News and Announcements

When U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story observed a nationwide trend showing that a troubling percentage of citizens are unaware of their rights and the role of the Judiciary, he decided to take action to address this civics deficit.

The federal Judiciary is taking additional steps to strengthen protections for sensitive case documents in response to recent escalated cyberattacks of a sophisticated and persistent nature on its case management system. The Judiciary is also further enhancing security of the system and to block future attacks, and it is prioritizing working with courts to mitigate the impact on litigants.

Personal and business bankruptcy filings rose 11.5 percent in the twelve-month period ending June 30, 2025, compared with the previous year.

The program that pays court-appointed private attorneys to represent indigent federal criminal defendants has run out of money, starting the clock on a painful three-month delay in paying these attorneys and their related service providers for constitutionally mandated legal work.

Federal and state courts reported a combined 9 percent increase in authorized wiretaps in 2024, compared with 2023, according to the Judiciary’s 2024 Wiretap Report.

For people involved in non-violent criminal cases, supervision not only presents a second chance at a productive life but saves taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars compared to the costs associated with incarceration.

The Stephen G. Breyer Community Learning Center on Courts and the Constitution, which officially opened on March 25, offers civics education activities for learners of all ages and backgrounds throughout the First Circuit.

Two federal judges told Congress that the Judiciary has been negatively affected by two straight years of flat funding in most accounts, and they said a 9.3 percent increase in appropriations for the upcoming fiscal year is needed to ensure that the Judiciary can perform its essential constitutional functions.

Bankruptcy filings rose 13.1 percent during the 12-month period ending March 31, 2025. That is a similar rate of acceleration as in the Dec. 31, 2024, quarterly report, but new bankruptcy cases remain significantly lower than after the 2007-08 Great Recession.

Law students were asked to set aside their casebooks to witness “justice in action” as Federal Circuit judges and attorneys recently gathered for oral arguments at three North Carolina law schools.