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The Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics,
and the Media at Syracuse University
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Publications
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IJPM not only serves as an incubator for interdisciplinary research, but also generates publications in our areas of interest.
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Bench Press: The Collision of Courts, Politics, and the Media
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by Keith J. Bybee, ed. (Stanford University Press)
Click here to purchase Bench Press from Amazon.
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DESCRIPTION
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Federal court confirmations in the United States have become openly political affairs, with partisans lining up to support their preferred candidates. Matters in the states are not much different, with once sleepy judicial elections changing into ever more contentious political slugfests, replete with single-issue interest groups and negative campaign advertising. Once on the bench, judges at every level find themselves dogged by charges of politically motivated decisionmaking.
In this first-of-its-kind collection, prominent figures from the academy, the bench, and the press reflect on the state of the American judiciary. Using the results of a specially commissioned public opinion poll as a starting point, the contributors examine the complex mix of legal principle, political maneuvering, and press coverage that swirl around judicial selection and judicial decisionmaking today. Essays examine the rise of explicitly political state judicial elections; the merits of judicial appointments; the rhetoric of federal judicial confirmation hearings; the quality of legal reporting; the portrayal of courts on the Internet; the inevitable tensions between judges and journalists; and the importance of regulating judicial appearances.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Introduction
The Two Faces of Judicial Power
Keith J. Bybee
Part I: Context
Chapter 1
Preserving Public Confidence in the Courts in an Age of Individual Rights and Public Skepticism
Charles Gardner Geyh
Chapter 2
Politicizing the Process: The New Politics of State Judicial Elections
G. Alan Tarr
Part II: Views From the Bench
Chapter 3
An Essay on Judicial Selection: A Brief History
Harold See
Chapter 4
Judicial Independence: The Courts and the Media
James E. Graves, Jr.
Chapter 5
Politics and the Confirmation Process: Thoughts on the Roberts and Alito Hearings
John M. Walker, Jr.
Chapter 6
Selecting the Judiciary: Who Should be the Judge?
Joanne F. Alper
Part III: Views From the Media
Chapter 7
Winners and Losers
Mark Obbie
Chapter 8
The Internet and the Judiciary: We are All Experts Now
Dahlia Lithwick
Chapter 9
The Distance Between Judges and Journalists
Tom Goldstein
Afterword
The State of Judicial Independence
Anthony Lewis
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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
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The Honorable Joanne F. Alper
Judge, Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Arlington, Virginia
Keith J. Bybee
Associate Professor of Political Science and Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University
Charles Gardner Geyh
Professor of Law and Charles L. Whistler Faculty Fellow, Indiana University at Bloomington
Tom Goldstein
Former New York Times Reporter; Professor of Journalism and Former Dean, UC Berkeley School of Journalism
The Honorable James E. Graves, Jr.
Justice, Mississippi Supreme Court
Anthony Lewis
Former New York Times Columnist
Dahlia Lithwick
Senior Editor and Supreme Reporter, Slate.com
Mark Obbie
Visiting Assistant Professor and Director of Carnegie Legal Reporting Program, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University
The Honorable Harold See
Justice, Alabama Supreme Court
G. Alan Tarr
Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Director, Center for State Constitutional Studies, Rutgers University-Camden
The Honorable John M. Walker, Jr.
Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
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