Third Paper Available from the Harvard Executive Session for State Court Leaders in the 21st Century

In "Opinions as the Voice of the Court," Texas Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, retired California State Court Administrator William Vickrey, and Douglas Denton, senior court services analyst for the California AOC, argue for the importance of supreme courts to issue opinions written in a way that more effectively communicates the fairness of the process. In this paper, the authors draw on the social-psychological field of procedural fairness to demonstrate ways appellate courts can enhance their legitimacy and understanding in the eyes of litigants, attorneys, and the public. The Executive Session for State Court Leaders in the 21st Century project was funded by the Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Assistance, State Justice Institute, and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). NCSC has developed a website exclusively for Executive Session papers and other information related to the project.