Monday, April 10, 2017

More on that New Website on Federal Judicial History

[We’ve previously noted the new website at the Federal Judicial History Center.  Clara Altman, the Director of the Federal Judicial History Office at the Federal Judicial Center, has written to highlight a few features.]

The Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789-Present.  The directory includes the biographies of judges presidentially appointed to serve during good behavior since 1789 on the U.S. District Courts, U.S. Courts of Appeals, Supreme Court of the United States, and U.S. Court of International Trade, as well as the former U.S. Circuit Courts, Court of Claims, U.S. Customs Court, and U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals. Also included are judges who received presidential recess appointments to the above named courts but were not confirmed by the Senate to serve during good behavior.

Charts and Graphs related to the Demography of Article III Judges, 1789-2015.  This feature includes interactive charts and graphs on the composition of the courts over time, the age and experience of judges, gender of judges, race and ethnicity of judges, and the geographical distribution of the courts and judges including an interactive map of the judicial circuits over time and of authorized judgeships by state and by circuit.

Timelines of Federal Judicial History.  Timelines on the structure of the federal courts, the jurisdiction of the federal courts, the administration of the federal courts, and cases that shaped the federal courts.

Teaching Resources on Famous Federal Trials.  This section includes teaching resources on the Sedition Act trials, the Aaron Burr treason trial, Amistad, Ex parte Merryman, U.S. v. Susan B. Anthony, Chew Heong v. U.S., In re Debs, Olmstead v. U.S., the Rosenberg trial, Bush v. Orleans Parish School Board, and the Chicago Seven Conspiracy trial.

Historic Federal Courthouses.  This section includes nearly 600 images of historic federal courthouses and other buildings that have served as the meeting places of federal courts. These photographs were compiled from the collections of various federal repositories and agencies. They include an image of every meeting place of a federal court for which there was a photograph of acceptable quality.

Visitors to the site can also find historical information about particular courts, judicial salaries, unsuccessful nominations and recess appointments, impeachments, caseloads, administration of the courts, court officers and staff, judicial appropriations, and more...