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Courts are organized on a federal, state, and local level. Each has varying jurisdictions, nomenclature, and rules. Their judges may be selected, assigned, and disciplined in different ways. By far, most cases in the United States are handled by state court systems. Each state has its own administrative structure for courts. Statistics on case filings are collected by a voluntary association called the National Center for State Courts; national data may be several years out of date. In addition to administrators of courts themselves, officers and staff members of state and local bar associations should be good sources on basic court issues, as are faculty members at law schools and lawyers who practice before the courts. The National Center for Courts and Media, part of the University of Nevada Reno, also is a good source for many court questions. Beware of variations in court names. A prime example is New York State, where the trial courts are called the “Supreme Court”—a label that in most states is reserved for the highest appellate court. News stories often confuse federal “circuit” courts, which make final decisions in the appeals on most federal cases, with state appellate courts.
The annual H.F. Guggenheim symposium has emerged as a key date on the nation’s calendar of criminal justice events, primarily because it is the only conference that brings together a select audience of journalists, academics, practitioners and policy makers to discuss current issues of criminal justice facing the nation. You are cordially invited to join [...]
Questionable forensic testimony has kept Joseph Ramirez behind bars in Florida for 25 years. Will a fifth trial finally set him free?
When the National Academy of Sciences issued a report earlier this year saying that courtroom identifications made by forensic scientists based on evidence such as bite marks, ballistics and other tool marks are frequently [...]
This links to a backgrounder on Domestic Violence Courts, an innovation begun in New York in 1996. Some 300 of the specialized courts are now in operation across the nation.
Courts are organized on a federal, state, and local level. Each has varying jurisdictions, nomenclature, and rules. Their judges may be selected, assigned, and disciplined in different ways. By far, most cases in the United States are handled by state court systems. Each state has its own administrative structure for courts. Statistics on case filings [...]
Washington, D.C.
http://www.uscourts.gov
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
Public information officers:
David Sellers
Karen Redmond
Richard Carelli
(202) 502-2600
http://www.supremecourtus.gov
Kathy Arberg, public information officer
202-479-3211
karberg@supremecourt.gov
The Court’s Web site includes information on the schedule for oral arguments, a calendar of other days on which the Court issues opinions, and the text of rulings once they are issued. The site links to an American Bar Association site that includes the texts of briefs filed in pending cases.
http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov
A publicly operated system called PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) provides access to information from most federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. A login/password is required, and access costs $.08 per page.
Washington, D.C.
http://www.afj.org
(202) 822-6070
Kelly Landis—press contact
klandis@afj.org
The alliance, founded in 1979, is a coalition of more than 70 organizations interested in civil rights, the environment, mental health, women’s and childrens issues,, and consumer advocacy. Its Judicial Selection Project monitors nominations at all levels of the federal judiciary and critiques many of them from a liberal viewpoint. Reports [...]
Chicago
312/988-6171 (media calls)
http://www.abanet.org/media/contacts.html
The American Bar Association calls itself the world’s largest voluntary professional association. The ABA has more than 400,000 members, although fewer than half of the nation’s licensed lawyers belong. The group accredits law schools and provides continuing legal education, information about the law, and programs to assist lawyers and judges. The ABA has [...]
Washington, D.C.
http://www.acslaw.org
(202) 393-6181
Media contacts: Alex Wohl, Jeremy Leaming
The society, founded in 2001, calls itself a “network of lawyers, law students, scholars, judges, policymakers” and others concerned about the “fundamental principles of human dignity, individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, and access to justice.” Some have described it as a liberal counterpart to the conservative Federalist [...]
Des Moines, Ia.
http://www.ajs.org
(515) 271-2284 (media contact—Krista Maeder)
kmaeder@ajs.org
The society is a, national, nonpartisan organization of judges, lawyers, and others who work to improve the justice system. Its primary areas of focus are judicial independence, judicial conduct and ethics, judicial selection, juries, the criminal justice system, and public understanding of the justice system.
Washington, D.C.
http://www.constitutionprojet.org
(202) 580-6920
Media contact—Daniel Schuman
media@constitutionproject.org
(202) 580-6922
The organization says it “seeks consensus solutions to difficult and constitutional issues.” As of 2009, it was pursuing seven initiatives, each guided by a bipartisan committee. The initiatives are in the areas of liberty and security, war powers, courts, the death penalty, constitutional amendments, the right to counsel, and sentencing.
Washington, D.C.
http://www.fed-soc.org
(202) 822-8138
President and press contact: Eugene Meyer
ebmeyer@fed-soc.org
The society says it is a “group of conservatives and libertarians interested in the current state of the legal order.” It believes that “it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be.” The organization seeks to [...]
Nashville
Gene Policinski, director
(615) 727-1600
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org
The center, part of the Freedom Forum, maintains a web site that boasts “comprehensive research coverage of key First Amendment issues and topics, daily First Amendment news, a unique First Amendment Library and guest analyses by respected legal specialists.” It has sponsored a series of forums involving journalists and federal judges.
New York
http://www.innocenceproject.org
Eric Ferrero, media contact
(212) 364-5340
info@innocenceproject.org
The project was founded in 1992 by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University to help prisoners who could be proved innocent through DNA testing. As of 2008, the project said 225 people in the U.S. have been exonerated by DNA [...]
Washington, D.C.
http://justiceatstake.org
(202) 588-9700
Charles Hall, media contact
chall@justiceatstake.org
Justice at Stake is a group launched in 2002 to advocate “for fair and impartial courts.” It is a national, nonpartisan partnership of more than 45 judicial, legal, and citizen organizations. It is concerned about the impact of money and politics on courts, working to “keep politics and special interests [...]
Reno, Nevada
http://courtsandmedia.org
Gary A. Hengstler, director
(775) 327-8270
hengstler@judges.org
The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for the Courts and Media was formed to foster discussion about free press-fair trial issues. It provides a neutral forum for discussion about the ways that the courts and the media can work together more constructively, including periodic courses for journalists and judges on [...]
Arlington, Va.
http://www.rcfp.org
(703) 807-2100 or (800) 336-4243
Lucy Dalglish, executive director
The committee primarily serves working journalists on legal issues, about 2,000 each year. In the last four decades it has played a role in most significant press freedom cases at the Supreme Court. It is a major source on free-speech issues, publishing a quarterly legal review, a [...]
Notre Dame University
http://law.nd.edu/people/faculty-and-administration/teaching-and-research-faculty/g-robert-blakey
(574) 631-5717)
G.R.Blakey.1@nd.edu
Blakey helped draft the federal Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Title IX of which is known as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO). He has been involved in drafting RICO-type legislation in 22 states. He is an expert on organized crime, wiretapping, and other criminal law subjects.
Alexandria, Va.
http://ndaa.org
(703) 549-9222
Thomas W. Sneddon, Jr., interim executive director
NDAA says it is the world’s oldest and largest professional association of prosecutors. Its members come from offices of district attorneys, state’s attorneys, attorneys general and county and city prosecutors. It maintains a training and education division in Columbia, S.C. The NDAA’s research arm, the American Prosecutors [...]
