2001 Annual Report Federal Judicial Center
A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR, 1

ABOUT THE FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER, 4

Statutory Mission, 4

Governance, 4

Organization, 5

Coordination Within the Judicial Branch, 5

Staffing and Appropriation, 6

2001 at a Glance, 6

EDUCATION & TRAINING, 7

Education Programs for Judges and Legal Staff, 9

Educational Publications for Judges and Legal Staff, 10

Education and Training Programs for Court Staff, 11

Management and Supervision Programs, 11

Sentencing and Probation and Pretrial Service Programs, 12

Other Court Education Programs, 13

Programs for Foreign Judicial Officials , 14

RESEARCH, 15

Civil Litigation, 15

Criminal Litigation, 16

Evidence, 17

Appellate Litigation, 17

Judicial Resources, 17

Federal Judicial History, 17

FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER FOUNDATION, 19

ADVISORY COMMITTEES, 20
2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center 1

A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

Distance learning—it’s been generating a lot of “buzz.” But what exactly does the

term mean? In general, “distance learning” refers to the delivery of education to a

geographically dispersed audience. Typically, the term connotes the use of modern

information technologies, such as Web-based training conducted over computer

networks, computer-based training using CD-ROMs, satellite broadcasting, and

video teleconferencing. While face-to-face seminars are still the main component of

Center educational programs for judges, we also use all of these distance learning

technologies to provide education, training, and information to larger numbers of

judges and court staff than we can reach through in-person programs alone.

But distance learning is not by definition “high-tech.” Sometimes, the same old

reliable “low” technology that has been around for centuries—specifically, the

printed word—is the most effective and cost-efficient way to give judges and court

staff the tools they need to help them do their jobs. Over the past year the Center

has updated and expanded its collection of manuals, monographs, training guides,

and reports with several timely, new publications on emerging issues. It has also

issued revised versions of some of its most popular reference works for judges. (A

complete list of the Center’s 2001 publications is on page 16.)

For example, the Center unveiled two new desk references in 2001. Guide to

Judicial Management of Cases in ADR helps federal trial and bankruptcy courts decide

when and how to refer cases to ADR and how to manage cases so referred. Effective

Use of Courtroom Technology: A Judge’s Guide to Pretrial and Trial, a joint effort of the

Center and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, describes the substantive and

procedural considerations affecting counsel’s use of their own or the court’s electronic equipment to present evidentiary exhibits or illustrative aids during trial.

Along with the Center’s Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, a second edition of

which was published in 2000, these manuals represent a new generation of Center
2 2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center

reference guides responding to new developments in litigation and case management. They are worthy additions to the Center’s core collection of desk references,

including the Manual on Recurring Problems in Criminal Trials, Guideline Sentencing: An

Outline of Appellate Case Law on Selected Issues, and Deskbook for Chief Judges of U.S.

District Courts, new editions of which were produced in 2001 or are forthcoming in

2002.

The Center also worked with the Judicial Conference Committee on Court

Administration and Case Management and with the Administrative Office of the

U.S. Courts to produce the Civil Litigation Management Manual, which Congress

directed the Conference to prepare in the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990. The

Conference’s manual builds on the Center’s 1992 publication, Manual for Litigation

Management and Cost and Delay Reduction.

In addition to its reference manuals, the Center produces a series of monographs that offer judges quick studies in substantive areas of law in which they may

not have had recent experience. This past year the Center made the third edition of

Patent Law & Practice available to the judiciary through an arrangement with the

Bureau of National Affairs and the author. New monographs on international

insolvency, on the statutory and case law governing recusal, and on redistricting

litigation will be published early in 2002.

Many of the Center’s research reports help educate courts on case management

techniques that are being used in other courts. The Use of Visiting Judges in the Federal

District Courts: A Guide for Judges and Court Personnel, produced last year at the request

of the Judicial Conference’s Judicial Officers Resources Working Group, explains

how courts can create visiting judge programs and provides practical suggestions to

visiting judges. Another 2001 report, Neutral Science Panels: Two Examples of Panels of

Court-Appointed Experts in the Breast Implants Product Liability Litigation, explains how the

experts were selected, describes panel procedures, and summarizes other issues

affecting the appointment of independent panels of experts.

Center educational publications are not for judges and legal staff alone. Using

Center-produced training guides, self-study courses, and other “packaged” curriculum materials produced by the Center, almost 22,000 court staff participants

received education and training without leaving their own courts last year. New

training materials released in 2001 included bulletins on white-collar crime and on

women offenders and their children (both part of the Special Needs Offenders series

for probation and pretrial services officers), an updated guide for in-district training

and development of new probation and pretrial services supervisors, and Expert

Customer Service, a curriculum packaged program that is taught in-court by Centertrained court employees.

All of the above is not to say that we don’t look for opportunities to use new

technologies to make our publications more accessible and more valuable. Many of

the titles mentioned above are available to judicial branch personnel on the courts’

intranet (jnet.fjc.dcn) and to the public on the Internet (www.fjc.gov). Indeed, some

publications are available only on our Web sites and are not published in hard copy.

One example is our Resource Guide for Managing Capital Cases, Vol. 1: Federal Death

Penalty Trials, which describes the statutes, case law, and policies applicable to

federal capital case management, with examples of orders, jury questionnaires,
2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center 3

instructions, verdict forms, and other materials developed by judges who have

handled death penalty cases. Issuing the guide exclusively in electronic form enables

the Center to update it and add material as new cases emerge. A volume on managing capital habeas cases will be issued in 2002.

The Center’s Guide to In-district Training of New Probation and Pretrial Services Officers,

which features a comprehensive list of information new officers need to know during

their first year on the job, is also only available electronically. Districts can download

the guide and customize it to meet their unique training needs. Similarly flexible is

the Center’s deskbook template for chief circuit judges. Available on the courts’

intranet and on the Web, the template provides a fairly comprehensive list of activities that chief circuit judges and others undertake. Circuits can use it in preparing

their own deskbooks.

We will continue to use all of the means available to us to deliver education,

training, and timely information. But even as the technologies become more sophisticated and our resources become ever more easy to access, it’s still a good idea to

check your bookshelves and your court library, and see what the FJC has in print.

FERN M. SMITH
4 2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center

ABOUT THE FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER

Statutory Mission

Congress created the Federal Judicial Center in 1967 “to further the development

and adoption of improved judicial administration” in the courts of the United

States. The Center’s statutory duties are codified at 28 U.S.C. §§ 620–629. They

include providing orientation and continuing education for the judges and staff of

the federal judicial system, performing research on court operations and procedures

(particularly in support of committees of the Judicial Conference of the United

States), and conducting programs to promote judicial federalism, assist foreign

judicial systems, and study the federal courts’ history. This annual report, mandated

by statute, describes the Center’s activities in furtherance of its statutory duties in

calendar year 2001.

Governance

The Chief Justice of the United States chairs the Center’s Board, which also includes

two circuit judges, three district judges, one bankruptcy judge, and one magistrate

judge who are elected by the Judicial Conference of the United States, and the

director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts who serves on the Board ex

officio. The Board oversees the Center’s activities, and its members serve on standing

committees on education and research and on advisory committees on judicial

education programs.

In March 2001, the Judicial Conference elected Chief Judge Robert F. Hershner,

Jr. of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Georgia and Magistrate

Judge Robert B. Collings of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

to membership on the Board. They replaced Judge A. Thomas Small of the U.S.

Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina and Magistrate Judge

Board of the Federal Judicial Center, 2001

The Chief Justice of the United States, Chair

Judge Stanley Marcus, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Judge Pauline Newman, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Chief Judge Jean C. Hamilton, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri

Judge Robert J. Bryan, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Judge William H. Yohn, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Chief Judge Robert F. Hershner, Jr., U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Georgia

Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Leonidas Ralph Mecham, Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center 5

Virginia M. Morgan of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan,

whose terms expired.

The Board appoints the Center’s director and deputy director; the director

appoints the Center’s staff. All but one of the Center’s eight directors have been

federal judges, including the current director, Judge Fern M. Smith of the U.S.

District Court for the Northern District of California.

Organization

The organizational structure of the Center reflects its primary statutory mandates

and direction provided in the Board’s 1997 strategic plan. The Judicial Education

and Court Education divisions are responsible for planning and producing education and training programs for judges

and court staff, including satellite

broadcasts, video programs, educational publications, and Web resources. The Research Division examines and evaluates current and alternative federal court practices and policies. This division not only assists

committees of the Judicial Conference

in developing policy recommendations

but also contributes substantially to

educational programs and products

for the judiciary. The three divisions

work closely with two units of the

Director’s office—the Systems Innovation & Development Office and Communications Policy & Design—in using

print, broadcast, and on-line media to

deliver timely education and training and to disseminate the results of Center

research. The Federal Judicial History Office, a part of the Research Division, develops innovative ways to help courts and scholars study and preserve federal judicial

history. The Interjudicial Affairs Office, part of the Judicial Education Division,

provides information to judicial and legal officials from foreign countries and

assesses how developments in international law should be included in the Center’s

educational programs for federal judges.

Coordination Within the Judicial Branch

Numerous programs and projects described in this annual report involve coordination, cooperation, and consultation with the Judicial Conference and its committees, with the Administrative Office, and with the U.S. Sentencing Commission. At

the request of the Center’s Board and the Judicial Conference and pursuant to the

Center’s strategic plan, the Center and the Administrative Office have developed

Senior Staff of the Federal Judicial Center

Hon. Fern M. Smith, Director

Russell R. Wheeler, Deputy Director

John S. Cooke, Director, Judicial Education Division

James B. Eaglin, Director, Research Division

Emily Z. Huebner, Director, Court Education Division

Sylvan A. Sobel, Director, Communications Policy & Design

Ted E. Coleman, Chief, Systems Innovation & Development

Mira Gur-Arie, Senior Attorney for Interjudicial Affairs

Bruce A. Ragsdale, Chief, Federal Judicial History Office
6 2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center

formal and informal interagency mechanisms to promote appropriate coordination

of educational activities.

Advisory committees of judges, court staff, and others help the Center in planning and producing education programs and publications. These committees are

listed on pages 20-21.

Staffing and Appropriation

The Center had a fiscal 2001 appropriation of $18,736,000, and it employed

142 people at the end of calendar year 2001. Its fiscal 2002 appropriation is

$20,135,000.

2001 at a Glance

In 2001 the Center

• provided 985 educational programs (including educational programs broadcast on the Federal Judicial Television Network) for more than 48,000 federal

judge and court staff participants

• completed 17 major research and evaluation projects, continued work on 21

others, and responded to many other requests for short-term research

assistance

• published or updated 12 reports, manuals, monographs, or reference guides

• broadcast almost 2,000 hours of educational and informational programming from the Center, the Sentencing Commission, and the Administrative

Office on the Federal Judicial Television Network

• completed nine curriculum packages and training guides

• released three computer-based instructional programs

• distributed more than 213,000 copies of its publications, including periodicals and catalogs of books, programs, and other services, as well as almost

3,000 audio, video, and multimedia programs

• answered some 2,000 information requests from judges, court staff, and

others

• hosted seminars or briefings for 422 foreign judges and officials representing

34 countries
2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center 7

EDUCATION & TRAINING

Judges and court staff receive education and training from the Center through a

variety of methods. Face-to-face conferences, seminars, and workshops continue to

be the primary vehicle for orientation and continuing education for judges. Such

programs are often the best way to enable participants from throughout the judicial

system to learn from one another.

Most court staff who participate in Center education programs do so in local

training events or through other distance education methods. These methods

include satellite broadcasts over the Federal Judicial Television Network (FJTN) (see

box), on-line conferences and other forms of computer- and Web-based training

programs, audioconferences over the telephone, and videoconferences with two-way

audio and video. The Center also produces curriculum packaged programs, which

are taught by court staff who are trained by the Center and who receive instructor

guides, participant handouts, overhead slides, and, on occasion, videotapes to

deliver the training in their districts and in other districts nearby. Center-developed

training guides enable courts to design customized programs that meet their staffs’

unique needs.

The Center’s 2001 education and training programs reached more than 48,000

participants. (Each instance of participation by a judge or court employee is included in this total, so some individuals are counted more than once.) Included in

these participant figures are estimated FJTN viewings, which are based on monthly

surveys conducted by the Center that use statistical sampling to estimate viewership.

The Center estimates that some 21,000 viewers watched live and videotaped educational and informational programs broadcast by the Center during 2001; the large

majority of these viewers were court staff.

In all, at least 90% of the participants in

Center educational programs in 2001

watched FJTN broadcasts or received

some other form of distance education in

their own courts.

The Center also publishes manuals,

monographs, and other job aids and

produces audiotapes, videotapes, and

computer-based educational media. Many

of these resources are available on the

Center’s site on the courts’ intranet at

jnet.fjc.dcn; some are also available on its

site on the World Wide Web at

www.fjc.gov.

Federal Judicial Television Network

The Center operates the Federal Judicial Television Network

(FJTN) to provide educational and informational programming from the Center, the Administrative Office, and the

Sentencing Commission to judges and court staff at satellite

viewing sites in 300 federal court locations. In 2001, the

FJTN broadcast almost 2,000 hours of programming,

including rebroadcasts. Sixty-four programs aired live. Center

educational programming on the FJTN consisted of 267

programs, accounting for more than 875 broadcast hours.

Of these, 24 were live, interactive programs in which judges

and court staff at courthouses around the country could

speak directly with faculty in the broadcast studio.
8 2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center

Seminars & Workshops for Judges, Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2001

Number of Number of

Programs Participants

Orientations for newly appointed circuit judges 1 2

Orientations for newly appointed bankruptcy judges 2 24

Orientations for newly appointed magistrate judges 3 69

Conference for chief district judges 1 90

Conference for chief bankruptcy judges 1 80

Workshops for district and circuit judges 3 358

National workshops for bankruptcy judges 1 83

National workshops for magistrate judges 1 119

Special-focus workshops 16 423

In-court seminars 17 207

TOTAL 46 1,455

* The Center offers these programs on an 18-month cycle. Judges may attend one workshop each cycle.

The Center also conducted six programs for 770 federal defenders and staff.

Court Staff Education & Training Programs, January 1—December 31, 2001

Number of Number of

Seminars and Workshops Programs Participants

Clerks of court and clerk’s office personnel 13 1,230

Probation and pretrial services officers and personnel 17 954

Appellate conference attorneys 1 40

Personnel in several categories 14 539

TOTAL 45 2,763

In-Court Programs (programs using Center curriculum packages, Number of Number of

training guides, and computer-assisted instructional programs) Programs Participants

Clerks of court and clerk’s office personnel 241 11,520

Probation and pretrial services officers and personnel 335 9,406

Personnel in several categories 40 1,029

TOTAL 616 21,955

Technology-based Programs (videoconferences, audioconferences, Number of Number of

on-line conferences, but not including FJTN broadcasts) Programs Participants

Probation and pretrial services officers 1 32

Personnel in several categories 4 68

TOTAL 5 100

GRAND TOTAL 666 24,818

Note: These figures do not include an estimated 21,000 judge and court staff viewers of Center

programs broadcast on the FJTN. The Center also provides Web-based education and training

programs on its site on the judiciary’s intranet, but it does not maintain figures for their usage.

Because some court staff may visit the site but not participate in the program, and others may

download educational programs for use by multiple staff members, discerning the actual number

of users of these programs is impracticable.

*

*

*
2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center 9

Education Programs for Judges and Legal Staff

The Center provides orientation and continuing education programs and materials

for judges on many subjects and in a variety of formats. Six advisory committees

composed mostly of judges help plan and develop these programs and some

educational publications. In 2001 the Center’s Board decided to add attorneys to

most of these advisory committees.

Programs that judges attend in person include orientation seminars for newly

appointed judges, periodic national and circuit-based workshops that provide

updates and analysis on a number of topics, and small group seminars devoted to

specific topics. National continuing education workshops for district judges in 2001

examined recent developments in subjects such as jurisdiction, evidence, sentencing,

and employment law. They also included sessions on genetic research, international

litigation, and the drafting of the U.S. Constitution. Many of the participants at the

National Workshop for District Judges in Arlington, Virginia, spent a day at a special

educational program for judges at the National Holocaust Memorial Museum in

Washington, D.C.

Seminars for small groups of judges usually last two or three days and concentrate on a particular subject. Special-topic seminars in 2001 explored employment

law, intellectual property, civil rights litigation, basic issues of science, mediation

techniques, federalism, and bankruptcy. (Seminars on environmental law and on

law and the Internet were postponed in the aftermath of September 11.) In addition, one member of the Center’s project team on courtroom technology spoke by

invitation at more than 20 conferences and seminars for federal judges, bar groups,

and other researchers on the issues surrounding discovery of electronic documents

and evidence.

Continuing its long-standing emphasis on leadership and management matters,

the Center conducted conferences in 2001 for chief district judges and chief bankruptcy judges. With the cooperation of the Administrative Office, these conferences

emphasized effective stewardship and technology in the courts. For the first time,

the Center offered its acclaimed executive management seminar to a group of chief

district judges, along with unit executives from their courts. Held in Gettysburg, Pa.,

the program explored lessons of leadership derived from President Lincoln’s experiences during the Civil War and drew parallels to contemporary management.

Satellite broadcasts on the FJTN augment the Center’s judicial and legal education programming. Continuing its recent focus on science and technology in litigation, the Center produced the six-part series Science in the Courtroom. Stephen Breyer,

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, introduced the series, which examined the

principles of microbiology, epidemiology, and toxicology and analyzed evidentiary

and case management problems related to scientific evidence. Other FJTN programs

for judges and legal staff included the fifth annual review of the Supreme Court’s

term, two bankruptcy law updates, an orientation for new judicial law clerks, and a

program on employment law for law clerks.
10 2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center

Educational Publications for Judges and Legal Staff

To help judges manage federal death penalty trials, the Center produced the Resource

Guide for Managing Capital Cases, Vol. 1: Federal Death Penalty Trials, which describes the

statutes, case law, and policies applicable to federal capital case management. The

guide also contains examples of orders, jury questionnaires, instructions, verdict

forms, and other materials developed by judges who have handled death penalty

cases. These materials, along with other Center products on death penalty litigation,

are available electronically on the Center’s sites on the courts’ intranet and on the

Web. The Center will revise the materials as needed as the courts’ experience with

federal death penalty litigation expands. Work continued on a related manual to

assist judges with managing capital habeas cases.

In response to judges’ requests for practical advice on selecting and managing

cases referred to alternative dispute resolution (ADR), the Center published Guide to

Judicial Management of Cases in ADR.

The guide covers such matters as

referring appropriate cases to ADR,

avoiding ethical problems in the

ADR process, and techniques for

maintaining control over cases

referred.

Working with the National

Institute of Trial Advocacy and an

advisory group of judges and lawyers, the Center prepared a handbook entitled Effective Use of Courtroom Technology: A Judge’s Guide to

Pretrial and Trial to help trial judges

understand and manage procedural

issues that arise from electronic and

digital presentation of evidence.

Center staff worked with the Administrative Office under the direction of the

Committee on Court Administration and Case Management to develop the Civil

Litigation Management Manual for district court judges. The Judicial Conference

approved the manual at its March 2001 meeting. The Center also published a

handbook on effective use of visiting judges, which evolved from work performed for

the Conference’s Judicial Officers Resources Working Group. The handbook explains how chief judges can find a visiting judge and provides information for judges

who serve in that capacity.

In response to requests from chief judges, the Center followed-up on a 2000

conference for appellate chief judges by developing a template that each circuit

could use to create its own deskbook for chief judges. The template provides a fairly

comprehensive list of activities that chief circuit judges and others undertake pursuant to statute, Judicial Conference policies, or simply because of the imperatives of

administering the circuit. The template has been posted on the Center’s sites on the

courts’ intranet and on the Web.

Media Library

The Center’s media library contains almost 3,000 audio and

video programs, including audiotapes of workshops and seminars, Center-produced educational video programs, videotapes of

Center broadcasts on the FJTN, and some 600 commercially

produced video programs. In 2001, the Center loaned more than

900 copies of programs from its media library to federal judges

and judicial branch personnel on request and sent more than

2,000 copies of its media programs directly to the courts for them

to keep and use in local education and training programs. Many

Center-produced media programs are available to the public

through the National Technical Information Service of the

Department of Commerce.
2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center 11

Also published in 2001 were a new edition of the Center’s Manual on Recurring

Problems in Criminal Trials and several editions of its periodical, Guideline Sentencing

Update. In March the Center convened a meeting of district and bankruptcy judges

to help prepare a monograph on case management in mass tort bankruptcy cases.

Monographs on redistricting litigation, international insolvency, and recusal and a

new edition of the Deskbook for Chief Judges of U.S. District Courts will be published in

2002.

Education and Training Programs for Court Staff

Management and Supervision Programs

Center programs provide practical education and training on court management

and leadership for executives and managers in the federal court system. For example, in one 2001 workshop, six district court teams comprising the chief judge,

two or three additional judges, the clerk of court, jury administrator, and manager

of the jury section learned techniques for using jurors efficiently and reducing the

number of citizens summoned for jury service. The teams developed jury management and utilization action plans to implement in their districts. Another workshop,

for chief judges and clerks from U.S. bankruptcy courts, taught methods for building effective management teams. The Center also conducted an executive institute

for senior court managers, in addition to the one described earlier for district court

chief judges and court unit executives, on case studies of President Lincoln’s leadership during the Civil War.

Three workshops produced in collaboration with the Administrative Office and

the General Services Administration helped teams of judges, clerks of court, court

project managers, and architects prepare for managing capital construction

projects. A bankruptcy administrators’ conference coordinated by the Administrative Office and the Center included sessions on debtor counseling programs, ethics,

and the federal courts’ new case management/electronic case filing (CM/ECF)

system. Leadership and management strategies were the primary topics at the

Center’s national conference for clerks and chief deputies of the courts of appeals

and clerks of bankruptcy appellate panels, and at its biennial conference for clerks

and chief deputies of the bankruptcy courts, bankruptcy administrators, and

bankruptcy appellate panel clerks.

The Center’s multiyear advanced leadership programs help prepare court

managers and probation and pretrial services officers for positions of increasing

responsibility. Although completion of the programs does not guarantee promotion, former participants have reported that the programs helped them when they

sought positions with more management responsibilities. Participants are also

eligible for graduate and undergraduate college credit. The third class in the twoand-a-half-year Federal Court Leadership Program for court managers and technical

specialists in appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts, court libraries, and staff

attorneys’ offices will complete the program in 2002. The 70 participants in the

sixth class of the Leadership Development Program for Probation and Pretrial

Services Officers are midway in the three-year course requirements.
12 2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center

The Center introduced two new series on the FJTN this year. The first Court Forum

program described how to manage performance problems, and the initial Public

Information and Outreach broadcast, produced with the Administrative Office, examined the role of the district clerk of court in educating the public about the work of

the courts. Other Center broadcasts on the FJTN included programs on managerial

decisionmaking (a live PBS/NTU broadcast), developing courtroom technology

training, managing change, and building a collaborative workplace.

Court staff who completed the Supervisor’s Survival Kit program were invited to

participate in a follow-up audioconference on supervisory skills. The Center also

produced a new curriculum packaged program for training supervisors at

multidistrict or circuit-wide training events. In addition, Center staff were invited to

deliver training programs at more than 20 federal circuit, multidistrict, and association conferences on such topics as critical incident stress management and leadership skills.

Sentencing and Probation and Pretrial Service Programs

New probation and pretrial services officers are invited to attend national orientation workshops at the Center’s training facilities in Washington, D.C., after completing a checklist of activities in their home districts. In 2001, the Center updated the

checklist and made it available in electronic format on its site on the federal courts’

intranet. The Center also conducted eight five-day orientation workshops to accommodate the influx of new officers into the federal system.

Most continuing education programs for probation and pretrial services officers

use distance learning. The Sentencing Commission and the Center produced four

FJTN broadcasts in their joint series on sentencing and the sentencing guidelines.

The programs covered basic guidelines application principles, guidelines provisions

and case-law decisions involving multiple-count convictions, criminal history, and

guidelines amendments. The audience for these programs included judges, law

clerks, and other legal staff, in addition to probation and pretrial services officers.

Two FJTN broadcasts examined issues unique to women offenders. In September the Center rebroadcast an August 2001 National Institute of Corrections (NIC)

program, Female Offenders in the Community. In October, Ruth Bader Ginsberg,

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, introduced a live broadcast on women

offenders and their children, part of the Center’s Special Needs Offenders series to

help officers investigate and supervise particular offender and defendant populations. A prior broadcast in the series examined the intricacies of white-collar crime

and supervision of individuals and corporations. The program’s panel of experts

included representatives from a U.S. attorney’s office, the FBI, and the Sentencing

Commission, as well as a federal district court judge, experienced probation and

pretrial services officers, and a criminal defense lawyer. An on-line conference and a

training bulletin complement each Special Needs Offender program.

Another Center series on the FJTN helps courts deal with offenders with substance abuse problems. Additions to this series in 2001 were The Officer and the

Treatment Process and a rebroadcast of an NIC program, Critical Knowledge About 12-
2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center 13

Step Programs. Part two of the Center’s broadcast on the Federal Correctional

Institute’s Sex Offenders Treatment Program aired in March. The Center also

launched a new FJTN series on officer safety with Personal Mindset: The Internal Threat

to Officer Safety and introduced a curriculum packaged program on dealing with

noncompliant behavior in pretrial services supervision.

Other Court Education Programs

In 2001 the Center conducted two five-session videoconferences to orient newly

appointed court training specialists. An interactive FJTN broadcast co-produced by

the Center and the Administrative Office helped district court clerks improve the

Criminal Justice Act voucher payment process. FJTN educational broadcasts for all

court staff included Center courses on proofreading and structured on-the-job

training and a PBS/NTU program on creativity and innovation in the workplace. The

Court to Court television magazine featured lessons learned by the first courts to

convert to new national procedures, such as CM/ECF, and examined innovations in

other courts.

The Center is preparing a handbook that bankruptcy clerks can give to individuals considering whether to file for consumer bankruptcy. (The handbook will explain

how to file and the consequences of filing but will not offer legal advice on whether

or not to file.) To be issued in English and several other languages, the handbook

will be complemented by a multilanguage video currently under development and,

possibly, by a computer-based program.

Training tools, downloadable publications, program schedules, information,

and application forms are available on the Center’s Web page on the courts’

intranet at jnet.fjc.dcn. Two “exchange” sites for court staff serve as information

clearinghouses and facilitate discussion and resource sharing on court operations

and training. Computer-based programs added to the site this year are:

• A Web-based tutorial developed by the Center and court staff to show

bankruptcy attorneys and law firm staff how to file court documents electronically using the CM/ECF system. Systems administrators can customize

the tutorial to conform to the ECF procedures in their courts. A similar

program on civil CM/ECF was released to district courts last year.

• Manage Your Desktop, which demonstrates ways computer users can access

information more easily and efficiently.

• A Web-based version of the Computer-assisted Instructional Program on the Federal

Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, which the Center first released on CD-ROM in

September 2000. In addition to instructional components on the application

of the bankruptcy rules, the program contains the full text of the rules as of

December 2001.

The Center also introduced new curriculum packaged programs to teach deputy

clerks how to provide expert customer service and help court staff improve workplace communication.
14 2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center

Programs for Foreign Judicial Officials

As mandated by statute, the Center responds to requests from representatives of

foreign judiciaries seeking information on the U.S. judicial system and on various

topics related to judicial administration. It does so by organizing seminars and

briefings for foreign visitors, usually at the request of other government and private

agencies. Although Center personnel conduct these occasional briefings and seminars as part of their regular duties and make written materials available free of

charge in response to foreign and domestic requests, the Center pays none of the

direct costs of its foreign programs, such as transportation, lodging, or interpreting

services. The participants, their governments, or public and private U.S. organizations pay these costs.

In 2001, the Center conducted 56 briefings for 329 foreign judges and officials,

representing 34 countries. It also held eight more specialized programs for 93

visitors, usually lasting half a day and covering such topics as case management

strategies and the use of distance

learning technology for judicial and

court staff education. A judge from

the Shanghai High People’s Court of

the People’s Republic of China participated in the Center’s Foreign Judicial

Fellows Program and studied the role

of judicial law clerks. Under this

program, which began in 1992, over

30 foreign judges have been scholarsin-residence at the Center, conducting

research in a variety of areas, including

judicial independence and various

aspects of federal judicial administration. Center personnel also provided technical and other assistance in 10 foreign

countries at the request of government or private organizations.

Information Services

Drawing from a specialized collection of books, journals, and

published and unpublished documents on the work of the federal

courts, the Center serves as a national clearinghouse for information

on federal judicial administration. Last year, it answered nearly

2,000 requests for information from judges and court staff, libraries,

government agencies, academic institutions, research organizations,

bar groups, and the media.
2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center 15

RESEARCH

The Center conducts empirical and exploratory research on federal judicial processes and court management, mostly at the request of the Judicial Conference and

its committees. Center research reports are made available within and outside the

federal judiciary and, when appropriate, transmitted to various committees of the

House and the Senate. Some unpublished reports, memoranda, and other work

produced for Judicial Conference committees are also made available either by the

committees themselves or by the Center after it consults with the committees for

whom the information was originally prepared.

In 2001, the Center completed 17 research and evaluation projects, continued

work on 21 others, completed 14 reports, and responded to more than 100 informal requests for research assistance from the courts, Judicial Conference committees, federal and state agencies, individuals from academic institutions and associations, and others. Major research activities are described below.

Civil Litigation

The Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure has proposed an amendment to Rule 23, which would require that class action

notices be written in plain, easily understood language. The advisory committee’s

Class Action Subcommittee asked the Center to develop illustrative, plain-language

forms as examples for attorneys to use in drafting class action notices. Center staff

prepared and tested sample notices for securities and products liability cases and

posted them on a “Class action notices page” on the Center’s Web site

(www.fjc.gov).

A Center report published in 2001 describes and evaluates the work of two

panels of scientific experts appointed by the courts to help assess conflicting

scientific evidence in the silicone gel breast implants litigation. The report describes

the circumstances that gave rise to the appointments, the procedures used in

making the appointments, reactions of the participants, and suggestions for improving the use of panels of scientific experts.

As a follow-up to its 1995 study of summary judgment practices, the Center

analyzed a large sample of civil cases terminated by dispositive motions and is

preparing a report on changes in the nature and extent of such motions, the degree

to which motions practice in the federal courts has changed, and the types of cases

that are typically resolved by motions. At the request of the chief judge of the Third

Circuit, the Center analyzed a number of class action cases in which judges used

competitive bidding in selecting or attempting to select class counsel. Results of the

study were submitted to a circuit task force.
16 2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center

Criminal Litigation

At the request of the Criminal Law Committee, the Center undertook research to

determine whether the Risk Prediction Index (RPI), a statistical instrument that the

Center developed for predicting an offender’s risk of recidivism, is a valid tool for

supervision of defendants on pretrial release. (The Judicial Conference approved the

RPI for post-sentence supervision in 1997.) Last year, following the Center’s report

Publications

A number of Center manuals, monographs, and research reports are described throughout this report.

Here is a list of publications that were either released or in production in 2001.

• Class Action Notices (available on-line only at www.fjc.gov)

• Effective Use of Courtroom Technology: A Judge’s Guide to Pretrial and Trial

• Guide to Judicial Management of Cases in ADR

• International Insolvency

• Manual on Recurring Problems in Criminal Trials, Fifth Edition

• Neutral Science Panels: Two Examples of Panels of Court-Appointed Experts in the Breast Implants Product

Liability Litigation

• Patent Law & Practice, Third Edition

• Recusal: An Analysis of Case Law Under 28 U.S.C. §§ 455 and 144

• Redistricting Litigation: An Overview of Legal, Statistical, and Case Management Issues

• Resource Guide for Managing Capital Cases, Vol. 1: Federal Death Penalty Trials (available on-line only at

jnet.fjc.dcn and www.fjc.gov)

• Template for Chief Circuit Judges Deskbooks

• The Use of Visiting Judges in the Federal District Courts: A Guide for Judges and Court Personnel

The Center also produces two periodicals which, as part of an effort to reduce mass mailings to the

courts, are now available only in electronic form on the Center’s Web sites.

• The FJTN Bulletin describes programs broadcast by the Center, the Sentencing Commission, and

the Administrative Office and provides broadcast schedules and other news about the Federal

Judicial Television Network.

• Guideline Sentencing Update summarizes recent decisions interpreting the Sentencing Reform Act and

Sentencing Guidelines. A companion publication, Guideline Sentencing: An Outline of Appellate Case

Law on Selected Issues, is a periodic cumulative outline that synthesizes the cases reported in Guideline

Sentencing Update.

In 2001, the Center distributed more than 213,000 copies of its publications. Of this number, some

170,000 were catalogs of Center publications, media programs, and course offerings, and copies of the

FJTN Bulletin. Many publications are also available on the Center’s site on the courts’ intranet

(jnet.fjc.dcn) and on the Web (www.fjc.gov).

More than 50 Center publications are available on the WESTLAW legal research service. Several publications are reprinted by commercial publishers for sale to the public, including the Reference Manual on

Scientific Evidence, Second Edition; Manual for Complex Litigation, Third; Guide to Judicial Management of Cases in

ADR; and Chambers Handbook for Judges’ Law Clerks and Secretaries. The manual Effective Use of Courtroom

Technology: A Judge’s Guide to Pretrial and Trial was a joint project of the Center and the National Institute of

Trial Advocacy, which has published a version for attorneys. The Government Printing Office also carries

several Center titles in its public sales program.
2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center 17

to the Criminal Law Committee and upon the Committee’s recommendation, the

Conference approved the RPI’s use for pretrial supervision. The Center also analyzed

empirical data to assist the Administrative Office with its review of the home

confinement program and completed an evaluation of the Judicial Conferenceauthorized pilot of supervisory CJA Attorney positions in three district courts.

Evidence

The courtroom technology handbook described on page 10 of this report is part of

a larger Center research project on the impact of technology on the adversary

process. Another part of this project was a research conference on courtroom

technology, which the Center conducted in collaboration with the Courtroom 21

Project of the William & Mary Law School. The conference identified the most

pressing empirical issues related to courtroom technology and digital and electronic

evidence and how these issues might be studied by social and behavioral scientists.

Center staff also worked with the chair and reporter of the Discovery Subcommittee

of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules to prepare a report on discovery of information and evidence that exist in digital form. Staff continue to perform research

for the Committee as it considers new or amended rules on the subject.

Appellate Litigation

The Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules is considering an amendment to

Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 35(a) to clarify how to calculate a majority for

en banc rehearing purposes, a matter over which the courts of appeals are now

split. The Committee asked the Center to research the positions of the appellate

courts and analyze the pros and cons of each position as a matter of policy and the

merits of having a rule that will require a uniform practice among the circuits.

Judicial Resources

Over the past three decades, the Center has conducted extensive research to formulate the statistical case weights for district and bankruptcy courts that the Judicial

Conference uses for a variety of purposes. Throughout much of the past year, Center

staff provided substantial assistance to the Statistics Subcommittee of the Judicial

Resources Committee as it examined possible approaches for updating the current

district court case weights. Staff members also reviewed and analyzed proposals for

developing appellate case weights.

Federal Judicial History

The Center initiated an educational program that will provide the courts and high

school teachers with accessible information on the history of the federal judiciary

and facilitate the use of such materials in school curricula as well as in the federal

courts’ public information programs. The program will feature 15 interconnected

units examining notable cases in the history of the federal courts. The collection of
18 2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center

historical documents, readings, and images will be made available on the Internet

and will constitute the first educational program at the high school level to explore

the history of the judicial branch of government.

The Center produced a 30-minute video on the Amistad case and the story of the

enslaved Africans who won their freedom through a decision of the Supreme Court.

Featuring rare historical images and documents, the video will be broadcast on the

FJTN in February 2002 and made available for use in educational programs in the

federal courts. The video and the accompanying materials on the Center’s Web site

will help viewers understand the organization and responsibilities of the federal

courts in the first half of the nineteenth century.

The History of the Federal Judiciary site on the Center’s intranet and Internet

home pages was updated and expanded. Judges’ biographies are regularly updated

to reflect changes in service status and new appointments. New features of the site

explain the history of judicial administration and the historical role of court officers

and staff. Site revisions also enable the Center to post regular notices regarding the

activities of various historical programs in the federal courts.

Center staff completed a research report on the history of the position of clerk

of court. The published report will provide an institutional history of the office since

its establishment in 1789 and of the role of the clerks in judicial administration. The

Center also completed a directory of oral histories and a bibliography of historical

publications related to federal judges. These will be included in the judges’ biography section of the judicial history Web site. Judges and their staffs continue to

consult with the Center regarding the disposition of historically important records

among judges’ chambers papers and the organization of court historical programs.
2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center 19

FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER FOUNDATION

The Federal Judicial Center Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation established by Congress to receive gifts to support the work of the Center. By statute, the

foundation has sole authority to decide whether to accept gifts to support the work

of the Center and thereby to determine the suitability of would-be donors. The

foundation may not accept gifts earmarked for projects that have not previously

been approved by the Center’s Board, and the Center has sole control over the

design and conduct of research or education programs supported by donations.

The foundation is governed by a seven-person board appointed by the Chief

Justice, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of

Representatives. The members of the foundation’s board during 2001 were

Dianne M. Nast, Esq., Lancaster, Pa., chair

Richard D. Casey, Esq., Sioux Falls, S.D.

Laurie L. Michel, Esq., Washington, D.C.

Charles B. Renfrew, Esq., San Francisco, Cal.

Marna S. Tucker, Esq., Washington, D.C.

John B. White, Jr., Esq., Spartanburg, S.C.

Benjamin L. Zelenko, Esq., Washington, D.C.

Grants to the foundation have enabled the Center to plan and present educational programs in specialized areas. Foundation gifts were used for the following

purposes in 2001:

• A grant from the New York University School of Law’s Institute for Judicial

Administration supported judges’ attendance at a seminar on federalism that

the Center presented in cooperation with the NYU School of Law.

• Funds left over from a class action suit supported the meeting of an advisory

group on mass torts and production of the monograph described on page 11

on case management in mass tort bankruptcy cases.

• Undesignated funds were used to support several judicial seminars on special

topics, such as basic issues of science, intellectual property, employment,

mediation, and bankruptcy law; a program for senior court managers; a

program for chief district judges and clerks; and in-court judicial education

programs.

• A grant from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants supported seminars to help judges analyze financial statements presented as

evidence.

Foundation funds were also used in 2001 to support the publication and

distribution of a book, Liberty E Liberdade: Citizens and Justice in Brazil and the United

States, edited by Professor Mortimer Sellers. The foundation received these funds

under an agreement through which the foundation receives gifts designated for the

use of the Judicial Conference and the Center to assist foreign judges and other legal

officials in improving the administration of justice in their countries.
20 2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center

ADVISORY COMMITTEES

Advisory committees provide guidance to the Center on education programs and

publications. Center Board members serve on each of the judicial education advisory committees as well as on the Benchbook committee and on the board of editors

for the Manual for Complex Litigation. These groups, which typically meet by telephone

conference or during other Center programs, had the following membership during

2001.

Committee on Appellate Judge Education

Judge Kenneth F. Ripple (7th Cir.), Chair

Judge Bobby R. Baldock (10th Cir.)

Judge Stanley Marcus (11th Cir.), Center Board Representative

Judge Pauline Newman (Fed. Cir.), Center Board Representative

Judge Karen J. Williams (4th Cir.)

Committee on Bankruptcy Judge Education

Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth L. Perris (D. Or.), Chair

Bankruptcy Judge Nancy C. Dreher (D. Minn.)

Chief Bankruptcy Judge James B. Haines, Jr. (D. Me.)

Chief Bankruptcy Judge Robert F. Hershner, Jr. (M.D. Ga.), Center Board Representative

Chief Bankruptcy Judge David S. Kennedy (W.D. Tenn.)

Bankruptcy Judge Mary Davies Scott (E. & W.D. Ark.)

Stephen H. Case, Esq., New York, N.Y.

Professor S. Elizabeth Gibson (University of North Carolina Law School)

David A. Lander, Esq., St. Louis, Mo.

Francis F. Szczebak (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts), ex officio

Committee on the Benchbook for U.S. District Court Judges

Judge A. David Mazzone (D. Mass.), Chair

Judge Wayne E. Alley (W.D. Okla.)

Judge William O. Bertelsman (E.D. Ky.)

Judge Edward C. Prado (W.D. Tex.)

Judge William H. Yohn, Jr. (E.D. Pa.), Center Board Representative

Hon. John R. Steer (U.S. Sentencing Commission)

Committee on District Judge Education

Judge David W. McKeague (W.D. Mich.), Chair

Judge Garrett E. Brown, Jr. (D.N.J.)

Judge Robert J. Bryan (W.D. Wash.), Center Board Representative

Judge Charles N. Clevert, Jr. (E.D. Wis.)

Judge W. Royal Furgeson, Jr. (W.D. Tex.)

Chief Judge Jean C. Hamilton (E.D. Mo.), Center Board Representative

Chief Judge Paul A. Magnuson (D. Minn.)

Robert T. Haar, Esq., St. Louis, Mo.

George F. Pappas, Esq., Washington, D.C.

Committee on Magistrate Judge Education

Magistrate Judge Karen K. Klein (D. N.D.) Chair

Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings (D. Mass.), Center Board Representative

Magistrate Judge Jerry A. Davis (N.D. Miss.)

Magistrate Judge Jonathan W. Feldman (W.D.N.Y.)

Chief Magistrate Judge John F. Moulds (E.D. Cal.)

Magistrate Judge Peggy E. Patterson (E.D. Ky.)

Carol E. Heckman, Esq., Buffalo, N.Y.

Frank H. Reynolds, Esq., Lansing, Mich.

Thomas C. Hnatowski (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts), ex officio
2001 Annual Report of the Federal Judicial Center 21

Board of Editors for the Manual for Complex Litigation

Judge Stanley Marcus (11th Cir.), Chair

Judge John G. Koeltl (S.D.N.Y.)

Chief Judge J. Frederick Motz (D. Md.)

Judge Lee H. Rosenthal (S.D. Tex.)

Judge Barefoot Sanders (N.D. Tex.)

Sheila Birnbaum, Esq., New York, N.Y.

Frank A. Ray, Esq., Columbus, Ohio

Defender Services Advisory Group Panel on Defender Education

Judy Clarke (Community Defender, E.D. Wash. & D. Idaho), Chair

Henry J. Bemporad (Assistant Federal Public Defender, W.D. Tex.)

David Beneman (Panel Attorney, D. Me.)

Thomas W. Hillier II (Federal Public Defender, W.D. Wash.)

Henry A. Martin (Federal Public Defender, M.D. Tenn.)

Jon M. Sands (Assistant Federal Public Defender, D. Ariz.)

Advisory Committee on Appellate Court Education

Thomas K. Kahn (Clerk of Court, 11th Cir.), Chair

Julie A. Fenton (Senior Staff Attorney, 7th Cir.)

Karen M. Moss (Librarian, 1st Cir.)

Gregory B. Walters (Circuit Executive, 9th Cir.)

Robin Weinberger (Chief Deputy Clerk, 8th Cir.)

Mark Zanchelli (Chief Deputy Clerk, 4th Cir.)

Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Court Education

Richard C. Donovan (Clerk of Court, Bankr. D. Md.), Chair

Lawrence T. Bick (Clerk of Court, Bankr. W.D. Texas)

Teresa R. Jacobs (Bankruptcy Administrator, 11th Cir., M.D. Ala.)

Dana McWay (Clerk of Court, Bankr. E.D. Mo.)

Marcia M. Anderson (Clerk of Court, Bankr. W.D. Wis.)

Susan M. Thurston (Clerk of Court, Bankr. D.R.I.)

Advisory Committee on District Court Education

Lawrence K. Baerman (Clerk of Court, N.D.N.Y.), Chair

Laura A. Briggs (Clerk of Court, S.D. Ind.)

Sherri R. Carter (Clerk of Court, C.D. Cal.)

Linda Jacobson (Chief Deputy Clerk of Court, D. Me.)

Gregory J. Leonard (Clerk of Court, M.D. Ga.)

William G. Putnicki (Clerk of Court, W.D. Texas)

James G. Woodward (Clerk of Court, E.D. Mo.)

Advisory Committee on Probation and Pretrial Services Education

Ellen J. Krause (Chief U.S. Probation Officer, D. Del.), Chair

Magdeline E. Jensen (Chief U.S. Probation Officer, D. Ariz.)

Wilma V. McNeese (Chief U.S. Pretrial Services Officer, W.D. Pa.)

David E. Miller (Chief U.S. Probation Officer, S.D. Ohio)

Thomas K. Tarr (Chief Probation Officer, D. N.H.)

Elaine Terenzi (Chief U.S. Probation Officer, M.D. Fla.)

Hence Williams, Jr. (Chief U.S. Pretrial Services Officer, D. Or.)
Federal Judicial Center

Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building

One Columbus Circle, N.E.

Washington DC 20002-8003

www.fjc.gov