You are here
Reports & Studies
Below is a list of a number of past published studies conducted by the Research Division. Some Center reports are not published or made publicly available due to restrictions in place from the source of the research request. Most research reports can be downloaded and in some instances, a hardcopy publication can be requested. See also Manuals, Monographs, & Guides.
Displaying 201 - 210 of 341| Title |
Date |
|---|---|
|
A Day in the Life: The Federal Judicial Center's 1988-1989 Bankruptcy Court Time Study At the request of the Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System, during fiscal year 1989, the Center surveyed the caseloads of 272 bankruptcy judges (97% of those sitting at the time). The data collected in the survey formed the basis of seventeen case weights, which are the average amounts of time bankruptcy judges spent on the matters that came before them. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts uses the case weights to calculate weighted caseloads for each bankruptcy court, and the Judicial Conference uses this information as a major factor in assessing the need for bankruptcy judgeships. Reprinted from 65 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 491 (1991). |
January 1, 1991 |
|
Sentencing Federal Offenders for Crimes Committed Before November 1, 1987 An update of a 1985 revised Center publication describing the statutory federal sentencing alternatives for offenders convicted of crimes committed before the effective date of the U.S. Sentencing Commission's Sentencing Guidelines. The report relates sentencing alternatives to policies of the agencies that carry out the sentences, such as the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Parole Commission. The report includes limited comparisons of old and new law. |
January 1, 1991 |
|
Rule 11: Final Report to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules of the Judicial Conference of the United States Report on an empirical study of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. The Research Division of the FJC undertook the study to assist the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules in its evaluation of the rule. The study has three major components: (1) a survey of all federal district judges about their experiences with Rule 11; (2) an analysis of all district and appellate opinions published between 1984 and 1989 that address Rules 11 issues; and (3) a study of Rule 11 activity in five district courts. The district court study includes a separate analysis of the application of Rule 11 to civil rights cases in these five courts. |
January 1, 1991 |
|
The 1987 District Court Case Time Study: A Brief Description (1990) In November 1987, the Federal Judicial Center commenced its third major "time study" in the U.S. district courts. Like studies conducted in 1969 and 1979, the purpose of the new study is to develop case "weights" for district court civil and criminal cases.Case weights reflect the difference in average judge time demanded by different types of cases (antitrust cases, for example, have a much higher weight than automobile personal injury cases). Totaling the weights assigned to all cases filed in a district in a particular year yields a measure of the total judicial workload in that district, the district's "weighted filings." Compared to a simple count of the number of cases filed, the weighted filing index is a superior statistical indicator of the burden imposed by a district's caseload. |
August 28, 1990 |
|
Report of the Federal Courts Study Committee The Federal Courts Study Committee was created in 1988 under the Judicial Improvements and Access to Justice Act (Pub. L. No. 100-702, 102 Stat. 4642, 4644) to examine problems and issues facing the federal courts. Appointed by the Chief Justice, the 15-member committee of judges, members of Congress and lawyers made numerous recommendations both to Congress and the federal courts, leading to various statutory and administrative changes. This report to Congress was prepared with the assistance of the Federal Judicial Center. Availability — Printed copies the Federal Courts Study Committee's Working Papers and Subcommittee Reports are not available for distribution from the Federal Judicial Center. When the Committee issued its final report, and working papers and subcommittee reports, it sent printed copies to federal courts libraries. Please check your court library for local availability of the Committee's materials. The final Report of the Federal Courts Study Committee was also reprinted at 22 Connecticut Law Review 733 (No. 4, Summer) 1990. |
April 2, 1990 |
|
The Pre-Argument Conference Program in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals A study conducted at the court's request to determine if its program met its goals of saving judges' time, lessening case-management burdens, and simplifying issues on appeal. Using a control group method, the study determined that the program was a success--it met its goals and received strong support from the bar. |
January 1, 1990 |
|
Court-Annexed Arbitration in Ten District Courts A statutorily mandated evaluation of the pilot court-annexed mandatory arbitration programs in ten federal district courts. The report examines how well the programs have met various goals, relying primarily on participants' responses to survey questions about fairness and reduction of cost, delay, and court burden. It also addresses how various program features affect goal achievement. The ten programs that are evaluated in this report are Eastern Pennsylvania, Northern California, Middle Florida, Western Michigan, Western Missouri, New Jersey, Western Oklahoma, Eastern New York, Middle North Carolina, and Western Texas. The report is a companion to the 1994 FJC study Voluntary Arbitration in Eight Federal District Courts. |
January 1, 1990 |
|
Use of Rule 12(b)(6) in Two Federal District Courts Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) allows the defense of "failure [of a complaint] to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." The Center conducted the study at the request of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules of the Judicial Conference of the United States and its reporter, Professor Paul Carrington. After considering the data in the paper at its April 1989 meeting, the Advisory Committee decided not to change Rule 12(b)(6). |
January 1, 1989 |
|
The Role of Staff Attorneys and Face-to-Face Conferencing in Non-Argument Decisionmaking: A View from the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Using materials obtained through interviews with the court of appeals' judges and staff attorneys, as well as visiting judges, the authors discuss the procedure used by the court for selecting and deciding cases suitable for disposition without argument. They concluded that staff attorneys' attendance at the decision-making conference and face-to-face discussion among the judges provided substantial benefits for the judges, the staff attorneys, and the efficiency and quality of the nonargument decision-making process. |
January 1, 1989 |
|
Managing Appeals in Federal Courts An anthology of Center reports on handling appeals. The editors selected writings from the twenty-five published and unpublished reports on the topic the Center has supported in the last fifteen years. Eighteen of these reports are reprinted in whole or in part. The editors' introductions to each of the book's five parts provide descriptions or summaries of the reports not reprinted. Introduction: Robert A. Katzman and Michael Tonry Part One: Case Management, 13
Part Two: Case Weighting, 293
Part Three: Oral Arguments, Briefs, and Opinions, 389
Part Four: Administration, 535
Part Five: Technology, 743
|
January 1, 1988 |