Kentucky

Lori Ringhand, associate professor of law in the University of Kentucky College of Law, was recently quoted in a New York Times (NYT) editorial on the evaluation process of judges to become Supreme Court justices. She will also be featured in an interview this weekend on National Public Radio's (NPR) show, All Things Considered.

The April 14 NYT article, titled "How to Judge a Would-be Justice," discusses differences between how possible justices answer questions in Senate confirmation hearings and how they actually vote as justices.

The editorial was written in response to an article published by Ringhand and two others titled ?An Empirical Analysis of the Confirmation Hearings of the Justices of the Rehnquist Natural Court,? and published in the Constitutional Commentary where they found that the current Senate confirmation process does not always reflect how a justice will act once appointed to the bench.

Ringhand suggests that thoughtful, probing questions are needed to more appropriately gauge a potential justice. Her interview with NPR will delve further into this topic.

Ringhand has been teaching at the UK College of Law since 2002. She teaches Constitutional law, state and local government law, election law and comparative aw. Her research focuses on empirical work regarding the voting patterns and practices of U.S. Supreme Court justices. Her work in this area has been featured in numerous publications, and she has been invited to discuss her findings at conferences sponsored by the University of Texas Law School and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She recently received a grant to create a database capturing statements made by Supreme Court nominees at their Senate confirmations hearings.

Ringhand received her law degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin Law School. She also holds the prestigious Bachelor of Civil Law degree in European comparative law from Oxford University. Ringhand graduated from Oxford with distinction, and was awarded the University's Ralph B. Chiles Award for Human Rights