JUDICIAL CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED STATES
The Judicial Conference of the United States for-
mulates the administrative policies for the fed-
eral courts. The Judicial Conference also makes
recommendations on a wide range of topics that
relate to the federal courts. The conference is
chaired by the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme
Court. Other members include the chief judge
of each federal judicial circuit, one district judge
from each federal judicial circuit, and the chief
judge of the U.S. Court of International Trade.
The Judicial Conference was created in
response to a need for uniformity in rules and
procedures in the federal court system. In the
early 1920s, Chief Justice WILLIAM H. TAFT,of
the Supreme Court, led a reform effort that
urged centralized review of federal district
courts. Until that time the procedures and prac-
tices in federal trial courts varied widely from
circuit to circuit, causing confusion among
attorneys and judges. The result of the reform
effort was the passage in 1922 of a federal statute
that created the Conference of Senior Circuit
Judges (Pub. L. No. 67-297, 423 Stat. 837, 838).
The Conference of Senior Circuit Judges was
renamed the Judicial Conference of the United
States in 1948 (Act of June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62
Stat. 902, § 331 [codified as amended at 28
U.S.C.A. § 331 (1988)]).
The Judicial Conference is a creation of
Congress, and it has only the powers that Con-
gress gives it. Its membership and duties have
been expanded by Congress, but its primary
missions have remained the same.
The Judicial Conference performs two major
functions. The first is to study and offer improve-
ments on federal court rules and procedures.
These rules and procedures cover matters rang-
ing from the sentencing of a criminal defendant
to the service of a complaint and court summons
on a civil defendant. The second major function
of the Judicial Conference is to supervise the
administration of the federal courts.
In its administrative capacity, the Judicial
Conference oversees the ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE
OF THE U.S. COURTS. This is the administrative
nerve center of the federal courts. The Judicial
Conference formulates the fiscal and personnel
policies for the federal courts, and the Adminis-
trative Office implements those policies.
The Judicial Conference also reviews orders
that judicial councils for the federal circuits
issue on complaints of judicial misconduct or
judicial disability, and it may reassign federal
judges to different federal courts. The final deci-
sion on administrative matters that are not cov-
ered by existing statutes, rules, and regulations is
made by the judicial council of the appropriate
federal circuit.
The Judicial Conference recommends ways
to improve rules and procedures in the federal
courts. Its recommendations do not carry the
force of law, but the conference is widely recog-
nized as the authority on federal court rules and
procedures.
The Judicial Conference makes yearly sug-
gestions on legislation to Congress and recom-
mendations on federal court rules to the U.S.
Supreme Court. The Supreme Court fashions
the rules for federal courts and submits them to
Congress for final approval. The attorney gen-
eral of the United States, by request of the chief
justice of the Supreme Court, is required to
report to the Judicial Conference on the business
of the federal courts. Under the Judicial Confer-
ence statute, 28 U.S.C.A. 331, the attorney gen-
eral’s reports must discuss with particularity the
progress of cases in which the U.S. government
is a party.
The Judicial Conference may offer its opin-
ion on legislation passed by Congress that affects
the rules and procedures of the federal courts.
For example, in 1990 the Federal Courts Study
Commission of the Judicial Conference released
a study that was critical of federal legislation on
mandatory minimum sentences for criminal
