Title: Federal Judicial Center

Source/Sponsoring Agency: Federal Judicial Center

URL: http://www.fjc.gov/

Date Checked: 9/30/2010      Status: Active

Date Annotated: 9/30/2010

Topics: Legal History

Other keywords: Judiciary; Judges

Contents: Created in 1967 by Congress, the Federal Judicial Center is the federal courts' “education and research agency” that seeks to “promote improvements in judicial administration in the courts of the United States.” The center has several statutory duties centered on orientation and continuing education for judges and court employees, and researching judicial procedures, court operations, and court history. The site is organized into four components: international judicial relations; federal judicial history; educational programs and materials; and a publications and videos catalog. The international judicial relations section provides various materials that explain the U.S. legal system for international audiences, while also offering materials explaining foreign legal systems. The history section is robust and interesting. Here, users can get detailed information about judges, including magistrates and bankruptcy judges. Biographies for each federal judge are available. An interesting item is the page listing salary information for judges from past to present. In 1789, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was paid $4,000 while today that position is paid $223,500. There is also a nice section on historic courthouses organized by state that provides the year built, architect, and an image. The educational programs and materials and the publications catalog provide access to the same content. The former offers a browsing approach, while the catalog can be searched by title, author, and format. A variety of items are available, including a video on the patent system, and resources for managing capital cases. Overall, the site is a great educational resource on our federal court system.

Author of Annotation: M. Morrison