Provides a “How-To” Publication for the Appointment of State Court Judges
NEW YORK, NY, June 1, 2007 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Wire – Fordham Law School is pleased to announce the Fordham Urban Law Journal’s presentation of 20 articles from experts throughout the country studying the critical question of judicial selection and offering model legislation incorporating many of the best practices for appointing judges. The country is engaged in a serious discussion over how to select its state court judges, and many states are proposing changes, including the adaptation of appointive systems. Until now, no law review has dedicated itself to the single question of what makes a good appointment system for the selection of state court judges.
The contributors come from some 15 different states (some of which appoint some or all of their judges, such as Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New York and Wyoming) and include professors of law and political science, judges, and practitioners, as well as experts in the area of judicial conduct and court reform who address some of the most important questions in judicial selection reform. The springboard for the symposium issue was an all-day symposium at Fordham Law School in April 2006 called “Rethinking Judicial Selection: A Critical Appraisal of Appointive Selection for State Court Judges.”
“This symposium issue is essential reading for those states seeking to change from electing to appointing their judges as well as for those seeking to improve their existing appointment systems,” said Norman L. Greene, a member of the New York law firm Schoeman Updike & Kaufman, LLP, who organized and contributed to the symposium. “Developing a good appointive system maximizes our chances to have a fair, independent, diverse and impartial judiciary. This symposium cuts through the rhetoric and mythology and shows the best way to do it.”
The symposium was co-sponsored by leading organizations involved in court and judicial selection reform: The American Judicature Society, The Constitution Project, the League of Women Voters, the New York State Education Foundation, and The Fund for Modern Courts, as well as the Stein Center for Law and Ethics, Fordham University School of Law.
Copies may be requested from the Fordham Urban Law Journal by contacting Norman Greene or Peter Pochna.
