Part III Structure of State Government, 10 The State Judicial Branch

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Williams Robert F
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
State Courts ◽  
State Supreme Courts ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Supreme Courts ◽  
Federal Judiciary ◽  
Adequate Funding ◽  
State And Local Government ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Advisory Opinions

This chapter discusses the differences between the federal and state judiciary. Many state judges are elected through a variety of mechanisms. The workload of state supreme courts has evolved over the years from a private-law orientation to more constitutional law and public policy kinds of cases. In addition, state courts exercise a number of nonadjudicatory powers such as rulemaking on practice and procedure before the courts and regulation of lawyers. Some state courts have the authority to issue advisory opinions and answer certified questions, and some of them have asserted certain inherent powers such as to require adequate funding levels. State courts also retain the power to develop common law doctrine, as well as to resolve disputes among state and local government officials and agencies in ways that rarely involve the federal judiciary. State courts are also not bound by the rigid federal doctrines of standing, mootness, and ripeness.

Protection Order Policy-making in the U.S. State Courts of Last Resort from 1980 to 2019

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-91
Author(s):  
Andrea Barrick ◽  
John C. Kilwein
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Supreme Court Decision ◽  
State Courts ◽  
State Supreme Courts ◽  
Supreme Courts ◽  
State Laws ◽  
Government Ideology ◽  
Protection Order ◽  
The U.S

This article examines the development of policy designed to target intimate partner violence, or domestic violence, through the use of protection orders in the U.S. state courts of last resort, or the state supreme courts, from 1980 to 2019. The authors’ study shows that the American state supreme courts are decidedly supportive of female protection order litigants throughout the period studied. The model also highlights the importance of state government ideology, percentage of female justices, and state laws that ban gender hiring discrimination on state supreme court decision-making in these cases.

scholarly journals Reframing Black Southerners’ Experiences in the Courts, 1865–1950

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 1113-1140
Author(s):  
Melissa Milewski
Keyword(s):  
Black Men ◽  
Jim Crow ◽  
State Courts ◽  
State Supreme Courts ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Southern State ◽  
Supreme Courts ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Civil Cases ◽  
Black Defendants

In civil cases that took place in southern courts from the end of the Civil War to the mid-twentieth century, black men and women frequently chose to bring litigation and then negotiated the white-dominated legal system to shape their cases and assert rights. In some ways, these civil cases were diametrically opposite from the criminal cases of black defendants who did not choose to enter a courtroom and often received unequal justice. However, this article draws on almost 2,000 cases involving black litigants in eight state supreme courts across the South between 1865 to 1950 to argue that in both civil and criminal cases African Americans were at times shaping their cases and fighting for their rights, as well as obtaining decisions that aligned with the interests of white elites. Southern state courts during the era of Jim Crow were thus spaces for negotiating for rights and sites of white domination, in both criminal and civil cases.

Expenditure Reassignment and Fiscal Decentralisation: An Empirical Study of State and Local Government in India

1995 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Nath ◽  
B C Purohit
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Crucial Issue ◽  
Local Expenditure ◽  
Local Functions ◽  
State And Local Government ◽  
Fiscal Decentralisation ◽  
Total State ◽  
State And Local

Reassignment of local functions to state government and fiscal decentralisation seem to be contradictory. Whether these fiscal strategies are compatible policy packages is an empirical question. The crucial issue is as to how local governments respond to reassignment, a response which may be reflected in their willingness to spend on remaining functions. If reassignment stimulates local expenditure such that the extent of decline in fiscal decentralisation (the local share in total state–local expenditure) is less than the amount warranted, the two fiscal strategies can be taken to be compatible. To test this hypothesis, conditions for compatibility are postulated in terms of tax efforts of state and local governments. With use of Indian fiscal data, state and local tax efforts are computed and compared for selected states, as a first approximation. There is no conclusive evidence to show that reassignment has invariably exerted any dampening impact on local expenditure.

Remembering the Forgotten Minority: An Analysis of American Indian Employment Patterns in State and Local Government, 1991–2011

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-54
Author(s):  
Valerie H. Hunt ◽  
Melissa A. Taylor ◽  
Daniel “Ramon” Cox
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
South Dakota ◽  
American Indian ◽  
State Government ◽  
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ◽  
Slight Improvement ◽  
Alaskan Native ◽  
State And Local Government ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Managerial Positions

For the eight states with the greatest percentages of American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN) populations—Alaska, Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming—we use 24 years (1991–2015) of US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission data to examine whether AIANs are overrepresented in the lower paying, less desirable, non-managerial, public sector positions in local and state government bureaucracies and underrepresented in the more desirable, better paying, managerial positions (e.g., administrative and professional positions). In both workforces, we examine if levels of descriptive representation within the states changed over time. We find AIANs continue to suffer pervasive and persistent occupational segregation in non-managerial levels of bureaucratic organizations, in each state except Oklahoma. Across time in managerial ranks, we observe slight improvement in three states—Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma—and declining job shares in the remaining five states.

Federal Constitutional Guarantees of the States: Section 106 and Appeals to the Privy Council from State Supreme Courts

1978 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-374
Author(s):  
Christopher D. Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Case Law ◽  
State Courts ◽  
State Supreme Courts ◽  
Privy Council ◽  
Supreme Courts ◽  
High Court ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
Recent Statement ◽  
The Subject

The abolition of all appeals from the High Court to the Privy Council, coupled with the High Court's recent statement that it no longer regards itself as bound by Privy Council decisions, highlights the fact that appeals still lie, in many matters of State jurisdiction, from State Supreme Courts direct to the Privy Council. In this article, Mr Gilbert is primarily concerned to examine the extent to which section 106 of the Commonwealth Constitution may provide protection for these “direct” appeals. To this end, Mr Gilbert examines what case-law exists on section 106, and attempts to place the section in perspective in relation to the rest of the Constitution. The difficult (and largely unexplored) relationship between section 106 and section 51 is considered, to discover the possible reaches of Commonwealth legislative power with respect to the subject-matter protected by section 106. The position of “direct” appeals within the States’ constitutional structures is looked at, in order to determine the possible ambit of whatever protection is offered by section 106, and finally, Mr Gilbert analyses the recent comments by Mr Justice Murphy that the abolition of Privy Council appeals from the High Court has meant the consequential demise of “direct” appeals from State courts.

scholarly journals Samorząd terytorialny w poglądach Stanisława Podwińskiego

Prawo ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 324 ◽  
pp. 187-199
Author(s):  
Marek Podkowski
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
State And Local Government ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Executive Boards ◽  
Local Government Officials

Local government in Stanisław Podwiński’s viewsThe article presents the most important scholarly achievements of Stanisław Podwiński and his views on local government. Podwiński was not only a local government theorist but, above all, practitioner. This is evidenced by his work in various government and local government bodies as well as his instructions on how to elect municipal councillors and members of municipal executive boards as well as village, county and city councillors. The instructions were a kind of signposts showing those organising elections how they should proceed. Podwiński’s instructions were written in a manner that would make them useful not only to state and local government officials, professionally involved in the work of local government, but also to local government activists. The personnel of local government bodies included people who were not always familiar with the scope of responsibilities of the work, which was by no means easy. These publications were to help them discharge their official duties by introducing them to the local government system.Die Ansichten von Stanisław Podwiński zur kommunalen SelbstverwaltungIn dem Aufsatz wurden das wichtigste wissenschaftliche Werk von Stanisław Podwiński und seine Ansichten zu der kommunalen Selbstverwaltung gezeigt. Podwiński war nicht nur ein Theo­retiker der kommunalen Selbstverwaltung, aber vor allem ein Praktiker. Davon kann sowohl seine Tätigkeit in den Organen der Regierungs- und der Selbstverwaltung, als auch die von ihm vorbe­reiteten Anweisungen, wie die Gemeinderäte und Mitglieder der Gemeindeverwaltung, der Orts-, Kreis-, und Stadträte zu wählen sind, zeugen. Die Anweisungen waren ein spezifischer Wegweiser, wie die Organe, die die Wahlen durchführen, vorzugehen haben.Die Arbeiten von Podwiński waren derart geschrieben, damit sie nicht nur den Beamten des Staates und der Selbstverwaltung, die beruflich die Arbeit in der Selbstverwaltung ausübten, sondern auch den Selbstverwaltungsaktivisten dienen konnten. In die Organe der Selbstverwaltung kamen Personen, die nicht immer mit dem Bereich dieser Verantwortung und der nicht leichten Arbeit vertraut waren. Die Publikationen sollten ihnen die Ausübung dieser Pflichten erleichtern, indem sie ihnen die Struktur der kommunalen Selbstverwaltung nahe brachten.

scholarly journals Collaborative Versus Prescriptive Legislating and Rulemaking: A Case Study of the Driver's License Provisions in the REAL ID Act of 2005

2007 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Susan E. Randolph
Keyword(s):  
Executive Branch ◽  
Personal Identification ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Global War On Terror ◽  
The Real ◽  
Driver's License ◽  
State And Local Government ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Global War ◽  
Real Id Act

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and America's engagement in the Global War on Terror have added urgency to long-standing Congressional efforts to strengthen the country's system for establishing personal identification. Randolph examines the REAL ID Act of 2005, which legislates uniform requirements for state drivers' licenses. She describes the way the REAL ID Act became law and is being implemented by the executive branch and outlines the objections of state and local government officials to its driver's license provisions.

The Influence of Animal Advocacy Groups in State Courts of Last Resort

2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-74
Author(s):  
Steven Tauber
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
State Courts ◽  
State Supreme Courts ◽  
Empirical Testing ◽  
Advocacy Groups ◽  
Supreme Courts ◽  
Advocacy Organization ◽  
Animal Advocacy ◽  
Nonhuman Animals

AbstractSince the 1970s, animal advocacy groups have attempted to improve the treatment of non-human animals by influencing public opinion and lobbying for legislation that protects animals. Empirical assessments of these efforts have reported mixed results. Animal advocacy groups also use litigation as a means of improving the treatment of nonhuman animals, but there has been limited empirical testing of the effectiveness of animal advocacy litigation. To fill this gap in the literature, this study examines the 188 animal law cases decided in state supreme courts from 1973 through 2005. It looks specifically at whether the participation of an animal advocacy organization increases the chance of a favorable decision, while controlling for legal and political influences on case outcomes. Logistic regression reveals that the presence of animal advocacy groups does not exert a statistically significant impact on case outcomes. Further analysis demonstrates, however, that animal advocacy groups are significantly more likely than nongroup litigators to pursue cases that are difficult to win.

4. What state and local governments do

2019 ◽  
pp. 43-60
Author(s):  
Mark J. Rozell ◽  
Clyde Wilcox
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
National Government ◽  
Federal System ◽  
State Supreme Courts ◽  
Supreme Courts ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Constitution ◽  
State And Local

Even as most Americans fix their gaze on the actions of the federal government, states and localities are the cornerstones of the US federal system. “What state and local governments do” explains that states are free to design their own governments so long as their structure does not violate the US Constitution. All states have designed their governments to somewhat resemble the national government, with an elected governor, elected legislatures, and state supreme courts. However, each of these structures can operate in different ways, with different powers from state to state. The governments of the Native American reservations and those of the five permanently inhabited US territories are also discussed.

scholarly journals Discussion of Financing State and Local Government Services in a Cyclical Economy

1976 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-12
Author(s):  
Kurt R. Anschel
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
State Government ◽  
Income Growth ◽  
Important Criterion ◽  
Government Services ◽  
Growth Stability ◽  
State Tax ◽  
State And Local Government ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The 1960S

Drs. White and Musser bring an important new insight: given recent and prospective variations in inflation and income growth, stability must become an important criterion for assessing alternative local and state government fiscal systems. The 1960s was an expansionary period for U.S. and world economies. Equity, growth and efficiency appeared to be appropriate and sufficient criteria for evaluating local and state tax and expenditure systems. The economic turmoil of the 70s, however, makes it obvious we were a bit over-optimistic. Stability must be added to our list.

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