Role of the Justice Department in Maintaining an Effective Judiciary

Abstract

Since the founding of the Republic, attorneys general have intermittently undertaken to improve the administration of justice in federal courts by a variety of recommendations, proposals, and analyses. Since the mid-1960s, this court reform role by the Department of Justice has been relatively sustained. This article reviews the history of Department of Justice involvement in court reform efforts, with special attention to developments of the last decade. It analyzes the various constitutional and policy reasons that point to an active Justice Department involvement in federal judicial administration and describes the work of the office established for this purpose by Attorney General Bell.