Designed to facilitate effective planning by state courts for the future, this guidebook is the heart of the State Justice Institute's "Vision for the Courts" project. Its primary purpose is building state court capacity to draft clear, inspiring, and compelling descriptions of a "preferred future"--a future that its authors and proponents want to…

This paper discusses the distinction between the Constitution and constitutional law. The Constitution is the fundamental law of the United States. It creates the institutions of government, enumerates the powers of these institutions, and delineates areas government may not enter. The Constitution is the instrument by which the consent of the…

Contemporary scholars researching the courts' impact on schools would profit from examining the well-funded studies conducted in the 1960s and early 1970s. This article discusses the substance of early judicial impact research and explores its relevance for today. Most 1960s impact studies dealt with United States Supreme Court decisions in three…

The term gender bias was coined by the National Judicial Education Program to Promote Equality for Women and Men in the Courts and is defined as the predisposition or tendency to think about and behave toward people primarily on the basis of their sex rather than their status, professional accomplishments, or aspirations. An effective method for…

Recounts a criminology class exercise that consisted of staging a mock trial using the murders from Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" as source material. Students research the case and role play various lawyers, jury members, and witnesses. Identifies and discusses four educational objectives attainable through the staging of mock trials. (MJP)