Salon.com has an incredible take down of the American legal education system:

Since at least 1985, the American Bar Association’s Section on Legal Education has published annual statistics about the rates of enrollment at American law schools, the costs of attendance, and the eventual employment of law graduates. Looking at how these numbers have changed since the financial crisis of 2008, one thing is clear: Law schools are doing quite well for themselves. Tuition at private law schools has steadily increased, climbing from a mean of $34,298 in 2008 to a mean of $40,634 today – an increase that, by my calculations, outpaces inflation by about $3,000.

The remainder of the articles goes on to describe American law schools as being " toxic and hyper-capitalist," and in the long run a bad investment. It is a long read, but perhaps the contrast between the author's view of U.S. law schools and your own experience here in Germany might be of interest to you.

When You Don't Want the Supreme Court Take Your Case

We sometimes forget that one of the two parties whose case is being petitioned to the U.S. Supreme Court actually would rather the Court not take their case. Of course this is because one of the parties won in the Court of Appeals. The Washington Post has some recent examples of this desire to have your case rejected.

Taking A Case to the U.S. Supreme Court

It isn't easy. At least that is what these young Iowa attorneys say in this very well done short article about their journey to the U.S. Supreme Court.

German Asylum Case Headed to Supreme Court?

A recent press release from the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) gives us the details of this unique case that might be headed to the United States Supreme Court:

In April 2013, a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals sustained the Obama administration’s revocation of asylum granted to the family in 2010.

The original immigration judge, Lawrence O. Burman, granted the Romeike family asylum on January 26, 2010, under the Federal Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) because Germany’s national policy of suppressing homeschooling violated their religious faith and because German authorities were improperly motivated to suppress homeschoolers as a social group.

In its ruling against the Romeikes, the Sixth Circuit rejected the judge’s findings, stating that Germany’s harsh treatment of homeschoolers did not amount to persecution, and that the German authorities were not motivated by an improper purpose.

After losing the Court of Appeals, the normal route is to request a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court. As students will recall, a hearing before the highest court is not a matter of right. Instead, the Court grants permission to only those cases it wishes to hear. It takes four of the nine Justices to agree to hear the case in order for it to reach the Court, and of the thousands of requests that the Court receives each year, usually only around 75 are heard.

Court TV Revisted

I have written on a few occasions about the debate over whether court hearings should be televised (see here and here). While the debate rages on, more and more courts are opting to open up their courtrooms to television: the latest high profile court being the UK Court of Appeal! The BBC has more with a video!

The Origin of Judical Lifetime Appointments in the United States

A quick reading of the U.S. Constitution might leave one puzzled as to how long federal court judges are allowed to serve. No where in the document does it specifically say that federal judges are lifetime appointments. Instead, the Constitution mysteriously says that judges shall serve "during good behavior." Lyle Denniston, veteran Supreme Court watcher, explains how this phrase came to mean lifetime appointment.

Reigning in lower court judges

Judges in the federal courts system of the United States must abide by a judicial code of conduct, and when they deviate from that code, they can be removed from a case, as one U.S. District Court Judge recently found out.

Time for a Change?

It is now a time honored tradition for American academics to every now and then call for a new constitution in the United States. The 224 year-old document that has changed little since its ratification has served the country relatively well, many argue, but in light of today's extreme political partisanship, it's time for a change. A recent piece in The Atlantic makes this argument, and also suggests that perhaps there is a model for what works in a modern democracy. The model? Germany's Basic Law!

The Infamous McDonalds Coffee Case

Perhaps one of the most misunderstand stories of the American legal system and American legal culture.

Quid Pro Quo?

A report recently released by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism finds that judges in Wisconsin tend to rule in favor of attorneys who gave them campaign donations. Wisconsin, as you might have already gathered, is one of those states that elect their judges. And as you also might know, campaign donations play an enormously important role in the modern American electoral system.

The Impact of European Law on England

The impact of European law, in this case a ruling from the ECHR, EU law, and English law was on full display last week as the UK Supreme Court ruled that a right to vote for prisoners does not exist. An earlier ruling by ECHR said that a blanket ban on voting rights for prisoners, like the one that exists in England, violates European human rights law, but the UK Supreme Court refused to enforce this right in the United Kingdom. The BBC, Guardian, and Euro News have more.

Getting Before the Supreme Court

Having your case heard before the United States Supreme Court is no easy task. In fact, as this USA Today article points out, its down right almost impossible.

New Rule: You Must Be a Lawyer to Argue a Case in the Supreme Court

This seems like stating the obvious, but up until recently, there was nothing prohibiting non-lawyers from arguing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. While this hasn't happened in over 30 years, technically non-lawyers could argue cases brought on their own behalf before the Court. Until now. The AP has more.

Why Electing Judges is a Bad Idea

Nothing shocking here. According to a recent study, judges are more likely to give friendly rulings to those individuals and corporations that donate to their election campaign. As students in my courses will recall, many states elect their judges! More on the study can be found here.

The Supreme Court's troubling past

The Washington Post's George Will recently devoted one of his columns to the
Korematsu case. Students in my Constitutional Law course might want to take a look at this piece as it relates to what we will be discussing on Thursday.

Original Jurisdiction

The Desert News had a recent article that began by saying "The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Tuesday in a case that could have implications for states that rely on interstate water compacts." The case in question concerns a water rights dispute between six western states, and is an excellent example of case that begins and ends in the U.S. Supreme Court, as the Court has original jurisdiction to hear disputes between the states.

If you are reading the words "original jurisdiction" and asking yourself what that means, it is time to go back and review your class notes.

Jury Nullification in Action

For those students interested in reading about a case where jury nullification was used to find a defendant not guilty, take look at this post.

More on the UK Supreme Court

I just came across this nice little introductory video about the UK Supreme Court. According to its website:

This introductory film is primarily aimed at GSCE/Standard Grade students and explores the role and the workings of the Supreme Court, the only court with UK-wide jurisdiction and the highest court in the land. It explains its relationship to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the highest court for British Overseas Territories and a number of Commonwealth countries.

The Right Jury Size

More on juries, this time related to the size of juries in the United States. Slate Magazine recently ran an interesting article on jury size noting that all but two states require juries that contain 12 people to give unanimous verdicts. The article runs down nicely how the Supreme Court has ruled in the past regarding jury size:

Isn’t a verdict in a criminal trial supposed to be unanimous? The answer is yes in 48 states and yes if the case is tried in a federal court. But two states, Oregon and Louisiana, allow convictions by a non-unanimous vote. In both states, the threshold in non-capital cases is 10 to 2.* Arguably, Herrera had to go to jail for the crime of living in Oregon.

The Supreme Court has allowed this conflict between federal and state law (as well as between state law and conventional wisdom) to persist for more than 40 years, during which time it has come up with a mishmash of seemingly arbitrary rules about what constitutes a legal trial. A jury of six, the Supreme Court has decided, is constitutional (Williams v. Florida, 1970). A jury of five, however, is not constitutional (Ballew v. Georgia, 1978). In a jury of six, conviction must be unanimous (Burch v. Louisiana, 1979). But in a jury of 12, conviction does not have to be unanimous (Johnson v. Louisiana and Apodaca v. Oregon, 1972). (At the time of these decisions, Louisiana required a 9-to-3 vote to convict in non.capital cases, which the court upheld as constitutional. The state has since changed its threshold to 10 to 2.)

Learing to love Jury Duty

Students in all of my courses have at some time or another been exposed to the common law jury system. Some argue that a strength of this system is the ability for everyday people to take part in the administration of justice. Yet, many Americans dread being called for jury duty. In a recent Atlantic post, Andrew Guthrie Ferguson argues that Americans need to embrace, not dread jury duty. He writes:

A jury summons is an invitation to participation. Jurors are asked to involve themselves in some of the most personal, sensational, and terrifying events in a community. It is real life, usually real tragedy, played out in court. Jurors confront disturbing facts, bloody images, or heart-wrenching testimony. A jury may have to decide whether a man lives or dies, or whether a multimillion-dollar company goes bankrupt. A jury will have to pass judgment in a way that will have real-world effects on both parties before the court. This active role was not accidental. Participation in jury service teaches the skills required for democratic self-government. Being a juror lets you develop the habits and skills of citizenship.