Recent events    

• In February of 2006, the AJS Midyear meeting featured a program that addressed judicial selection reform efforts in southeastern states.
   
• In February of 2005, AJS co-sponsored a symposium at Oklahoma City University College of Law that addressed issues of judicial ethics and judicial selection in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Republican Party of Minnesota v. White (2002).
   
• In March of 2004, AJS participated in a program at Tulane University School of Law that addressed issues of judicial selection, judicial independence, and judicial accountability.
   
• To address current concerns about the increasing significance of ideology in the selection of federal court of appeals and district court judges, AJS held a half-day symposium in May 2002 in Washington, D.C., that examined the role and responsibilities of the executive and legislative branches in the federal judicial selection process.
   
• A national forum on judicial selection entitled “Choosing our Judges” was sponsored by the Hunter Center in March of 2000. The forum brought together over 175 judges, attorneys, lawmakers, and citizen reformers to discuss the current state of, and future opportunities for, judicial selection reform. C-Span broadcast the forum’s opening panel live, which featured the chief justices of the Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Texas supreme courts.
   
• In the fall of 2000, the Hunter Center launched a new series entitled Research on Judicial Selection which highlights the latest social science studies related to judicial selection. The second volume was published early in 2002.
   
• Hunter Center staff focused significant time and attention in 2000 on the local ballot measure for the extension of merit selection and retention to trial court judges in Florida. Teaming with the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Judicial Independence, AJS sponsored four public forums on judicial selection issues across the state.