News and Announcements

Judge Robert Holmes Bell, chairs the Judicial Conference Criminal Law Committee, looking at all aspects of criminal law and supporting the work of the federal courts’ probation and pretrial services officers.

Need to know the minute something happens on a court case? The Judiciary’s PACER system can update you on your computer, or any other electronic device, with automatic case notification.

A two-year effort to gather user input on the design of the Next Generation of CM/ECF has produced a number of suggested improvements.

This month, the Supreme Court’s female justices joined Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor for a panel discussion in celebration of O'Connor's groundbreaking service. The event was the first time all four women justices have appeared together in public.

Fiscal year 2011 was the busiest ever for the federal judiciary’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system, and this fiscal year continues that trend. In the first four months of FY 2012, the PACER Service Center responded to about 60,000 telephone calls and 15,000 emails.

The federal Judiciary today asked House appropriators to provide a 3.1 percent funding increase for fiscal year 2013—the lowest requested increase on record—at a time when courts already have cut staffing and implemented other sweeping cost containment measures.

Following on the heels of a cost containment summit convened last fall, the Judicial Conference of the United States today approved a series of money-saving initiatives in an effort to prepare for funding levels that will otherwise cause significant reductions in staff and court services.

Caseloads for fiscal year 2011 increased in district courts and in the probation and pretrial services system, while falling slightly in the appellate and bankruptcy courts.

A recently published report focuses on programs, services, and materials federal courts have developed to assist “pro se” litigants – those who don’t have a lawyer’s help. The report also looks at what assistance exists for court staff in handling pro se cases.

U.S. District Judge George Singal of Maine was born in a World War II refugee camp after his family fled from eastern Poland. In this video, he explains that when presiding over naturalization ceremonies he invites new citizens to take advantage of their new opportunities.