Judiciary News

Bankruptcy cases filed in federal courts for the fiscal year 2015—the 12-month period ending September 30, 2015—totaled 860,182, down 11 percent from the 963,739 bankruptcy filings in FY 2014, according to statistics released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. This is the lowest number of bankruptcy filings for any 12-month period since 2007, and the fifth consecutive fiscal year filings have fallen.

Making a stately federal courthouse seem warm and welcoming to the public can be a challenge. In the Western District of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, a strong interest in art has led to a rotating schedule of art exhibits that has brightened a space once austere and cold, while increasing public visits to the courthouse.

A sophisticated phone scam is targeting bankruptcy filers in several states, using personal information from filings and posing as attorneys to get intended victims to immediately wire money to satisfy a debt. 

The remarkable resurrection of a once-forgotten judge’s civil rights legacy was completed Oct. 2, when U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and former Senator Ernest “Fritz” Hollings joined the Judiciary in renaming the Hollings Judicial Center in Charleston, South Carolina, the J. Waties Waring Judicial Center.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Edward Leavy is the recipient of the 2015 Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award.

A U.S. Courts video features the Judiciary’s annual honoring of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, depicting many of the more than 50 naturalization ceremonies conducted by federal courts across the country.

Six new chairs of Judicial Conference committees have been named by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., with terms beginning October 1, 2015. 

Federal courts have greatly improved their response to natural disasters in the last decade, according to a new U.S. Courts video, released in observance of National Preparedness Month. The video details lessons from four weather emergencies that shut down federal courthouses. 

The Judicial Conference of the United States today adopted amended rules for Judicial Conduct and Disability proceedings that provide for greater transparency and also approved an updated Strategic Plan for the Federal Judiciary.

Students will participate in naturalization ceremonies across the nation throughout September as part of a living civics lesson on citizenship. Federal courts are conducting more than 50 naturalization ceremonies in September to observe Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, which is officially celebrated on September 17.

The federal courts of appeal can help Congress make legislative intent as clear as possible through a project designed by the non-partisan Governance Institute and adopted by the Judicial Conference in 1995, on the recommendation of its Judicial Branch Committee.

An innovative U.S. courts program has students serving as federal judges in courtrooms to experience what it is like to make difficult sentencing decisions — involving their own peers.

Four Supreme Court Fellows have begun their 2015-2016 fellowships in the federal Judiciary. The Supreme Court Fellows Program was created in 1973 by the late Chief Justice Warren E. Burger to provide individuals with a first-hand understanding of the federal government, in particular, the judicial branch.

When litigants come to federal court without a lawyer, they are at a disadvantage. Even if their case is strong, they can easily get lost in a maze of procedural rules and arcane terminology. A single error can doom their chances, long before a trial date is set. In the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, that is changing. Since late March, an innovative program has provided critical legal help to more than 150 low-income pro se litigants—people who must, usually for financial reasons, file or defend a civil lawsuit without a lawyer.

The tales of how two criminal offenders successfully returned to society after years in federal prison are at the heart of a new U.S. Courts video, in which a U.S. District judge, a federal probation services official and a probation officer based in Wisconsin discuss how courts help former offenders become law-abiding citizens.