Welcome
The Stanford Judicial Review Project is dedicated to providing unbiased, informative analysis of federal court nominees to the public and to policymakers. We welcome you to learn more about us and to read our reports on recently-nominated judges.
Recent Updates
The Judicial Review Project will issue its next reports on federal judicial nominees in late fall 2006.
In December 2005, the Judicial Review Project released its report on then-Circuit Court Judge Samuel A. Alito. The Project also released a report on Fourth Circuit Judge Harvey Wilkinson in April 2006 (see below).
In the News
Unique Journal Analyzes Judge Wilkinson's Judicial Record and Published Writing
April 26, 2006
Stanford, CA – Stanford Law School’s Judicial Review Project today released its latest report, an analysis of the Fourth Circuit judicial opinions and published academic writing of Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson. The Wilkinson Report analyzes over 40 of Judge Wilkinson’s Fourth Circuit majority opinions, concurrences and dissents as well as an extensive amount of his published law review articles. Although Judge Wilkinson is not currently a nominee for any court, the Review Project felt that his substantial reputation as a jurist and a legal thinker merited an in-depth review of his work.
The 62-page Wilkinson Report covers Judge Wilkinson’s writing on a diverse array of topics, including federalism, the separation of powers, statutory interpretation, labor law, environmental law and more.
“Unfortunately, over the last ten to fifteen years this country has witnessed a rapid deterioration in the quality of discussion surrounding the performance of our Article III judges,” said Stanford Judicial Review Project Chair, Nolan Reichl. “The Stanford Judicial Review Project is committed to cutting through political rancor by providing objective descriptions of the published opinions and writings of nominees as well as sitting judges. The goal of our report is to help Senators, their staffs, and the public make informed decisions about Judge Wilkinson’s record on the Fourth Circuit and his jurisprudential philosophy.”
The Stanford Judicial Review Project was formed in 2002 by Stanford Law School students in order to provide Senators and their staffs with comprehensive, nonpartisan reports about the legal backgrounds of judges and judicial nominees. Over 40 Stanford Law School students currently participate in reading and analyzing cases for the Project, believed to be the only student-run journal of its kind in the country. The Project is strictly nonpartisan, does not make a recommendation as to whether a nominee should be confirmed or rejected and is edited with an eye towards eliminating bias or political bent.