Quahogs. Cabinets. General refusal to use car blinkers. Obey Andre the Giant stickers in the ’90s. There are many unique things about Rhode Island. Here’s one more: Rhode Island is the only State in the Union with life tenure for…
Tag: RI Supreme Court
Running Tally of State and Federal Court Orders Affecting Rhody Related to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic
The state and federal courts that have jurisdiction in Rhode Island have issued a series of administrative orders to address court operations during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The list below attempts to catalog all state and federal court orders that…
Who Knew You Can Write For The Majority and Concur In The Same Case? Justices Robinson and Flanders (Ret.), That’s Who!
One of the crazier things I do every year is read the full text of every opinion from the Rhode Island Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court. It can take a while to get through them, particularly when…
RI Supreme Court ’18-’19 Term in Review – Who Wrote What, and How Criminal and Civil Litigants Fared
The Rhode Island Supreme Court is hard at work in term ’19-’20 with 30 opinions issued through January. With term ’18-’19 in the books, it’s a good time to review the types of cases the Supreme Court decided last term,…
In The First Pass Under The New Bar Exam Policy, 17 Attorneys Will Be Admitted in Rhode Island Through The Uniform Bar Exam
Earlier this week, the Rhode Island Supreme Court announced that seventeen attorneys are now eligible for the Rhode Island bar by petitioning for admission through the Uniform Bar Exam. Under the Court’s new bar exam policy, and combining the list…
The Princess Bride Movie Was Right: R.I. Supreme Court Says Civil Death Statute Makes You Dead, Unless There’s True Love, and Then You’re Only Mostly Dead
Spoiler alert for those not in the know — in one of the best scenes in the Princess Bride (1987), one of the great movies of all time, the hero lies in a non-responsive state, apparently dead. He’s been tortured…
Law Clerks From Soup to Nuts, Or More Accurately, From September to August
Chief Justice Roberts’ recent 2018 Year-End Report is largely a description of the federal judiciary’s efforts to address sexual harassment, but he begins with a lengthy description of law clerks and their special role in the federal courts. The report…
At The Turn Of The Tide: July 2018 R.I. Bar Exam Results Have Historically Low Numbers
Fantasy novels are a challenging genre. The author must construct a world from scratch that is close enough to the human experience to be plausible. The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien is one of the best and…
Let’s Take Palace Intrigue Where We Can Get It – R.I. Supreme Court Justices Dissent From A Miscellaneous Order!
Along with merits-based written opinions in contested cases, the Rhode Island Supreme Court issues a large volume of administrative, executive and miscellaneous orders each year. They’re mostly supervisory or perfunctory orders to ensure that the judicial branch keeps humming, covering…
The Power of Art in Learning and Understanding the Law
Jim Murphy, the Chair Emeritus of the federal District of Rhode Island’s litigation academy (I just made that title up, but it seems appropriate), is renowned for his stirring lectures during academy programs. Like all faculty of the litigation academy,…