Judicial Conference of the United States

Chief Justice William Howard Taft, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1921, had led a public campaign for federal judicial reform since leaving the White House in 1913.

Taft proposed the appointment of at-large judges, what he called a "flying squadron", that could be assigned temporarily to congested courts.

By the time Taft became Chief Justice, the increased caseload resulting from World War I and the enforcement of Prohibition had contributed to broad support for reform of the federal judiciary.

A large majority in Congress agreed with the need for reform, but both the Senate and the House of Representatives insisted on revising Taft's proposals so that they conformed more closely to the traditions of the federal judiciary.

The conference would use these reports to prepare suggestions for the temporary transfer of judges, pending the approval of all courts involved.

Even without a formal relationship with Congress or the Department of Justice (which then administered the federal courts), the conference offered the judiciary a means of communicating its administrative needs.

[3] At that time, the judges of the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (CCPA) declined to include a representative on the conference.

[3] In 1990, Congress provided for the inclusion of the chief judge of the United States Court of International Trade.

It provides a wide range of administrative, legal, financial, management, program, and information technology services to the federal courts.