Fascinating: In an unusual legal skirmish, Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jeff Hughes filed a federal lawsuit over the holidays against four of his fellow justices, challenging their decision to exclude Hughes from participating in consideration of two so-called legacy… Continue reading

Anthony Johnstone has posted this draft on SSRN (Appellate Practice and Process).  Here is the abstract: Judicial elections are approaching their second century in the United States, and they are not going anywhere soon. Now, recent deregulation of campaigns and… Continue reading

Release: Pressures of upcoming re-election and retention election campaigns make judges more punitive toward defendants in criminal cases, according to a new analysis of social science research by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. How … Continue reading

AP: “Democrats have won all three open seats on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court. The victory secures them a majority on the high court for at least a decade, after a campaign that drew a record $11.5 million in contributions.”

Release: Special-interest groups accounted for a record-high 29 percent of total spending in state judicial races in the 2013-14 election cycle, according to a new report by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, Justice at… Continue reading

Billy Corriher on Twitter: West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin at @UVALaw symposium: “I was tone deaf in not recusing myself in Caperton.”