State Court Watch

Welcome to State Court Watch, a project of the Law, Youth and Citizenship Program of the New York State Bar Association. This website is a resource for teachers and students interested in enhancing United States history and government curricula by making connections between state case law, famous U.S. Supreme Court cases, and topics covered in U.S. Government and citizenship classes. These connections make real the concepts of federalism and separation of powers that are important components of U.S. government at all levels of instruction.

• How to Use This Site
• Interviews for Understanding
• Related U.S. Supreme Court Cases
• Related Concepts and Topics
• Related We The People Units
• New York State Cases Summaries
• New York State Court Information
• Useful Links
• About Us

Spotlight

(Frmr.) Judge LiLan of the Shanghai High Court discusses judicial selection in China.

• Chinese Court System
• Supreme Peoples Court of China
• Judicial Qualifications and Selection
• Judicial Ethics in China

Interviews for Understanding. This addition to State Court Watch includes audiobroadcasts of short excerpts of interviews with individuals involved with all branches of New York State government designed to enhance understanding of the concepts and cases covered on the website.

Listen to retired Chief Judge Judith Kaye's views on:

• The New York State's court structure
• Being Chief Judge of New York's highest court
• Federalism
• Supremacy Clause
• Family Court reform

Listen to retired Court of Appeals Judge Albert M. Rosenblatt's views on

• Federalism
• Supremacy Clause
• Death Penalty
• Establishment Clause

Listen to New York State Senator Neil Breslin's views on:

• The importance of state government
• Legislative process: An Example: A Bill to Ban Text Messaging While Driving
• The role of the state legislature in judicial appointments
• The importance of unions
• The role of the New York State Senate Judiciary Committee

LYC and NYSBA Conference materials: Click on the link for some of the conference materials presented by State Court Watch Director Pamela Katz.

Webcasts of selected New York State Court of Appeals cases can be found on the Court of Appeals website.  Webcasts are live video-recordings of the attorneys’ arguments before the Court.  The following cases summarized by State Court Watch are webcasted:

• People v. LaValle
• Paynter v. State
• Pataki v. Assembly / Silver v. Pataki

WWW StateCourtWatch.org