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Intercircuit Assignments
Chief Justice Roberts approved 151 intercircuit assignments for 95 Article III judges to address workload needs during FY 2007: 62 senior judges, 32 active judges, and 1 retired associate justice. Of these, courts of appeals requested 116 intercircuit assignments. The majority of the district courts that requested visiting judges were from the Second, Fifth, Ninth, or Eleventh Circuits. The Fifth Circuit requested for the Southern District of Mississippi district court the assistance of one judge outside the circuit to hear Hurricane Katrina-related cases that may involve that court's staff. In addition the Fifth Circuit provided several judges from within the circuit to assist this district court.
AO staff supported the work of the Judicial Conference Committee on Intercircuit Assignments by expeditiously processing these requests for Article III judges to perform judicial duties outside their own circuits. The Intercircuit Assignments Committee chair and AO staff also continued to provide information at new chief judge orientations to encourage the use of intercircuit assignments.
Also during fiscal year 2007, bankruptcy judges reported providing 4,825.5 hours assisting other bankruptcy districts. A bankruptcy judge may be temporarily transferred to serve on an intercircuit or intracircuit assignment with approval of the judicial councils from the sending and receiving circuits.
Judges' Orientation and Outreach Programs
Staff hosted Chief Judge Orientation Programs for 13 new appellate and district chief judges, and general orientations for 23 judicial nominees for Article III judgeships, and for new bankruptcy judges. These programs offer information on such topics as judicial governance, procurement, chambers staffing, ethics, and security, as well as services provided by the Administrative Office.
International Judicial Relations 
The Library of Congress Open World program brought together Administrative Office Director James C. Duff, Justice Yuriy Ivanovich Sidorenko of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation, and Chief Judge Robert H. Henry, chair of the Judicial Conference Committee on International Judicial Relations. The Open World program brings small delegations of leaders from Eurasia to the United States to see American-style democracy in action. International Judicial Relations
Under the auspices of the Judicial Conference Committee on International Judicial Relations, AO staff coordinated and participated in briefings for 56 international delegations, including more than 346 judges, court administrators, and other officials from more than 60 countries.
United States judges and court administrators participated in many of these briefings via video conference. Through sponsorship by the Open World Program at the Library of Congress (LOC), AO staff hosted orientation programs for 228 Russian and Ukrainian judges in Washington, DC before the judges visited courts and communities throughout the United States. Several U.S. judges also met with Russian Supreme Court Justice Yuriy Ivanovich Sidorenko, chair of the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation, during his visit to the United States,
and accompanied him to meetings with the Chief Justice and Supreme Court justices, U.S. senators, officials of the LOC, the United States Agency for International Development, and the Director of the AO. In addition to its work with the LOC, the Committee worked with the U.S. Department of State on its projects with the Saudi Arabian and Montenegran judiciaries.
Several federal judges also attended and participated in international law-related programs overseas. A group of federal judges joined Supreme Court justices to participate in rule of law programs in Prague, Czech Republic, and the Ukraine, an environmental advocacy program in Bangladesh, and public integrity symposiums in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Budapest, Hungary. At the request of the Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation Chief Justice Anton Aleksandrovich Ivanov, AO staff served as faculty at the Modern Information Technologies in U.S. Court Proceedings workshop in Moscow, Russia.
Automated Conflict Screening
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The Conference mandated use of automated conflict- checking for financial interests of judges in rela- tion to case assignments. |
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The Conference mandated the use of automated conflict-checking for financial interests of judges in conjunction with case assignments. AO staff and the Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct prepared guidelines for judges, and each circuit filed a plan to implement the policy. During FY 2007, federal judges regularly used the automated conflict screening capabilities of CM/ECF. Conference committee and court manager input is guiding ongoing AO enhancements to the conflict-screening software in CM/ECF.
Disclosure of Attendance at Privately-Funded Educational Seminars
The Judicial Conference requires judges and private educational program providers to disclose certain information about judges' attendance at these programs. AO staff developed a web-based system for seminar sponsors and judges to enter and manage on federal court web sites information about expense-paid, privately-funded educational seminars.
Financial Disclosure Report Redaction Authority
During 2007, efforts to restore the Judiciary's authority to redact personal and sensitive information from financial disclosure reports that had expired on December 31, 2005, were successful. See page 7 of this report for details.
Members of the Judicial Conference Committee on Financial Disclosure and AO staff made presentations on financial disclosure requirements at orientation seminars for new Article III, bankruptcy, and magistrate judges sponsored by the Federal Judicial Center, a training workshop for judicial assistants and secretaries, and orientations for new chief probation officers. In addition, AO staff expanded use of multimedia videos and published articles in several Judiciary publications about financial disclosure responsibilities.
Improving the Judicial Conduct Complaint Process
The Judicial Conference Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability, with AO support, developed new draft Rules Governing Judicial Conduct and Disability Proceedings Undertaken Pursuant to 28 U.S.C §§351-364. Responding to recommendations from the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act Study Committee chaired by Justice Breyer, the Judicial Conference directed the Committee to develop, and present to the Conference for approval, guidelines and rules to implement the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act consistently in all federal courts. Public comment on the new rules was invited and will be considered prior to Conference action.
Reporting of Delayed-Notice Search Warrant Requests
The USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 imposed new reporting requirements on judges and the Administrative Office. The Act requires judges to inform the AO of action they take on any application for a delayed-notice search warrant—also known as a "sneak and peek" warrant—or for an extension of such a warrant's notice period. To make such reporting easier and more accurate, the AO has developed and implemented an automated reporting procedure for judges to use, rather than relying on paper forms. The AO will submit its first annual summary report of data to Congress covering FY 2007.
Law Clerk Assistance Program
Several Article III, bankruptcy, and magistrate judges used the Law Clerk Assistance Program this year to obtain cost-free support from law clerks employed by other federal judges. A borrowing judge assigns legal research and writing tasks electronically to currently employed law clerks with the lending judge's permission. No travel or cost is incurred.
Computer-Assisted Legal Research Services
Staff guided more than 2,000 Judiciary users through the successful transition to the new www.westlaw.com research product. AO staff coordinated with the courts retirement of the old WestMate system, negotiated premium research features at no cost, and provided training to users, much of it through a new web page.
IT Training for Judges
The Administrative Office has partnered with the Federal Judicial Center to refocus training for judges to correlate more specifically to their tasks and functions. Training will be delivered at the circuit or individual court level by a network of trainers from the court community. The AO is developing curriculum modules that may be tailored to local practices and preferences, offering a train-the-trainer class, creating and maintaining web-based material for use by local trainers, and providing help desk support.
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Training for judges is being changed to correlate more specifically to their daily tasks and functions. |
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Thirty-five judges participated in a roundtable conference in February to discuss the use of technology to support their daily work. The agenda addressed five judicial task areas: case management, writing and tracking opinions, working remotely, calendaring, and legal and courtroom technology, as well as the topic of IT awareness and training for judges. The group included circuit, district, bankruptcy, and magistrate judges, among whom were representatives from Judicial Conference committees on Bankruptcy Systems, Court Administration and Case Management, Criminal Law, Information Technology, Judicial Resources, and Magistrate Judges.
The Federal Judicial Center hosted the Roundtable with support and coordination from AO staff. A follow-up session presented by the National Center for State Courts in October drew more than 100 federal judges, court administrators, IT staff from all court unit types, and AO staff.
Benefits and Retirement Training for Judges
There were 24 benefits and retirement programs for over 350 judges and their spouses during FY 2007. These programs were conducted for newly appointed judges, judges at the mid-point of their careers, and for those judges who were close to retirement. Program agendas included information on benefit options such as health and life insurance, including the flexible benefits program and long-term care insurance, the Judicial Survivors' Annuities System, and the Thrift Savings Plan. Information was added this year on the new Federal Employees Dental and Vision program. In addition, information was shared on the Judges Retirement Systems, the Federal Employees Retirement System, and the Civil Service Retirement System.
Capital Gains Tax Deferral
On December 20, 2006, the President signed into law a provision long sought by the federal Judiciary, permitting judges to defer paying capital gains tax on property sold to comply with conflict of interest requirements. The new provision, which is part of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, extends to the federal Judiciary capital gains tax relief previously available to the executive branch. This provision applies to sales after the date of enactment of the act. In order to defer the gains, a judge must receive a certificate of divestiture from the Committee on Codes of Conduct. The Judicial Conference in September 2007 approved regulations for requesting and obtaining the certificates.
Support to Judicial Assistants and Judicial Secretaries
In August, 95 judicial assistants from appellate, district, territorial, and bankruptcy courts representing every circuit in the country attended a training workshop in Washington, D.C. Most attendees had been employed by judges for less than three years. The workshop provided information on judicial travel regulations, ethics, financial disclosure reporting, personal security, computer security, private seminar disclosure reporting, chambers, and case management and electronic case filing. An advisory group of judicial assistants helped the AO develop the workshop agenda, and several served as peer mentors. The AO also coordinates with the judicial assistants and judicial secretaries to provide policy and related information in the Judicial Assistants and Judicial Secretaries Quarterly Bulletin, which includes a work tips exchange column for readers.
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