Just as the snow has been battering the mountains, the recession has been battering the courts. So says this article on NC Policy Watch, which summarizes the impact: “[C]lose to $80 million in budget cuts over four years; 638 full-time employees cut through vacancy management and actual losses, including magistrates and district attorney support staff; the elimination of state funding for drug courts and dispute settlement programs. And technology throughout the system took a beating.” It’s worth a read, not least for the Q and A with Judge John Smith, director of the AOC, who offers his view of some of the system’s most urgent needs. In other news: Justice Clarence Thomas spoke during oral argument this week, for the first time in seven years. He didn’t ask a question, but he did make a remark, generally deprecating the performance of lawyers from his alma mater, Yale Law School. Given Justice Thomas’s habit of silence, a mild news frenzy has ensued. The Wall Street Journal Law Blog has the story here, and a first-hand account of the comment is here. In further Supreme Court news, Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s memoir, My Beloved World, is now available for purchase. Her personal story sounds pretty compelling and the book would probably make a decent belated holiday gift for lawyers. (I will add that Justice Thomas’s personal story, reflected in his book My Grandfather’s Son, is also captivating.) Turning to the Court’s substantive work, it granted review in several cases over the past week, including [...]
Faculty Coordinators
