Latest Case: State v. Voorhees (Criminal Law)

What About the Bar Exam After the 2020 Dust Settles?

VIKRAM DAVID AMAR

Illinois law dean and professor Vikram David Amar comments on some of the questions commentators and analysts are, or will soon be, asking—specifically why we have bar exams for legal licensure, and, assuming we retain them, what they should look like going forward. Amar observes the limitations of the so-called diploma privilege advocated by some and suggests that states adopt greater interstate uniformity in their bar exams, shift toward more performance (as opposed to memorization) exams, and move away from being so time pressured.

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State v. Voorhees

Docket: SCWC-14-0000844

Opinion Date: September 17, 2020

Judge: Per Curiam

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirming the district court's judgment finding Defendant guilty of resisting arrest, holding that Defendant was entitled to relief on his claim that his waiver of his right to a jury trial was not knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. Defendant signed a waiver form purporting to waive his right to a jury trial on the charge of resisting arrest. The district court accepted the waiver. After a bench trial, the court found Defendant guilty of resisting arrest and several other charges. The ICA affirmed. The Supreme Court vacated the judgments of the lower courts, holding (1) the record did not reflect a discuss and exchange sufficient to satisfy the district court's responsibility of ensuring a jury trial waiver's validity; and (2) under this Court's recent decision in State v. Ernes, 465 P.3d 763 (Haw. 2020), Defendant's waiver was not properly verified as knowing, intelligent and voluntary.