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Tragic Events Alter Course of Judicial Conference

News of the disaster at the World Trade Center already was circulating when Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist convened the 141st session of the Judicial Conference at 9:30 a.m. on September 11, 2001. With him around the table in the Supreme Court building were the chief judges of 13 federal circuits and the Court of International Trade, 12 district court judges, and the chairs of various Conference committees.

By approximately 10:15 a.m., the Conference had conducted some preliminary business when the Chief Justice announced that the Supreme Court would be evacuated immediately.

The Conference session was suspended. The expectation was that the Conference would return the following day to conclude its business. As the day went on, it became obvious that a one-day postponement would be neither realistic nor appropriate.

The next option was to reconvene the Conference in Washington sometime in October. The press of other business, the identification of a convenient date, and the costs associated with such an undertaking made this approach problematic. As a result, The Chief Justice sent a memo to the members of the Conference advising them that the best course would be to resolve obviously time-sensitive matters by mail ballot and put off until March 2002 other less timely issues. A ballot was sent to Conference members on September 13.

While the Judicial Conference was postponed in March 1993 because of a snow storm, this is the first time in its 79-year history that a meeting of the Conference has been canceled.