The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency of the
United States federal court
The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government. The U.S. federal judiciary consists primar ...
s. It was established by in 1967,
at the recommendation of the
Judicial Conference of the United States.
According to , the main areas of responsibility for the Center include:
[
#conducting and promoting "research and study of the operation of the courts of the United States," and to act to encourage and coordinate the same by others;
#developing "recommendations for improvement of the administration and management of .S.courts," and presenting these to the Judicial Conference of the U.S.; and
# through all means available, see to conducting programs for the "continuing education and training for personnel" of the U.S. judiciary, for all employees in the justice system, from judges through probation officers and mediators.
In addition to these major provisions, §620 (b)(4)(5)(6) sets forth the additional provisions that the FJC will (i) provide staff and assistance to the Judicial Conference and component bodies, (ii) coordinate programs and research on the administration of justice with the State Justice Institute, and (iii) cooperatively assist other government agencies in providing advice, and receiving advice, regarding judicial administration in foreign countries, in each of these cases, to the extent it is "consistent with the performance of the other functions set forth" earlier.][
The Code also states (§621) that the Chief Justice of the United States is the permanent Chair of the Center's board, and that it includes the director of the ]Administrative Office of the United States Courts
The Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO) is the administrative agency of the United States federal court system, established in 1939. The central support entity for the federal judicial branch, the AO provides a wide range of l ...
and seven federal judges elected by the Judicial Conference.[ The Board appoints the Center's director and deputy director; the director appoints the Center's staff. Since its founding in 1967, the Center has had eleven directors. The current director is John S. Cooke. The deputy director is Clara Altman.
]
History
The Federal Judicial Center was established by Congress on the recommendation of Chief Justice Earl Warren and other members of the judiciary who hoped that regular programs of research and education would improve the efficiency of the federal courts and help to relieve the backlog of cases in the lower courts. Governed by its own board, the Federal Judicial Center offered the courts the benefits of independent social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...
research and educational programs designed to improve judicial administration.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, the Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office increasingly commissioned research projects to examine problems of judicial administration and organized educational programs to help judges manage growing and complicated caseloads. These research and educational programs had no permanent staff or funding. Support for an institutionalized program of judicial research and education increased after the establishment of 60 new district judgeships in 1961 demonstrated that the number of judges alone would not solve all of the problems of overworked courts. A growing number of judges and members of the bar urged the judiciary to establish a formal means to bring improved research and education to the courts.
At the suggestion of Chief Justice Warren, the Judicial Conference in 1966 authorized a committee to examine the research and education requirements of the judiciary. Former Justice Stanley Reed agreed to Warren’s request to chair the committee. As the Reed committee formulated its recommendation for establishment of a Federal Judicial Center, President Johnson, at Warren’s request, included the proposal in his highly publicized message on crime in February 1967. The Judicial Committee adopted the recommendation. Bills to create the Center were soon submitted in both houses of Congress. With broad support for the concept of a research and education center for the judiciary, discussion in the House and Senate hearings centered on questions about the proper institutional form and leadership for the Center.
The Reed Committee and the director of the Administrative Office, among others, advocated an independent agency with its own governing board to which the Center director would report. The goal was to protect the research and education resources from being absorbed into strictly administrative duties and to insure the objectivity of research. The Federal Judicial Center’s board consists of the Chief Justice, a rotating group of judges selected by the Judicial Conference, and the director of the Administrative Office; no member of the Judicial Conference was to serve on the Center’s board. The statute authorizes the Center to conduct and support research on the operation of the courts, to offer education and training for judges and court personnel, and to assist and advise the Judicial Conference on matters related to the administration and management of the courts. Later legislation expanded the Center’s mandate to include programs related to the history of the federal judiciary.
A. Leo Levin
A. Leo Levin (January 9, 1919 – November 24, 2015) was the Leon Meltzer Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Biography
Levin was born in New York City to Issaachar and Minerva Hilda (Shapiro) Levin, and grew up in Tre ...
was the Director of the Federal Judicial Center from 1977 to 1987.
Organization
The Center includes several offices and divisions.
The Director's Office is responsible for the Center's overall management and its relations with other organizations. Its Office of Systems Innovation and Development (OSID) provides technical support for Center education and research. Communications Policy and Design (CPD) edits, produces, and distributes all Center print and electronic publications, operates the Federal Judicial Television Network
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
, and through the Information Services Office maintains a specialized library collection of materials on judicial administration.
The Research Division undertakes empirical and exploratory research
Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...
on federal judicial processes, judicial resources, court administration and case management, federal-state jurisdiction and cooperation, and sentencing
In law, a sentence is the punishment for a crime ordered by a trial court after conviction in a criminal procedure, normally at the conclusion of a trial. A sentence may consist of imprisonment, a fine, or other sanctions. Sentences for mult ...
and its consequences, often at the request of the Judicial Conference
The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial cour ...
and its committees, the courts themselves, or other groups in the federal system. Elizabeth Wiggins is the current director of the research division. She is the third research division director in the history of the Federal Judicial Center.
The Federal Judicial History Office develops programs relating to the history of the judicial branch and assists courts with their own judicial history program.
The Education Division plans and organizes educational sessions for federal judges and court staff.
The International Judicial Relations Office carries out the Center's statutory mission to provide information about federal courts to officials of foreign judicial systems and to acquire information about foreign judicial systems that will help the Center perform its other missions. The office administers the Center's International Visitor briefing program and the Visiting Foreign Judicial Fellows Program.
Board and funding
As of February 2021 the Center's board consists of:
* John G. Roberts Jr., Chief Justice of the United States, chair (Sept. 2005–present)
*Judge Duane Benton
William Duane Benton (born September 8, 1950), known professionally as Duane Benton, is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Education
Benton graduated from Northwestern University with a ...
, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (Mar. 2018–present)
*Judge Thomas Hardiman
Thomas Michael Hardiman (born July 8, 1965) is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Nominated by US President George W. Bush, he began active service on April 2, 2007. He maintains chambe ...
, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Mar. 2020–present)
*Judge Raymond Alvin Jackson
Raymond Alvin Jackson (born 1949) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Education and career
Born in Sussex, Virginia, Jackson received a Bachelor of Arts degree fro ...
, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Mar. 2019–present)
*Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal
Nancy Dell Freudenthal (née Roan, February 5, 1954) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming. She is the first female judge to serve in the District of Wyoming. Freudenthal was als ...
, U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming (Mar. 2019–present)
*Senior Judge Carol Amon
Carol Ann Bagley Amon (born April 23, 1946) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Education and early career
Amon was born in Richmond, Virginia. She received a Bache ...
, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Mar. 2020–present)
*Chief Bankruptcy Judge Mildred Cabán
Mildred may refer to:
People
* Mildred (name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name)
* Saint Mildrith, 8th-century Abbess of Minster-in-Thanet
* Milred (died 774), Anglo-Saxon prelate, Bishop of Worcester
* Henry M ...
, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Puerto Rico
*Magistrate Judge Tim Baker, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana (Mar. 2017–present)
*Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf, Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
The Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO) is the Administration (government), administrative Government agency, agency of the United States federal courts, United States federal court system, established in 1939. The central suppo ...
(Feb. 2021–present)
A nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
, the Federal Judicial Center Foundation, solicits support for the Center.
References
External links
*
Federal Judicial Center Foundation
{{Authority control
Center
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...
Legal education in the United States
Government agencies established in 1967
1967 establishments in Washington, D.C.