Margaret H. Marshall is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Appointed to her position in 1999, she is the first woman to serve as Chief Justice and the second woman appointed to serve as an Associate Justice. She became President of the Conference of Chief Justices in July 2008.

Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

In January 2009, the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) celebrated its 60th Anniversary. What is the primary role of the CCJ with respect to the state courts?

Over the past thirty or so years, largely as a result of nationwide court reform movements, local, county, and state courts have evolved into state judicial branches. In parallel with those developments, the CCJ has emerged as the most effective organization where the heads of the Third Branch of government in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and five United States territories meet to share experiences, learn from each other, and work together to improve the administration of justice.

The overwhelming amount of judicial business in the United States takes place in state courts. For 2007, which is the most recent year for which I have comparative data, the total number of cases filed in all federal district and appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court, not including bankruptcy cases, was 384,330. In state courts, the comparable number was 47.3 million cases, not including traffic offenses. In other words, tens of millions of Americans experience justice—or the lack thereof—in state courts.

In his 2008 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary, Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. wrote that it is particularly when the nation faces pressing economic problems that people turn to the courts. All state Chief Justices would concur. The judicial branch plays an essential role in our democracy at all times, none more so than during times of economic crisis. During the current crisis, we have seen a dramatic rise in a number of cases filed in state courts: mortgage foreclosures, domestic violence cases, cases of elder abuse, criminal cases, evictions, child support payment modifications—a wide array.

How does the CCJ respond? The CCJ provides the best and most efficient way for all state Chief Justices to learn from each other about how to meet the challenges of rising caseloads, budgets that are in free fall, staff positions that must be eliminated, and judicial vacancies left unfilled. Our states are very different. Our challenges are remarkably similar. Because of CCJ, each Chief Justice does not have to keep reinventing the same wheel. What one Chief Justice does successfully can be replicated by another.

One example: in the State of Ohio, Chief Justice Thomas Moyer recently established a separate court session for handling the great increase in mortgage foreclosure cases. That model was quickly followed by other Chief Justices. Another example: CCJ recently established a task force on elder abuse to provide guidance to Chief Justices on how to respond to the increase in those cases.

Many Chief Justices, I believe, think of our “day” work as managers, the chief executive officer as it were, of a branch of a state government. Our “night” work is adjudicative, with almost all of us carrying close to a full load of cases. CCJ is particularly helpful to Chief Justices in our “day” work: all of us want to be effective managers of our state judicial systems. Resources are scarce; we want to use them wisely. New challenges arise each day; we look to our counterparts for advice and guidance. Together we can, and do, develop policies of common interests, exchange information … and learn some of the skills not taught in law schools.

Immediately behind the CCJ, of course, stands the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). NCSC is a vibrant, living monument to Chief Justice Warren Burger and Chief Justice William Rehnquist, both of whom were remarkable in their commitment to ensuring the health of the state judiciaries. As your readers surely know, the Chief Justice is the Chief Justice of the United States, not the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.