“Governing State Judiciaries in Challenging Times: A Search for Coherence and Legitimacy”

David B. Rottman is a principal court research consultant at the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), where his research concerns judicial selection, public opinion on the courts and the evolution of court structures. He also serves as the NCSC coordinator of the Election Law Program, established jointly with the William & Mary Law School. He received a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is the author of books on community justice, contemporary Ireland and social inequality. He previously served on the staff of the Economic and Social Research Institute in Dublin, Ireland, and taught at the University of Connecticut and the National University of Ireland. He was appointed by the government of Ireland to serve on a committee of inquiry into the prison system and a commission on social welfare.The Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics and the Media (IJPM) at Syracuse University has announced its Spring 2010 lecture series on “Law, Politics and the Media.”Today’s American judicial system operates in a complex environment of legal principle, political pressure and media coverage. The series provides an introduction to the court system and its environment as a single, integrated subject of study and features speakers from a variety of legal, political and media backgrounds, including practicing lawyers, published authors, leading scholars and court researchers. “Law, Politics and the Media” lectures are free and open to the public. They take place from 3:50–5:10 p.m. in Room 204 of the Syracuse University College of Law. Paid parking is available in SU pay lots.The lecture series is part of an interdisciplinary course on law, politics and the media cross-listed between the College of Law, the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. The course is taught by SU professors Keith Bybee (IJPM director) and Roy Gutterman (IJPM associate director), and funded through support from the John Ben Snow Foundation and the Carnegie Corp. of New York.