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Bankruptcy filings continued a steep two-year-long fall that coincided with the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Filings fell 16.5 percent for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2022.
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Two federal judges testified that a Judiciary budget of $8.6 billion is needed to keep pace with inflation and to pay for important new investments in courthouse security, IT modernization, and cybersecurity. They also requested staffing to address workload increases caused by issues outside the Judiciary’s control.
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The Judiciary’s observance of Law Day this year focuses on four students who brought historic cases to the federal courts that led to desegregation of public schools and shaped students’ First Amendment rights.
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After a two-year hiatus from in-person outreach programs due to COVID-19, bankruptcy judges are returning to classrooms to teach students how to manage personal finances with informed planning and decision-making.
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The federal Judiciary has opened the application period for membership in its public user group that provides advice and feedback on ways to improve electronic public access (EPA) services.
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Over the last 100 years, the Judicial Conference of the United States has grappled with many issues: rising court caseloads and limited resources, natural disasters, public-health crises, and the safety of the Judiciary and the public. This year marks the centennial of the national policy-making body, which has helped ensure efficient administration of justice in the courts since 1922.
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Testifying to a House subcommittee about workplace conduct, two federal judges said that “the Judiciary’s process for protecting employees is demonstrating its promise and should be given time to build upon the significant strides made to date.”
Judges M. Margaret McKeown and Julie A. Robinson testified before the House Judiciary Committee’s Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet subcommittee. McKeown, of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, and Robinson, of the District of Kansas, both are members of the Federal Judiciary Workplace Conduct Working Group.
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In a wide-ranging report, the Judiciary’s Workplace Conduct Working Group said its program to ensure an exemplary workplace has achieved broad improvements, by adding abusive conduct to longstanding protections against discrimination and harassment, imposing an express prohibition on abusive conduct, and improving processes to make it easier for employees to report and resolve workplace concerns.
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In 2021, the Judiciary confronted uniquely trying times: The global pandemic placed serious constraints on the courts for a second straight year, unanticipated spikes in caseloads were driven by the Jan. 6 upheaval at the Capitol and other events, and cybersecurity threats to government technology systems continued unabated.
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Taking steps to increase transparency and public access, the federal Judiciary’s policy making body today approved automating the release of judges’ financial disclosure reports, amending its conflict screening policy, and expanding the scope of its audio streaming pilot project.
