Journal of Appellate Practice and Process articles from September 2003

Journal of Appellate Practice and Process archives from September 2003

Assessing judgeship needs in the federal courts of appeals: policy choices and process concerns.
September 22, 2003... In March 2003, the Judicial Conference of the United States, the policymaking body of the federal judiciary, requested that Congress create eleven new judgeships for the federal courts of appeals. This recommendation could not have come as a...

Representing death-sentence appellants.(challenges to lawyers in appealing death penalty cases)
September 22, 2003... I. INTRODUCTION Most of the nations which share our political and cultural traditions have done away with the death penalty. There was a period during the middle of the twentieth century when executions in the United States became less and...

Intelligence testing and Atkins: considerations for appellate courts and appellate lawyers.
September 22, 2003... I. INTRODUCTION In Atkins v. Virginia (1) the Supreme Court held that the execution of any individual with mental retardation violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The holding of Atkins is...

The revised ABA guidelines and the duties of lawyers and judges in capital postconviction proceedings.
September 22, 2003... I. INTRODUCTION On February 10, 2003, the American Bar Association approved the revised edition of its Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases. (1) Their purpose is to articulate the...

Effective performance guarantees for capital state post-conviction counsel: cutting the gordian knot.
September 22, 2003... I. INTRODUCTION Flaws in America's death-penalty justice system have received a great deal of attention lately. The steady trickle of death row exonerations, (1) former Illinois Governor George Ryan's blanket commutation of all Illinois...

Appellate mediation in Pennsylvania: looking back at the history and forward to the future.
September 22, 2003... I. INTRODUCTION In recent years, appellate courts have increasingly integrated alternative dispute resolution methods into their procedures in an effort to reduce ever-expanding caseloads. The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, for example,...

The oral judgment practice in the Canadian appellate courts.
September 22, 2003... I. INTRODUCTION It is traditional that British and Canadian appeal courts render many judgments orally, in open court. Although this format may seem foreign to American judges and jurists, it is a practical and efficient tool for rendering...

The connotation/denotation distinction in constitutional interpretation.
September 22, 2003... INTRODUCTION One more contribution to the long debate over constitutional interpretation calls for some justification. This Article tackles a specific problem of interpretation in Australian constitutional law, although it is a problem...

No-citation rules under siege: a battlefield report and analysis.
September 22, 2003... "The assault upon the citadel of no-citation rules is proceeding in these days apace." Cardozo didn't exactly say that, (1) but if he were here today, he might. "Unpublished" (2) judicial opinions and rules prohibiting their citation are under...

Critique and consequences of the Supreme Court's decision in Holmes v. Vornado.
September 22, 2003... I. INTRODUCTION The Spring 2003 issue of this journal included a practice note assessing the impact that the Supreme Court's recent decision in Holmes v. Vornado might have on the practices of appellate lawyers who are not specialists in...

Fundamentals of preparing a United States Supreme Court amicus brief.
September 22, 2003... The prominence of amicus briefs in United States Supreme Court practice was dramatically illustrated during oral argument in last Term's most prominent case, Grutter v. Bollinger. (1) Less than five minutes into the argument, Justice Ginsburg...

Words to the wise. (appellate oral argument)
September 22, 2003... Oral argument in the Supreme Court was once a political and social event of the first order, a contest of rhetoric and oratory that bore a greater resemblance to Cicero's speeches in the Roman Forum than to the high-speed volley of question and...