News & Updates

As the quality of judges and integrity of the judiciary continue to receive heightened attention, education and outreach has increasingly become the focus for the courts. Slowly joining the social media bandwagon, judicial performance evaluation (JPE) sites have been cropping up. What is emerging in the world of retention elections and JPE results?

When state courts are strained or crippled by budget cuts—and it’s all too familiar a scenario around the country—how can we make the strongest case possible for adequate funding? At the National Center for State Courts and at Justice at Stake, we’ve compiled "Funding Justice: Strategies and Messages for Restoring Court Funding." It offers a comprehensive blueprint for legal groups and civic leaders to champion effectively the needs of America’s courts.

Advanced Advocacy: Legislative Policy, the latest Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers course portfolio, incorporates theory and practice of the legislative processes, advocacy in the legislative context, and judicial interpretation of statutory law. This is an upper level simulation course with an emphasis on research, drafting, and presentation for a genuine legislative immersion experience.

It's hard to believe it's been less than three months since we officially launched IAALS Online. We hope you've been enjoying it as much as we have. We'll be taking a short break for the holidays—IAALS and the University of Denver are closed from December 25 through January 1—but we look forward to logging on January 2.

How would you feel if you owned a business with your spouse and you decided to divorce? A recent article from The New York Times provides a refreshing example of how one couple was able to maintain their business relationship while going through the divorce process.

Approximately one year ago, on November 1, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York implemented a Pilot Project Regarding Case Management Techniques for Complex Civil Cases. The Board of Judges has now extended the pilot project for an additional eighteen months, to expire September 30, 2014.

After an unsuccessful attempt in 1992 to cover the topic of divorce, Sesame Street has debuted a 13-minute, online segment entitled, "Little Children, Big Challenges: Divorce," that shows a pink fairy, known as Abby Cadabby, discussing her parents' divorce. The segment hopes to fill the void and act as a resource for parents of preschool-aged children who need a tool to help their children handle the transitions that come with divorce.

Conservative lawmakers are expected to pursue a change in the process for selecting Kansas’ appellate judges in 2013. Critics of the current process believe that lawyers have too much control, with five of the nine members of the judicial nominating commission elected by the state bar association.

The Sedona Conference® has updated its Resources for the Judiciary, a reference manual for judges that is “intended to assemble and promote a variety of proven judicial management tools to help parties develop and execute appropriate, cost-effective, cooperative discovery plans; avoid unnecessary discovery disputes; and resolve discovery disputes that may arise in a fair and expeditious manner.”

In mid-November, President Obama nominated Raymond P. Moore, a federal public defender, for a vacancy on the United States District Court of Colorado, which will open with the new year. Despite the fact that the process by which Moore was nominated mirrors versions used by twenty-one other states, there is concern that he may face a lengthy confirmation period, which has become a trend during Obama’s presidency.

Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk each authorize a nonpartisan screening committee to evaluate applicants for district court vacancies and make recommendations as to the best qualified. With four open seats in Illinois and only one nomination pending, Senator Kirk recently reactivated his 14-person committee.

According to results of a recent Vanderbilt University poll, 44 percent of Tennessee voters want to elect supreme court justices, while 28 percent believe the governor should continue to appoint them. The legislature is expected to pursue changes to the process for selecting judges in 2013.

Meaningful access to justice is the most important issue confronting state courts across this country. There can be little doubt that we now have a state justice system in America that is slowly eroding while at the same time becoming increasingly too expensive for the vast majority of our fellow citizens. These developments, left unchecked, will have real consequences that will go to the very core of the American promise. They should concern us all.

Two recent events have us reflecting on the reasons why it is important to collect and share data. At IAALS, we have concluded our final study of Colorado’s Simplified Procedure (Rule 16.1), which was enacted in 2004. In Texas, the Supreme Court has newly adopted a Rule for Expedited Actions (Rule 169). Both rules intend to provide a shorter, less expensive process for smaller cases. They also have aspects similar to various short, summary, and expedited civil action programs in place around the country.

According to a system established in 1977 by constitutional amendment, the governor appoints judges to the New York Court of Appeals—the state's highest court—from names submitted by the Commission on Judicial Nomination. The Commission recently began the process of filling the first of two vacancies on the high court by offering seven names for Governor Cuomo's consideration.

Rather than being elected by the voters, Delaware’s judges are appointed by the governor with senate confirmation. Since 1977, Delaware governors have entered an executive order creating a judicial nominating commission to screen applicants and recommend the best qualified candidates. In the wake of several recent judicial appointments, Governor Markell praised this selection process in an online video.

Recently, during the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators, many state chief justices, court administrators, and legislators attended or participated in a panel discussion in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the National Center for State Courts. At this discussion, panelists addressed how courts should best handle the severe judiciary budget cuts impacting the nation's courts, especially in light of the public's increasing demand for court services.

Governor Chris Christie submitted nominees for two New Jersey supreme court vacancies to the senate. One of the nominees is a sitting superior court judge and, if confirmed, would be the first Asian American justice on the court; the other nominee is the director of the board of public utilities.

During the week of December 3, the U.S. Senate confirmed four nominees for district court judgeships in Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, and Michigan. This is unexpected progress in light of disagreement among Republican senators over whether to take any action in this arena during the lame-duck session.

Senate Republicans are questioning whether some recent court appointees changed their party affiliation so that they would be eligible for appointment, and they have proposed a constitutional amendment that would require judicial applicants to have held their party affiliation for at least two years.