Doing Justice in a Bureaucracy: The Need to Reconcile Contemporary Judicial Roles in Light of Ethical and Administrative Imperatives.

Abstract

Among the most significant changes in the contemporary judicial scene have been those relating to a judge's managerial and administrative responsibilities. Written commentaries by and for judges have stressed the need for judges to become active administrators to cope with burgeoning caseloads and the increasing complexity of modern litigation. Some have criticized this increased prominence accorded to the managerial role, and others have characterized it as an inevitable, though troublesome, consequence of judicial bureaucratization. To date, this commentary on judicial bureaucratization and managerial judging has centered on the federal judiciary and has discussed problems and pathologies resulting from bureaucratization at different levels of the federal judicial system.

This Article focuses on state judicial bureaucracies and argues that bureaucratization of the state judiciaries may result in a pathology-judicial role strain-that the debate over the bureaucratization of the federal judiciary has not identified. Part I will illustrate that, unlike the federal judicial bureaucracy, the state judicial bureaucracies are generally characterized by strong hierarchical relationships and a sanctioning system to enforce administrative imperatives. Through an analysis of the emerging body of caselaw charging judges with violations of relevant ethics provisions, part II will show that such a bureaucratic setting gives emphasis and prominence to managerial and administrative roles. Pathologies and dysfunctions resulting from the contemporary emphasis on these multiple judicial roles are explored in part III, leading to the conclusion in part IV that state high courts have not taken advantage of the opportunities that these cases provide to clarify role ambiguities and resolve role conflicts. Part IV further suggests that state judicial heirarchies should take affirmative steps to address the role strain problem through the establishment of case production limits.