Though the state’s judicial elections are nonpartisan in the sense that party affiliation does not appear on the ballot, the state Democratic Party endorsed a state representative who is challenging the sitting chief justice.

A Philadelphia-based Tea Party group vowed to challenge the retention of two supreme court justices on the ballot in 2013 if the state’s voter ID law is not in place for the November elections.

Prior to a campaign recess, the U.S. Senate confirmed two of the 17 pending nominees for federal district court vacancies. Fourteen of the 17 nominees received unanimous approval from the senate judiciary committee.

Over the last year, the percentage of women serving on the state’s courts has risen from 36.1 percent to 38.2 percent. Nationwide, women hold 27.5 percent of state court judgeships.

Ruth Bettelheim, a marriage and family therapist, wrote in the New York Times that children’s voices are being ignored or suppressed in custody discussions and agreements. She argues that a custody arrangement generally governs the schedule of children without change until they turn 18, despite the fact that the needs of children change as they get older.

Jeanne Teleia, a marriage and family therapist, told the North Hawaii News that conflict in divorce is damaging to children, but that help is available to mitigate the worst and most prevalent side effects. She encourages parents to commit to a child-centered divorce where parents put their anger aside, resulting in less stress and energy spent, fewer expenses, and less damage inflicted upon the children.

In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit blocked a Montana state law barring political party endorsements of judicial candidates.

All 18 judges up for retention in Pima County Superior Court received generally high scores by the Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance, with most scoring higher than 85 percent in all categories. Judges in Pima and Maricopa counties (and state appellate judges) must stand for periodic retention by voters.

A circuit court judge rejected a challenge to the ballot summary for a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the governor to name an additional member of the commission that nominates potential appellate judges and increase the required number of nominees from three to four.

The Florida Supreme Court has recently amended its Rules of Civil Procedure to address the discovery of electronically stored information (ESI). These amendments became effective September 1, 2012.

Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Advisory Committee member, Justice Christine Durham, has been selected by the American Judicature Society to receive the Eighth Annual Dwight D. Opperman Award for Judicial Excellence.

LawMeets, a website that provides law students with free transactional simulations, is now offering free transactional law courses which can be used by individual students or incorporated into law school classes. These online courses will combine lectures and simulations to teach law students the nuts-and-bolts of business transactions.