Rise of Judicial Management in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, 1955-2000This is the first book-length study of a federal district court to analyze the revolutionary changes in its mission, structure, policies, and procedures over the past four decades. As Steven Harmon Wilson chronicles the court's attempts to keep pace with an expanding, diversifying caseload, he situates those efforts within the social, cultural, and political expectations that have prompted the increase in judicial seats from four in 1955 to the current nineteen. Federal judges have progressed from being simply referees of legal disputes to managers of expanding courts, dockets, and staffs, says Wilson. The Southern District of Texas offers an especially instructive model by which to study this transformation. Not only does it contain a varied population of Hispanics, African Americans, and whites, but its jurisdiction includes an international border and some of the busiest seaports in the United States. Wilson identifies three areas of judicial management in which the shift has most clearly manifested itself. Through docket and case management judges have attempted to rationalize the flow of work through the litigation process. Lastly, and most controversially, judges have sought to bring "constitutionally flawed" institutions into compliance through "structural reform" rulings in areas such as housing, education, employment, and voting. Wilson draws on sources ranging from judicial biography and oral-history interviews to case files, published opinions, and administrative memoranda. Blending legal history with social science, this important new study ponders the changing meaning of federal judgeship as it shows how judicial management has both helped and hindered the resolution of legal conflicts and the protection of civil rights. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 81
... Practices Act Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Federal Bureau of Investigation Federal Bureau of Narcotics Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Federal Employees' Liability Act Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and ...
... practiced in the Driscoll school systems . Yet he doubted the Supreme Court's wis- dom in relying on federal district judges like himself to enforce by court order the far - reaching social reconstruction that would be required to ...
... practice in Texas. He was offered a rare second opportunity to gain a lifetime sinecure on the federal district court in 1949, when President Harry Truman nominated Allred to another new seat. The appointment received the full support ...
Steven Harmon Wilson. earned his master of laws at Harvard University . Connally practiced law in Hous- ton until 1942 , when he joined the U.S. Army Air Forces to serve during World War II and reached the rank of lieutenant colonel . He ...
... practices and will not usually be granted . " 3 30 The Inc. Fund lawyers finally achieved their longstanding goal when Chief Jus- tice Earl Warren spoke for the unanimous court to declare that " [ s ] eparate edu- cational facilities ...
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
Legislation Litigation and Judicial Economy | 50 |
The Rules and Exceptions of Border Justice | 93 |
Managing Our Federalism in the Southern District | 140 |
Judicial Management of Triethnic Integration | 189 |
Federal Criminal Justice on Trial in the 1970s | 233 |
Adjuncts and the Oversight of Corporate Misconduct | 281 |
Masters Magistrates and Managerial Judges | 327 |
Just Speedy and Inexpensive Resolutions | 355 |
Notes | 359 |
Selected Bibliography | 521 |
Index | 547 |