NCJ Number
104573
Date Published
1987
Length
61 pages
Annotation
This report describes and analyzes two innovative court calendaring practices, one for civil cases and one for criminal cases, used by the Federal Eastern District of North Carolina.
Abstract
In the civil calendaring procedure, judges are randomly assigned cases from each of the geographical divisions of the district, and they travel to the divisional locations to try the cases. The calendaring procedure for criminal cases involves assigning cases to the same judge and magistrate team for several consecutive months, retaining initial cases until final disposition. The goals of these calendaring methods are to avoid the fact or appearance of judicial bias, make Federal courts accessible to district citizens, equitably divide the workload among court members, and facilitate sound and expeditious decisionmaking. Based on interviews with judges, magistrates, the court clerk and deputies, private attorneys, and government attorneys, the two calendaring practices are described in detail along with their ramifications. The adaptability of these calendaring practices to other districts is discussed. Appended relevant court rules, costs, assignment plan for calendaring felony cases, a memorandum on the handling of dispositive criminal motions, and case processing time before and after the new criminal case calendaring practice.