Our current Roundtable considers Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar, to be argued before the Supreme Court on January 20, 2015. In Williams-Yulee, the Court considers whether a rule of judicial conduct that bans judicial candidates from directly soliciting campaign funds violates the First Amendment. The case has important implications, as currently thirty-nine states elect at least some of their judges and at least twenty have adopted rules of judicial conduct that prohibit candidates for judicial office from personally soliciting campaign funds. Beyond an obvious split among both federal and state appellate courts, Williams-Yuleepresents a conflict between the scope of protection afforded by the First Amendment of political speech and the need for judicial impartiality and integrity. Authors Robert O’Neil, Ruthann Robson, Chris Bonneau, Shane Redman, David Earley, Matthew Menendez, Stephen Ware, Charles Geyh, Burt Neuborne, Michael DeBow, and Brannon Denning tackle these questions and more in their contributions.
The Absent Amicus: “With Friends Like These . . .”
PDF · Robert M. O’Neil · 68 VAND. L. REV. EN BANC 1 (2015).Public Interest Lawyering & Judicial Politics: Four Cases Worth a Second Look in Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar
PDF · Ruthann Robson · 68 VAND. L. REV. EN BANC 15 (2015).Much Ado About Nothing: The Irrelevance of Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar on the Conduct of Judicial Elections
PDF · Chris W. Bonneau & Shane M. Redman · 68 VAND. L. REV. EN BANC 31 (2015).Williams-Yulee and the Inherent Value of Incremental Gains in Judicial Impartiality
PDF · David W. Earley & Matthew J. Menendez · 68 VAND. L. REV. EN BANC 43 (2015).Judicial Elections, Judicial Impartiality and Legitimate Judicial Lawmaking: Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar
PDF · Stephen J. Ware · 68 VAND. L. REV. EN BANC 59 (2015).The Jekyll and Hyde of First Amendment Limits on the Regulation of Judicial Campaign Speech
PDF · Charles Gardner Geyh · 68 VAND. L. REV. EN BANC 83 (2015).What Do Judges Do All Day? In Defense of Florida’s Flat Ban on the Personal Solicitation of Campaign Contributions From Attorneys by Candidates for Judicial Office
PDF · Burt Neuborne · 68 VAND. L. REV. EN BANC 99 (2015).Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar, the First Amendment, and the Continuing Campaign to Delegitimize Judicial Elections
PDF · Michael E. DeBow & Brannon P. Denning · 68 VAND. L. REV. EN BANC 113 (2015).