judicial Service Award […]

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A Matter of Style: Perceptions of Chief Justice Leadership on State Supreme Courts With an Eye Toward Gendered Differences

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Vol. 102 No. 2 (2018) | Rights That Made The World Right

Although most research on court leadership still focuses on the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, researchers are increasingly interested in state supreme courts, and with good reason. […]

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State Judicial Selection: Reforms to Promote a Fair and Independent Judiciary

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Vol. 103 No. 1 (2019) | Navigating Rough Seas

Less than a generation ago, state supreme court elections were subdued affairs. Candidates — to the extent they actively campaigned at all — primarily discussed their qualifications and backgrounds. Political […]

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States Continue to Experiment with Partisan Judicial Elections

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Vol. 103 No. 1 (2019) | Navigating Rough Seas

2019 marks the fourth consecutive year of unusually high interest among the states in shifting from partisan to nonpartisan, or from nonpartisan to partisan, judicial elections. It began in 2015, […]

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The Disappearing Probate Court

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Vol. 103 No. 2 (2019) | Pay NCAA athletes?

In 1967, Maine voters amended the state constitution to authorize the elimination of the state’s county-controlled, county-operated, county-funded Probate Courts.[1] In 2019, the Maine legislature debated a “concept draft” enabling […]

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51 Imperfect Solutions: State and Federal Judges Consider the Role of State Constitutions

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Vol. 103 No. 1 (2019) | Navigating Rough Seas

Judge Jeffrey Sutton is one of our most respected and admired federal appellate judges. He has served on the Sixth Circuit, with chambers in Columbus, Ohio, since his appointment to […]

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Change Agents: Looking to State Constitutions for Rights Innovations

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Vol. 102 No. 2 (2018) | Rights That Made The World Right

The following is an excerpt from 51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law (© 2018 by Jeffrey Sutton, published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.) […]

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Conversations of a Lifetime: The Power of the Sentencing Colloquy and How to Make It Matter

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Vol. 103 No. 2 (2019) | Pay NCAA athletes?

In recent years, there has been increased attention on sentencing, and particularly sentencing disparities. The thrust and focus of this attention have been on the statistics of sentencing and reforms, […]

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Taking “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” Seriously

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Vol. 103 No. 2 (2019) | Pay NCAA athletes?

Editor’s note: This article was written by Judge Jon O. Newman during his tenure as the Bolch Judicial Institute’s inaugural Distinguished Judge in Residence. The Institute’s Distinguished Judge in Residence […]

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Does Merit Selection Work?

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Vol. 103 No. 2 (2019) | Pay NCAA athletes?

As states such as Iowa and Pennsylvania debate their judicial selection systems, whether merit selection works is the key question that motivates Greg Goelzhauser’s innovative and timely inquiry in Judicial […]

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