Judiciary News

Federal and state courts reported a combined 23 percent decrease in authorized wiretaps in 2018, compared with 2017, according to the Judiciary’s 2018 Wiretap report. Convictions in cases involving electronic surveillance also fell sharply.

The federal Judiciary has created and is seeking members for a public user group to provide advice and feedback on ways to improve its electronic public access services. 

What happens when school officials search a backpack and find an underage student’s e-cigarettes? An innovative courtroom program helps students understand how search and seizure laws affect them.

A heightened awareness of the importance of diverse juries has prompted some federal courts to evaluate their selection processes to ensure that the age, race, and socio-economic status of juror pools reflect the courts’ communities.

Growing up in a small town in Minnesota, Donovan Frank overcame the modest expectations of his high school teacher to attend college and then law school. He later also overcame alcoholism, a condition that nearly destroyed his marriage, on his way to becoming a state judge and then a federal judge in the District of Minnesota for two decades.

Bankruptcy filings fell by 0.9 percent for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2019, compared with the year ending March 31, 2018. 

In a new U.S. Courts video 40 Washington, D.C., area students participate in a realistic simulation of a student free speech case based on the 1969 landmark Tinker v. Des Moines.

The Central District of California has the largest number of women in top leadership positions across all 94 federal judicial districts.

The federal Judiciary’s national policy-making body today approved a package of workplace conduct-related amendments stating the obligations of judges and Judiciary employees to report reliable information likely to constitute misconduct; making clear that confidentiality obligations should never be an obstacle to reporting judicial misconduct or disability; and specifying that retaliation for disclosing misconduct is itself misconduct.

Over the past year, the federal Judiciary launched an aggressive effort to address workplace conduct issues, achieved one of its top cost-saving goals, and maintained its commitment to excellence in public service, reported James C. Duff, the director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO), in his annual summary of the Judiciary’s activities.

Throughout 2018, the federal Judiciary celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Federal Magistrates Act of 1968, which established the magistrate judge system.

U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson, who grew up during the Dust Bowl and Depression in Texas, attended law school as one of a half-dozen female classmates more than a half century ago, and later had a federal courthouse named in her honor, died Jan. 26 at the age of 92.

Bankruptcy filings in the 12-month period ending December 31, 2018, fell 2 percent, compared with bankruptcy cases filed in calendar year 2017.  

A new continuing resolution that was signed into law last Friday will fund the Judiciary’s fiscal year 2019 operations through Feb. 15.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO) now estimates that federal courts can sustain funded operations through Jan. 31, 2019. The Judiciary continues to explore ways to conserve funds so it can sustain paid operations through Feb. 1.