Judiciary News

Court libraries and librarians in all 12 regional circuits are playing a leading role in two of the federal Judiciary’s most critical management initiatives: reducing building space and containing personnel and other costs.

With the original Bill of Rights, Constitution, and Declaration of Independence serving as the backdrop, President Barack Obama and Chief Judge Richard Roberts of the federal district court in Washington, D.C., congratulated citizens from 26 countries during a naturalization ceremony at the National Archives. 

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.

Bankruptcy cases filed in federal courts for the fiscal year 2015—the 12-month period ending September 30, 2015—totaled 860,182, down 11 percent from the 963,739 bankruptcy filings in FY 2014, according to statistics released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. This is the lowest number of bankruptcy filings for any 12-month period since 2007, and the fifth consecutive fiscal year filings have fallen.

Making a stately federal courthouse seem warm and welcoming to the public can be a challenge. In the Western District of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, a strong interest in art has led to a rotating schedule of art exhibits that has brightened a space once austere and cold, while increasing public visits to the courthouse.

A sophisticated phone scam is targeting bankruptcy filers in several states, using personal information from filings and posing as attorneys to get intended victims to immediately wire money to satisfy a debt.