Terms Begin for New Conference Committee Chairs

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. has named five new Judicial Conference committee chairs and extended the terms of four current Conference committee chairs. The new appointments became effective October 1, 2013.

Judge Danny C. Reeves succeeds Chief Judge Joy Flowers Conti (W.D. Pa.) as chair of the Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System;

Judge Irene M. Keeley (N.D. W.Va.) succeeds Judge Robert Holmes Bell (W.D. Mich.) as chair of the Committee on Criminal Law;

Judge Thomas M. Hardiman (3rd Cir.) succeeds Judge Rosemary M. Collyer (D. D.C.) as chair of the Committee on Information Technology;

Judge Royce C. Lamberth (D.D.C.) succeeds Judge J. Frederick Motz (D. Md.) as chair of the Committee on Intercircuit Assignments.

Judge D. Brooks Smith (3rd Cir.) succeeds Judge Michael A. Ponsor (D. Mass.) as chair of the Committee on Space and Facilities.

The terms of the following chairs have been extended by the Chief Justice for one year: Judge Julie A. Robinson (D. Kan.), chair of the Committee on Court Administration and Case Management; Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain (9th Cir.), chair of the Committee on International Judicial Relations; Bankruptcy Judge Eugene R. Wedoff (N.D. Ill.), chair of the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules; and Chief Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater (N.D. Tex.), chair of the Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules.

The Judicial Conference committees address and advise the Conference on a wide variety of subjects such as information technology, personnel, probation and pretrial services, space and facilities, security, judicial salaries and benefits, budget, defender services, court administration, and rules of practice and procedure. The Chief Justice has sole authority to make committee appointments.