This guide describes the records of the federal courts, as well as records of Congress and the executive branch, that are relevant to researching federal judicial history. Most federal records are held by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), either at NARA's main facilities in Washington, D.C., and College Park, Maryland, or at one of the National Archives' regional branches. Recent records may still be held by the government agency that created the records, or, pending their accession by the National Archives, at a Federal Records Center. Records at the National Archives...

At the request of the Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Manage-ment (CACM), the Federal Judicial Center conducted a survey of district court judges to assess the frequency with which jurors used social media to communicate during trials and deliberations in the past two years, and to identify strategies for curbing this behavior. The survey also assessed the frequency with which attorneys use social media to conduct research on potential jurors during voir dire. The survey is a follow-up to one conducted in 2011 on jurors' use of social media; attorneys' use of...

What is Section 1983? "Section 1983" refers to 42 U.S.C. 1983, the federal statute that enables you to file a civil action for deprivation of constitutional and federal statutory rights by persons acting under "color of law." Originally enacted in 1871, Section 1983 litigation experienced a period of dormancy, until 1961 and the landmark Supreme Court case, Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167 (1961), which gave private litigants a federal court remedy as a first resort rather than only in default of (or after) state action. Today, Section 1983 actions most commonly involve 1st Amendment issues like...

In this third edition, David N. Adair, Jr., former associate general counsel of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, primarily addresses areas that have been changed by statute or case law since the second edition, and elsewhere cites more recent cases that discuss the substantive issues. This edition includes case law through June 1, 2006. The Bail Reform Act of 1984 (18 U.S.C. 3141-3150) authorizes and sets forth the procedures for a judicial officer to order the release or detention of an arrested person pending trial, sentence, and appeal. The Bail Reform Act of 1984 has...

Throughout its history, the chief source of funding for the federal judiciary of the United States has been money authorized by Congress to be expended out of the general funds of the federal treasury. The federal judiciary has also received support from other sources, such as litigant fees and the fines, forfeitures, and penalties collected by the courts in the course of government litigation. This brief introductory essay surveys the changing procedures for determining the level of congressional appropriations and for disbursing appropriated funds throughout the federal judicial system. The...

In April 2007, the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules asked the Federal Judicial Center to update its 2004 report on local rules of the U.S. district courts, state laws, and state court rules that address the disclosure principles contained in Brady v. Maryland. Brady requires that prosecutors fully disclose to the accused all exculpatory evidence in the prosecutors' possession. Subsequent Supreme Court decisions have elaborated the Brady obligations to include the duty to disclose (1) impeachment evidence, (2) favorable evidence in the absence of a request by the...

This report has three sections. Section I presents a general introduction to the report, along with a summary of our findings. Section II describes the federal district court local rules, orders, and policies that address Brady material, and Section III discusses the treatment of Brady material in the state courts' statutes, rules, and policies.

This teaching module was developed by the Federal Judicial Center to support judges and court staff who want to speak to various groups about the history of an independent federal judiciary. It focuses on the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and the establishment of the judicial branch of government. Other modules in this series examine the creation of the federal judicial system and debates on judicial independence. Each module includes four components: background discussion to serve as talking points; a Powerpoint presentation that can be downloaded to provide a visual guide to the...

This guide is not intended as a comprehensive treatment of this important topic, but rather as a brief overview and a prompt to begin communication. There are a number of excellent resources on this topic, including the Federal Judicial Center's Manual for Complex Litigation, Fourth, and the National Center for State Courts' 2006 commentary on the Manual for state judges. These resources and many others are listed in the Appendix. Each section below also includes suggested readings.