News and Announcements

The Conrad B. Duberstein U.S. Bankruptcy Courthouse in Brooklyn is currently hosting an exhibit of 95 framed photographs of historic New York City landmarks.

Does freedom of speech protect the right to wear protest armbands at school? Do school administrators need a warrant to search a student suspected of wrongdoing? December 15 is Bill of Rights Day, celebrating the day that the Constitution’s first 10 Amendments were ratified in 1791. 

On the 60th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ arrest, the story of how a federal court decision struck down segregated buses is the theme of “Ride to Justice,” a new U.S. courts video. The video draws on archival images and interviews with U.S. District Judge Myron H. Thompson and lawyer Fred Gray.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court filers and lawyers must use new forms beginning December 1, when the first modernization of bankruptcy forms in two decades takes effect.

U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton, a talented football player who overcame adversity in high school through strong adult guidance, is the subject of a newly released edition of Pathways to the Bench, a U.S. Courts video series in which federal judges talk about challenges that helped prepare them to serve justice.

The Director’s Awards, given by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, recognize the outstanding leadership and excellence in court operations of federal court employees nationwide. 

The first of a series of public hearings, conducted as part of a comprehensive and impartial review of the Criminal Justice Act, will take place November 16-17, 2015, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and can be seen live via online video.

Recent news reports have focused on the thousands of federal inmates released from federal prison on an expedited basis due to changes in drug sentencing laws. For the past 90 years it has been the responsibility of federal probation officers to both supervise offenders released into the community and assure the community remains safe.

This fall the federal court in the Central District of California supported the National Preparedness campaign with three Emergency Preparedness Fairs that reached over 400 federal employees and members of the public in three district divisions.

New American citizens from 24 countries were welcomed by the entire judiciary of the Eastern District of New York, in a special ceremony honoring the 150th anniversary of the court’s first naturalization.