NCJ Number
142172
Journal
Trial Volume: 29 Issue: 4 Dated: (April 1993) Pages: 18-50
Editor(s)
E E Yeary
Date Published
1993
Length
33 pages
Annotation
Six articles focus on various weaknesses in the court system that threaten access to the courts, such as inadequate funding and case delay, and they propose means to remedy these threats to the effectiveness of the U.S. justice system.
Abstract
The first article documents inadequate and unbalanced funding for the justice systems in most of the States and suggests ways in which legal practitioners can help to increase the resources provided all components of the justice system. An article profiles the New York State governor's reaction to the State's financial crunch by cutting the court's budget and by shifting resources from civil to criminal courts. The State's then chief judge sued the governor, and the case was settled with partial funding restored. The author notes that other States may face similar crises. A third article examines how budget cuts have undermined citizens' right of access to the courts. The authors suggest several legal strategies for improving access to the courts through litigation. An article on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) notes that it has become generally accepted in the legal community as a needed strategy for improving access to mechanisms of dispute resolution. How ADR should be implemented in the public and private sectors is discussed. Other articles discuss how well the legal system is actually working based on recent research and the principles of court management used to process cases in the Federal District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia, which has consistently the fastest trial docket in the United States.