Judiciary News

In a wide-ranging report, the Judiciary’s Workplace Conduct Working Group said its program to ensure an exemplary workplace has achieved broad improvements, by adding abusive conduct to longstanding protections against discrimination and harassment, imposing an express prohibition on abusive conduct, and improving processes to make it easier for employees to report and resolve workplace concerns.

Taking steps to increase transparency and public access, the federal Judiciary’s policy making body today approved automating the release of judges’ financial disclosure reports, amending its conflict screening policy, and expanding the scope of its audio streaming pilot project.

In 2021, the Judiciary confronted uniquely trying times: The global pandemic placed serious constraints on the courts for a second straight year, unanticipated spikes in caseloads were driven by the Jan. 6 upheaval at the Capitol and other events, and cybersecurity threats to government technology systems continued unabated.

In celebration of Women’s History Month, a new video profile explores Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, perseverance in pursuing a career in law. She reflects on the challenges her parents faced raising 12 children on Saipan, and credits them with instilling in her a strong work ethic.

Case filings are being processed more efficiently than ever in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, thanks to several procedural improvements made by the Clerk’s Office. The court’s administrative arm effectively cut the case processing time for submitted documents and filings in half, while also increasing the accuracy of how documents are submitted to the court to as high as 95 percent, up 13 percent since the improvements were made.

In recognition of African American History Month, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan shared her experiences at a program for public defense attorneys and members of the legal community.

Judge Lydia K. Griggsby said it’s the “honor of my career” to sit on the federal bench in Baltimore and serve the community “that raised me and nurtured me as a young girl.” She is the first woman of color to serve as a district judge for the U.S. District Court of Maryland.

Bankruptcy filings fell again for the 12-month period ending Dec. 31, 2021. A steady decline in filings has continued since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

As a teenager, Taisha Sturdivant was a bright kid who loved to read, yet her circumstances conspired to limit her future prospects. With the help of mentors and her own determination, she enrolled in an interactive fellowship with the Massachusetts federal court. Today, she is a successful real estate attorney specializing in affordable housing.

After more than a year of working to conduct justice in the face of a global pandemic, federal courts are being buffeted by omicron, whose rapid speed of transmission is making jury trials more vulnerable to COVID-19 interruptions.

The Judiciary sent letters to Congress this week urging lawmakers to defer action on pending bills affecting the federal courts’ electronic records management system until a “meaningful two-way dialogue” between the two branches of government can take place to resolve important concerns.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., has issued his 2021 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary.

To mark the anniversary of the Bill of Rights, on Dec. 15, Vietnam War protester Mary Beth Tinker Tinker will participate virtually in a ceremony prior to installing the armband in its temporary home in the Judicial Learning Center at the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse in St. Louis. 

A bill to protect federal judges and their families from threats and attacks has advanced to the full Senate, and a U.S. district judge from New Jersey, whose son was slain by an angry litigant, urged Congress to pass the legislation without delay.

Judge Ada Brown is the first woman of African American heritage to serve as a district judge in the Northern District of Texas, in the over 140-year history of the court. She also is one of just a handful of individuals with Native American ancestry to ever become a federal judge.