Professor Janice Pea moderated a November 17 event for the Supreme Court of Illinois Judicial College Committee on Judicial Branch Staff Education.
The Hon. Carlton Reeves (S.D. Miss.) spoke on how the written disposition accomplishes the administration of justice; how an opinion can show the court's engagement and robust consideration of all sides of a controversy; and how to vary the content and style of an opinion to address the unique circumstances of a case. Other topics included avoiding implicit bias and when the court writes for a larger audience than the parties.
Pea first met Judge Reeves after she presented an opinion that he wrote as part of her Judicial Opinion Writing webinar this past summer.
She said, "He gained national recognition this summer when he wrote an opinion in Jamison v. McClendon, in which he held that the defendant police officer did have qualified immunity under existing law, but he wrote a masterful analysis of why qualified immunity should be abandoned."