Briefs

Shadow of Gavel

As I See It: Summer 2016

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Vol. 100 No. 2 (2016) | A Judge in Public Life

You get the call from the Chief Justice of the United States asking you to serve on the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules. You’re honored. Moments after accepting, you ask […]

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50th NCSC anniversary crowd

The NCSC marks 50 years of service to state courts

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Vol. 105 No. 2 (2021) | Judicial Independence

When Chief Justice Warren Burger called for the creation of “A National Center for State Courts” at the first National Conference of the Judiciary in 1971, it is safe to assume […]

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Clerkship Continuum

The Clerkship Academia Continuum

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Vol. 105 No. 2 (2021) | Judicial Independence

In the spring 2021 edition of Judicature (Vol. 105 No. 1), Florida International University Law Professor Howard Wasserman published data analyzing the number of current law professors who have served in clerkships […]

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The Troubles of the Social Judge

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Vol. 100 No. 2 (2016) | A Judge in Public Life

At the end of 2015, two states became the first jurisdictions to add explicit references to social media to their codes of judicial conduct. In a new code effective Dec. […]

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Fixing Discovery: The Judge’s Job

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Vol. 100 No. 3 (2016) | Who appointed me god?

Editors Note: The following is an excerpt of an article that first appeared in ABA Litigation, Vol. 38 No. 4 (2012). In it, Judge James G. Carr responded to major pleading […]

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Crossing the line? Recent ethics cases show that the line between personal and judicial conduct can be blurred

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Vol. 100 No. 3 (2016) | Who appointed me god?

Not all extrajudicial conduct on which the public may frown has been considered sanctionable in judicial discipline proceedings; after all, as Robert Louis Stevenson wrote in The Strange Case of Dr. […]

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Up, Down, All Around

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Vol. 100 No. 3 (2016) | Who appointed me god?

Legislative proposals to change state supreme court compositions gaining popularity The last decade has seen a dramatic uptick in legislative efforts to change the composition of state courts of last […]

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When to Disqualify?

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

Supreme Court pushes states to develop – and use – clearer recusal procedures THE U.S. SUPREME COURT’S 2009 DECISION IN CAPERTON V. A.T. MASSEY COAL CO., 556 U.S. 868 (2009) WAS […]

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How the States Avoid Supreme Stalemates

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

State high courts avoid tie votes in a variety of ways, some more juris-prudent than others. Justice Antonin Scalia’s passing portends a seismic realtering of the Supreme Court’s ideological balance. […]

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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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