The Colloquium will be held 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 18 in the Heritage Alumni Lounge in the College of Law. RSVP Required.
Author Archives: Daniel Wilson
Former U.S. Ambassador to participate in October 11th Interchanges Event
Ms. Nancy Halliday Ely-Raphel will join graduate students and University alumni for a discussion of human rights violations and the media coverage that they attract in the U.S. and abroad.
Supreme Makeover: Inventing a New Model of Judicial Openness on the High Court?
September 18, 2007
Although the Supreme Court has shown some signs of becoming a more media friendly institution, the justices still strongly resist the introduction of television cameras into their court. At the same time, many of the justices seem more willing than ever to grant television interviews and make media appearances off the bench. What can be made of the fact that the justices are increasingly putting themselves in the news even as they keep the media away from the Court? And how well are other media covering the Court in an era of dwindling news budgets but burgeoning law-blog activity?
Are Federal Judges Political? Views from the Academy, the Bench, and the Press
March 27, 2007
Although the United States Supreme Court attracts the lion’s share of public attention and political criticism, the fact is that only a tiny fraction of federal cases make it onto the high court’s docket each year. On a large number of pressing disputes, it is the lower federal courts that have the final word. What role does politics play in determining who sits on the lower federal courts and how decisions on these courts are made? Should we be more concerned about the partisan preferences that shape those legal issues the U.S. Supreme Court does not consider?
Jail for Journalists: Freedom of the Press, Confidential Sources, and the Demands of Criminal Justice
March 5, 2007
In December 2004, television journalist Jim Taricani was sentenced to six months home confinement for refusing to divulge his sources to prosecutors heading up the “Plunderdome” corruption probe in Rhode Island.
The Media’s Effect on Judicial Independence: A Kaleidoscopic View
February 6, 2007
Once the youngest member of the Tennessee Supreme Court, Penny White lost her seat in one of the most bitterly contested retention elections in state history — an election that turned on White’s participation in a Supreme Court decision overturning a death sentence. White, now Interim Director of the Center for Advocacy and Associate Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee, joined us to discuss how the media tends to portray — and distort — the image of judges and their decisions.
“The Last Umpires? The News Media, the ABA and Other Independent Voices in the Federal Judicial Confirmation Process”
Can there really be “independent voices” in a judicial appointments process that is shot through with partisan considerations? If so, what is the role of such voices? Has this role changed over time? Are there any nonpartisan actors that ought to be given greater participation in the confirmation of federal judges?
“Lacrosse Justice: Gender, Race, and Fairness in the Duke Lacrosse Legal Saga”
Did politics and publicity railroad the Duke lacrosse defendants? Or were their accusers treated unfairly? In America, who fares better when a criminal trial becomes a media circus?
“Bench Press: The Collision of Media, Politics, Public Pressure and an Independent Judiciary”
October 17, 2005 – October 18, 2005
On October 17-18, 2005 in Washington, D.C., Syracuse University brought together over twenty leading voices from the academy, law, and the media to discuss the current status of judicial independence in the United States. “Bench Press: The Collision of Media, Politics, Public Pressure, and an Independent Judiciary,” provided a multifaceted examination of the topic, including a unique look at the media’s influence on the judiciary and politics at the state and federal level.