A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
The twelve regional federal circuit courts and ninety-four district courts are part of one national judiciary. At the same time, each court has regional and local ties and characteristics that result in variations in practices and policies. This dual national/local quality traces its roots all the way back to the debates about the role and structure of the federal judiciary in the Constitutional Convention and in the first Congress. Adding to this diversity are the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Court of International Trade, and the Court of Federal Claims.
Just as the states are often seen as laboratories for experimentation, the ability of individual circuits and courts to tailor their rules and internal procedures to local conditions and changing circumstances is one of the benefits of a federal system. Those benefits can be maximized if the “experiments” can be evaluated and the lessons shared more broadly.
Federal Judicial Center research and education contribute to that evaluation and sharing in both formal and informal ways. The Center is regularly asked by national bodies, such as the Judicial Conference of the United States and its committees or Congress, to examine a particular policy, practice, or issue in the courts. Similarly, individual circuits and district courts ask the Center to study matters internal to those courts. Such research often leads to lessons learned that are incorporated into Center education programs.
No less important, by bringing judges and judiciary personnel from across the country together for educational programs, research projects, and other meetings, the Center fosters the exchange of experiences and ideas. This interaction occurs during meeting sessions and over breaks and in informal conversations. It also continues long after participants return to their courthouses, as the result of relationships and communication channels that these gatherings foster.
The Center’s statutory purpose is “to further the development and adoption of improved judicial administration in the courts of the United States.” The Center has no authority to direct the judiciary in any way. The Center’s value lies in its role as a trusted source of information and analysis and, crucially, as a means for exchanging information and for maintaining relationships that help tie a decentralized system together.
The return of in-person meetings and programs to prepandemic levels in 2023 was an important element of that role. Executing that resumption without the usual lead time due to the timing of our fiscal year 2023 appropriation—on top of an already full plate of programs and complex research projects—required outstanding efforts by my colleagues in the Center, our Board and advisory committees, and all those who assist with and contribute to the Center’s work. I am proud and grateful to serve with all of them, and with all the judges and personnel who serve in the federal judiciary.
John S. Cooke