AJS/Drake Law Review Symposium Examines

the “Fragile Right” of Judicial Free Speech

The fourth annual AJS/Drake Law Review collaborative symposium, “The Legacy of Republican Party of Minnesota v. White: Judicial Independence, Judicial Selection, and the First Amendment in the Post-White Era,” (55 Drake L. Rev., No. 3, Spring 2007) is scheduled for publication in early June, 2007. The Symposium promises to be an important contribution to the debate surrounding the fallout of the United States Supreme Court’s White decision (536 U.S. 736 (2002)), as courts, commentators, and conduct commissions grapple with thorny issues of judicial speech, the First Amendment, and judicial codes of conduct.

The 2007 Symposium opens with a thought-provoking Foreword by former AJS President Sandy D’Alemberte, which also categorizes the articles into three groups:

Articles Analyzing the White Decision:

• Kevin S. Burke, An Opportunity for Leadership Lost (Judge, Hennepin County, Minnesota);

• Roy Schotland, Impacts of White (Professor, Georgetown University Law Center).

Articles Reporting on State Impacts:

• Allen Cross & William Fortune, Kentucky 2006 Judicial Elections (Professors, University of Kentucky);

• Howard P. Walthall, An Alabama Case Study: Reforming Judicial Selection After Butler v. Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission (and Republican Party of Minnesota v. White)—Where Do We Go From Here? (Professor, Cumberland School of Law).

• C. Scott Peters, Online Campaigning in 2006 State Supreme Court Elections (Professor, University of Northern Iowa).

Articles Addressing Judicial Recusal:

• Thomas R. Phillips & Karlene Dunn Poll, Free Speech for Judges and Fair Appeals for Litigants: Judicial Recusal in a Post-White World (Mr. Phillips is the former Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court); 

• James Bopp, Jr. & Anita Y. Woudenberg, An Announce Clause by Any Other Name: The Unconstitutionality of Disciplining Judges Who Fail to Disqualify for Exercising Their Freedom to Speak (Mr. Bopp argued White before the United States Supreme Court and is a leading advocate in this area).

Thanks to the generosity of Dean David Walker and the Drake University Law School, the AJS/Drake Law Review Symposium issue will be sent to all Article III federal judges, the justices of each state’s highest court, and all state Attorneys General.  AJS members may order copies of the Symposium issue through the AJS website.  Click here to order.

This fourth AJS/Drake Law Review Symposium is one of many examples of the collaborative work of AJS and the Drake Law School to further efforts to improve the administration of justice in our country. The first Symposium in 2004, “Wrongful Convictions Symposium,” included articles on innocence projects, law enforcement interrogation methods, and compensation of wrongfully convicted exonerees. The 2005 Symposium, “Criminal Justice System Reform,” included timely articles on restorative justice, criminal sentencing, and the death penalty. The 2006 Symposium, “The Intersection of Law and Science,” coincided with the opening of the AJS Institute of Forensic Science and Public Policy.

The editorial of the March-April 2007 Judicature, “Fixing White,” addresses problems of the “under-inclusive analysis” the U. S. Supreme Court adopted in the White decision.