Rethinking Juror Impartiality
Anna Offit 93 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1386 Jury impartiality in the contemporary court often justifies the perpetuation of exclusionary selection practices that make juries more—not less—biased. This Article calls for a rethinking of this important but flawed concept. Constitutional interpretations and conceptions of “impartiality” frame it as a transient orientation toward particular evidence or... Read More
How to Revive the Jury: One Judge’s Observations
The Honorable Stephanos Bibas 93 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1377 Juries and jury trials are an important pillar of American democracy but have increasingly become obsolete, due largely to the professionalization of lawyers and the resulting complexity of litigation. Judges can do much to reverse this trend—for instance, by streamlining pretrial management, limiting discovery, employing... Read More
Employment Discrimination in the U.S. Versus the U.K.: Dismissals Prior to Jury Trials Versus Hearings on the Merits by Employment Tribunals That Include Lay Participation
Suja A. Thomas 93 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1327 Years ago, the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) recognized the fact-intense nature of employment cases and developed a system for their adjudication—a mixed tribunal system that uses two laypeople and a judge to decide employment cases. While there have been changes to the jurisdiction of these tribunals, employment... Read More
The Right to a Jury and the Rise of Guilty Pleas Across Common Law Countries
Carissa Byrne Hessick 93 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1299 Juries have long been considered a key common law institution, yet their use has become quite uncommon in common law systems over time. Rather than trials by juries, most criminal cases are instead resolved by way of guilty pleas. The prevalence of guilty pleas is not... Read More
The Value of Jury Rights
Philip Hamburger 93 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1283 The right to a civil jury trial is often dismissed as an inefficient anachronism ill suited to the complexities of modern litigation, and these efficiency concerns have long overshadowed any serious defense of the Seventh Amendment. This Article argues that such skepticism profoundly misunderstands the constitutional function... Read More
The Survival of the Jury
This Foreword overviews the rich fund of ideas for reform of the jury and templates for how that reform can be achieved that were discussed at The George Washington Law Review's Volume 93 Symposium. This Symposium brought together distinguished guests from different branches of the legal profession and exposed audience members and panelists alike to new ideas and methods of reform concerning one of the most venerable and celebrated legal institutions.
Stripping Title VII Down to Its Bare Essentials: Uncovering an Employee-Friendly Employment Discrimination Law
William R. Corbett 94 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. Arguendo 35 The Supreme Court’s escalating textualist purge of the judicial gloss on Title VII, displayed in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services and Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, is fashioning a body of law that differs significantly from the one that has developed over... Read More
Previews for the 2025 October Term of the Supreme Court – November Sitting
As the 2025 Supreme Court Term continues, the Justices will hear arguments in numerous important cases, from the scope of governmental immunities to critical questions of procedure to capital punishment. This post previews key cases that will be argued in the November Sitting and later in the Term. Hencely v. Fluor Corporation No. 24-924, 4th... Read More
How Long Is Long Enough? Judicial Review of Agency Comment Periods
Rachel Layne 93 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1238 Federal agencies are granted discretion to shape their rulemaking procedures within the confines of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”). Although this flexibility is typically beneficial, it creates openings for agencies to use inadequate procedures that do not meaningfully engage the public, a fundamental purpose of the quasi-legislative... Read More
The Necessary and Proper Clause and the Law of Administration
Ilan Wurman 93 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1196 The Necessary and Proper Clause authorizes Congress to establish and shape the administrative state. But the Necessary and Proper Clause is rarely cited in the relevant Supreme Court opinions or litigant briefs. This is a mistake. In several of the Court’s recent prominent cases, the Necessary and... Read More