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Long Range Plan for the Federal Courts

The Long Range Plan for the Federal Courts (1995) was the first comprehensive long-range or strategic plan for the federal judiciary.  

The plan included 93 recommendations and 76 implementation strategies covering topics including

  • judicial federalism
  • the structure of courts
  • the adjudication process
  • judicial governance
  • resources, and
  • the relationship between the judiciary and society.

The plan also included statements of the federal judiciary’s vision, mission, and core values. 

The Long Range Plan helped guide federal judiciary policy-making activities for many years, with the Judicial Conference and its committees bearing much of the responsibility for its implementation.  The Long Range Plan also guided and influenced the strategic planning activities of courts and other judicial branch entities.

In 2010, the Strategic Plan for the Federal Judiciary succeeded the Long Range Plan as the strategic plan for the Judicial Conference and its committees.  However, its recommendations and implementation strategies include many statements of Judicial Conference policy that, unless superseded by later Judicial Conference action, remain in effect to this day.