The judiciary needs to be independent of outside influence, particularly from political and economic powers. But judicial independence does not mean that judges and court officials should have free rein to behave as they please. Indeed, judicial independence is founded on public trust, and to maintain it, judges must uphold the highest standards of integrity. This chapter focuses on the account...

This thesis examines the factors that influence perceptions of judicial corruption. A statistical analysis using data from such sources as Transparency International, the World Bank, and Freedom House demonstrates that aspects of accountability (the ability to remove judges) and transparency (freedom of the press) are only weakly related to perceptions of judicial corruption. A systematic count...

The relationship between judicial elections and judicial independence is receiving considerable scrutiny today. This article examines the impact of elections on judicial independence from the perspective of voters, since it is voters’ choices that ultimately determine the electoral fates of incumbent judges. The research on voting in judicial elections helps in understanding the circumstances t...

To understand policy-motivated behavior of Supreme Court justices it is necessary to measure their policy preferences. To date, most scholars have assumed the policy preferences of Supreme Court justices remain consistent throughout the course of their careers, and most measures of judicial ideology – such as Segal and Cover (1989) scores – are time invariant. This assumption is facially valid;...

Suicide statistics for Britain (England and Wales) from 1950 to 1990 are analysed. A rising suicide rate among males, particularly the young, is associated with an increased use of hanging as a suicide method. The same trend is not seen among females. Death by hanging can seldom be concealed or regarded as other than suicide, so statistics for suicidal hanging are likely accurate. Increased sui...

In the last fifty years, perhaps no facet of American constitutional democracy has changed more than campaigns for judicial office. Judicial elections long stood in sharp contrast to elections for executive, legislative, or administrative office. In keeping with the judicial role of impartial adjudicator, judicial candidates historically avoided political controversy and campaigned on “polite p...

I. THE ROBERTS COURT’S COMPETING CLASS ACTION CASES ... 1628 II. THE COURT’S “NON-TRANSSUBSTANTIVE” CLASS ACTION DECISIONS ............................................................................. 1636 A. The Court’s “Non-Transsubstantive” Rule 23 Jurisprudence .............. 1637 1. Substantive Lawmaking .................................................... 1637 2. Composite Judgments: Subs...

This article shows that judicial review has a democratic justification, although it is not necessary for democratic government and its virtues are controversial and often speculative. Against critics like Waldron and Bellamy, it shows that judges, no less than legislators, can embody democratic forms of representation, accountability and participation. Hence, judicial review is not undemocratic...

II. JUDICIAL SPECIALIZATION: A BACKGROUND .............................. 397 A. The Theoretical Context for Judicial Specialization ............... 397 B. Typologies of Judicial Specialization ...................................... 399 C. Arguments for and Against Specialized Courts ....................... 400 1. Development of Judicial Human Capital .............................. 401 2. Creati...

This Article addresses questions of judicial ethics raised by privately-funded judicial seminars and how they are answered by existing legal and ethical standards. It discusses the relevant restrictions and describes the courts’ interpretations. The Article concludes that these interpretations are rooted in reasonable understandings of the current restrictions. It questions whether or not the c...