AO Publishes 2018 Annual Report and Court Statistics

Over the past year, the federal Judiciary launched an aggressive effort to address workplace conduct issues, achieved one of its top cost-saving goals, and maintained its commitment to excellence in public service, reported James C. Duff, the director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO), in his annual summary of the Judiciary’s activities.

These objectives, and more, were achieved even as the court system made exigency plans for a government shutdown and appropriations lapse that consumed an inordinate amount of court and Administrative Office time and resources during the last quarter of the year, Duff noted in his 2018 Annual Report of the Director, which was published Tuesday.

The report provides an accounting of the Judiciary’s main activities throughout the year, as required by law. The accompanying Judicial Business of the United States Courts provides statistical tables about federal caseloads by circuit, district, and offense, among other topics, and is also statutorily required.

The Director highlighted the policy changes that have flowed from the Federal Judiciary Workplace Conduct Working Group. He also emphasized the courts’ success in reducing their collective space footprint by more 1.1 million square feet, exceeding the goal of a 3-percent reduction nationally.

In his opening message, Duff said, “The Judiciary’s unwavering ability to adhere to its core mission of dispensing justice in a fair and orderly manner, without regard to the hurdles we faced, motivated and distinguished our branch of government” in 2018.