Central to the rule of law is a fair and impartial arbiter, the judge, who makes decisions based on the law and not personal prejudices, political considerations, or what may be popular at the moment. We examine issues of racial bias of judges and the remedies, or lack thereof, for such bias. We also look at a practice peculiar to the United States – the election of judges in many states. We see how elections can affect judges, and use some examples of televised judicial campaign ads to examine the role of rulings in criminal cases in judicial campaigns. Prof. Bright also talks to Justice Penny White, who served as a Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court until 1996. Justice White was voted out of office in a retention election after a campaign against her based mostly on the Court’s decision reversing a death sentence. Justice White discusses judicial independence and the influence of interest groups on the justice system.
Readings:
Judges (PDF), including:
I. The Right to an Impartial Judge
- Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78 (1935)
- Note on cases involving pecuniary interest, the temptation not to hold the balance “nice, clear and true,” and the “appearance of impartiality”
- Excerpts from the ABA MODEL CODE OF JUDICIAL CONDUCT
- Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540 (1994)
- People v. Strum, 129 P.3d 10 (Cal. 2006)
II. Issues of Impartiality
- Racial Prejudice
- Peek v. State, 488 So.2d 52 (Fla. 1986)
- State v. Smulls, 935 S.W.2d 9 (Mo. 1996)
- State v. Kinder, 942 S.W.2d 313 (Mo. 1996)
- Judge White’s nomination for a federal judgeship
- Political Pressures
- 134 S.Ct. 405 (2013) (Sotomayor, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari)
- Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Peter Bard
- State of Tennessee v. Odom, 928 S.W.2d 18 (1996)
- Tennessee Conservative Union Campaign letter
- JUST SAY NO to Penny White
- Challenge to Tennessee Justices Fails in 2014
- Texas Judge Rejected Post-5 P.M. Death Row Appeal
- State of South Carolina v. Colin J. Broughton
- The Influence of Drugs
III. The Contempt Power
- Discussion of Taylor v. Hayes, 418 U.S. 488 (1974), and other cases on contempt.
Recommended Reading:
- “Judge Suspended for Wearing Blackface,” FOX News, Dec. 14, 2004
- Stephen B. Bright & Patrick Keenan, “Judges and the Politics of Death,” 75 Boston U. L.Rev. 759 (1995)
- Adam Liptak, “Rendering Justice, With One Eye on Re-election,” N.Y. Times, May 25, 2008
- A television advertisement falsely suggesting that the only black justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court had helped free a black rapist
- Other ads attacking the justice: (1), (2), and (3)
- “Judges’ battles signal a new era for retention elections,” Washington Post, Dec. 3, 2010
- Whitney Woodward, “2010 Justice Kilbride Retention in Illinois,” 60 Drake L. Rev. 844 (2012)
- Kim Chandler, “Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore pulls off political resurrection,” AL.com, March 15, 2012
- Stan Bailey, “Parker shown with hate group leaders,” Birmingham News, Oct. 15, 2004
- “Stevens offers stark example,” Wisconsin State Journal, May 25, 2010
- Doug Guthrie, “Ex-Supreme Court Justice O’Connor: Change Way Mich Elects Judges,” Detroit News, Feb. 2010
- Ralph Blumenthal, “Texas Judge Draws Outcry for Allowing an Execution,” N.Y. Times, Oct. 25, 2007
- Adam Liptak, “Questions of an Affair Tainting a Trial,” N.Y. Times, Feb. 23, 2010
- Frances Robles, “Here Comes the Judge, in Cuffs,” N.Y. Times, June 27, 2014
- “Judge Accused Of Punching Defense Attorney Returns To The Bench,” Huffington Post, June 30, 2014
- Gwen Filosa, “Conviction reversed: No jail time for public defender,” New Orleans Times-Picayune, Dec. 5, 2007
- Gwen Filosa, “Lawyer handcuffed in clash with judge,” New Orleans Times-Picayune, May 12, 2008
- Laura Maggi, “Public defender mistreated in Criminal District Court, agency chief says,” New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 23, 2010
Lecture:
Interview of Penny White: