Washington

As reported by the Washington Post , the President is not the only one who has taken on the courts recently: it is also happening in state legislatures around the country. This comes as no surprise to state court watchers; in fact, legislation targeting state courts for unpopular decisions is now commonplace. (Our...

This election year, supreme court justices are on the ballot in 32 states, so chances are they’re on the ballot in your state. Yet, voter participation in judicial elections is notoriously low. Research shows that roughly a quarter of those who vote for the President, the governor, and members of Congress and state...

Last summer, the Washington State Bar Association held its first round of exams in a new Limited License Legal Technician program (LLLT) aimed at bridging the access to justice gap by allowing non-lawyers to provide legal advice and assistance in limited areas, like domestic relations/family law. Now, a recent article...

A recent Wall Street Journal article details how one of America’s foremost jurists has declared war on legal jargon . Judge Richard Posner, who sits on of the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, has launched an aggressive assault on legalese. If Judge Posner has declared war, perhaps his cavalry is...

In the upcoming legislative session in a handful of states, lawmakers are expected to propose legislation aimed at courts and judges. Some Washington legislators have filed a bill that would make the state's judicial elections partisan. Two bills that Wisconsin lawmakers plan to file in 2015 would impact the Chief...

Public opinion polls consistently show that voters know very little about judges and judicial candidates on the ballot and wish they had more information. Around the country, judicial branch entities, state bar associations, and other groups are working to change that. In the November judicial elections, voters in...

The "Plain Language Movement" has been afoot for many years in the United States, seeking to make legal documents accessible to a broad swath of intended readers. In Washington, the Pro Se Project was created to improve self-represented litigant’s access to the courts by improving pattern court forms. Twenty-four...

With state legislatures in session around the country and considering bills that would impact the selection and tenure of state judges, IAALS Online provides this summary of where things stand at the end of March. Developments in: Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and Washington.

In a recent opinion dissenting from the denial of certiorari in an Alabama death penalty case, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor questioned whether the pressures of partisan judicial elections influence judges' decisions in cases involving hot-button issues like capital punishment. Social scientists have...

Two recent appointments to Maryland's court of appeals mark "firsts" in diversity for the state's highest court. Governor Martin O'Malley's elevation of Judge Mary Ellen Barbera to be chief judge would make her the first woman to lead the high court. Shirley M. Watts, whom O'Malley appointed to fill Barbera's vacancy...