National Center For State Courts - History

History

In March 1971, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court Warren E. Burger called for the creation of a central resource for the state and local courts at the First National Conference of the Judiciary, in Williamsburg, VA. This conference, attended by the President, Chief Justice, and Attorney General of the U.S. in addition to over 400 other members of the legal community, was the largest and most diverse group to come together to discuss judicial administration in the state courts. It was a reflection of the continuing difficulties faced in the nation's courts during the tenure of the previous Chief Justice, Earl Warren, recognized by both Chief Justice Burger and then-President Richard Milhous Nixon. While the more popular Chief Justice has been widely credited with the first call for the creation of such a resource, in fact, President Nixon was the first to express his support for a central resource for the state and local courts during his opening remarks, which actually occurred the day before Burger's announcement.

Nixon noted the significance of the already existent Federal Judicial Center to the nation's federal courts; stating that it was long-overdue for the state courts to have a similar resource. Chief Justice Burger issued his call for a permanent central resource for the state and local courts on the following day.

Read more about this topic:  National Center For State Courts

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    I assure you that in our next class we will concern ourselves solely with the history of Egypt, and not with the more lurid and non-curricular subject of living mummies.
    Griffin Jay, and Reginald LeBorg. Prof. Norman (Frank Reicher)

    A man will not need to study history to find out what is best for his own culture.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)