Judicial Ethics Forum
An open and academic discussion of judicial ethics, discipline and disqualification.
Author: Keith Swisher a professor at Phoenix School of Law in Phoenix, is editor. Contributor Monroe Freedman is a professor at Hofstra University School of Law, and Cynthia Gray is director of the American Judicature Society's Center for Judicial Ethics.
Blawg Related Categories: Judiciary • Legal Ethics • Hofstra University • Phoenix School of Law • Law Professor
Recent Posts from Judicial Ethics Forum
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Torture and Humiliation in Ohio
Associated Press and other national media have seized on a story of an Ohio judge who ordered that a defendant’s mouth be duct-taped shut. I have been avoiding blogging about the incident for several reasons,…
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Scalia and Death of the Innocent
The following is an exchange with a colleague about Dershowitz’s attack on Scalia regarding the death penalty for an innocent defendant (that Scalia betrayed his Catholicism). My colleague’s response: Although I cannot, of course, speak…
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Pro se litigants
In a recent judicial discipline decision, the Louisiana Supreme Court gave a persuasive description of the importance of respectful judicial demeanor in the courtroom, particularly in cases involving pro se litigants. In re Ellender (Louisiana…
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Call for Papers
The Drake Law Review and the American Judicature Society are pleased to announce the Seventh Annual American Judicature Society-Drake Law Review Symposium Issue: The State of Recusal: Judicial Disqualification, Due Process, and the Public’s Post-Caperton Perception…
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Caperton Repercussions
In addition to other repercussions, the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Energy, 129 S. Ct. 2252 (2009), may help the states defend restrictions on political and campaign activity in their…
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Judicial Politics
Although the litigation such as that necessary to resolve the Senate race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman is fortunately extremely rare, it demonstrates the importance of having a non-partisan judiciary available to resolve such…
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To Send a Message
I’m interested in whether others share my (and Kant’s) concern with sentencing Madoff to the max in order to “send a message,” as Judge Chin said. Without doing any research on it, my recollection is…
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Organizations that Practice Invidious Discrimination
The controversy about Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s membership in several organizations prompts a review of what the code of judicial conduct does and does not prohibit. Canon 2C of the Code of Conduct…
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Caperton Clarity
As we predicted, the Supreme Court has voted five to four in general favor of the Due Process Clause and disfavor of judicial electioneering. Justice Kennedy authored the opinion concluding that Justice Benjamin harbored a serious, objective “probability of bias” when he…
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Caperton: Answers to the Chief Justice’s “Twenty Questions” Times Two
In Caperton, Chief Justice Roberts dismissed the majority’s “probability of bias” test, calling it a “cure . . . worse than the disease.” He believes that the “Court’s new ‘rule’ provides no guidance to judges and…