California State University, Sacramento
PPA 298
Judicial Administration Fellowship
Program Seminar
Fall 2000 – Spring 2001

Professor Michael Semler
(510) 814-8385
(510) 814-8384 (fax)
email: Semler@usfca.edu

"We need to promote the concept of management in the courts as a noble calling. Both the art and the science of management are essential ingredients in ensuring the administration of justice." Sandra Day O’Connor

The Seminar is an integral part of your experience this year. Judicial administration involves managing the court and its environment: other public agencies, the public, lawyers and law firms, and the media. Traditionally, court administration deals with budgets, judicial procedures, jury selection/pool, court calendars and filings, human resource issues, record keeping, and building maintenance. While we will be examining most of these issues during your Fellowship year, we will focus on issues of "public access" from various perspectives: users, administrators, finance, technology, and specialized clients (translation, family courts, ADR).

In many respects courts are similar to other public agencies — they are governed by many of the same procedures, organizational dynamics, and funding difficulties facing other public entities. However, there some significant differences. In the first place, participants in the courts are governed by a set of well defined rules designed to achieve "justice." Yet, many of these participants are trained to operate in an adversarial manner. Thus, while other public agencies might view their customers or clients as equal participants in the system, individuals trained in the law participate in the search for justice by engaging in a more adversarial set of activities.

Second, in the United States the courts are treated as a co-equal branch of government. Many of the rules which govern the actions of the legislative and executive branches of government are not always applicable in this third branch of government. Yet funds to operate the courts come from the legislative and executive branches. In addition, historically the courts are operated by lawyers who become judges, and in most places the judges make the rules. On top of this, the courts combine elements of a highly structured bureaucracy with power centered at the apex with simultaneously rewarding court independence or autonomy. And, like many other public agencies, the courts not only purchase equipment and services from the private, for-profit sector, some ancillary agencies (in the area of ADR for example) are operated on a for-profit basis.

In short, just while the courts are becoming more professionally administered, the entire legal establishment is being transformed. What does this say to our notions of justice and the judicial process? Are court administrators agents of the "court establishment" whose jobs are to make the system work efficiently and let the "equity" issues be handled entirely by the judges or should they be responsible for assuring "public access"?

Finally, the National Association of Court Managers recently underwent an extensive (ten year) process of identifying and drafting a series of "competencies" for court administrators. These competencies, http://nacm.ncsc.dni.us/corecompfinal.html, were drafted as goals for quality court administration and we are attempting to use them in the same manner. Our course of study touches on many of the issues raised by this document. Throughout the Seminar we will refer to these competencies in evaluating the performance of California’s courts.

This Fall, I would like you to consider the Seminar as divided into four temporal components. Initially, we will send selected readings during the Summer to help you better understand California and its legal history. First, you should start reading a compelling biography of Chief Justice Earl Warren (Ed Cray’s Chief Justice), this Spring’s "Annual Report of the Judiciary" delivered to the Legislature by Chief Justice Ron George, http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/reference/soj0300.htm, and the Judicial Council’s 1999 Annual Report. Also you will receive you chapters from the original classic in this field, Managing the Courts, by Ernest Friesen, Edward Gallas and Nesta Gallas and Mark Cannon’s "Judicial Administration to the Twenty-First Century."

The second portion of the Seminar is the Orientation in Sacramento lasting two weeks. This period is designed to help you understand how California’s public agencies work together at the state and local levels, the financial links, specialized legal programs, and give you the chance to meet some of the key decision makers in the administration of justice. During the course of this Introduction, the Seminar (in the form of a class) will meet to discuss the readings we sent you.

The remaining portions of the Seminar will be conducted in a manner similar to more traditional classes, but with the added use of the Internet. Because you are scattered across a big state, we decided to create a Web based classroom and instruction module. I have scheduled three all-day sessions in October, November and December based upon geography – one Northern and one Southern group. In addition, the entire group will get together in January – once as a Seminar session and the other occasion in conjunction with the annual meeting of the California court administrators’ conference.

The Fall will provide perspectives on administration of the courts with specific reference to your specific placement. The principal reading reviews the literature on organizations in both public and private firms. In the Spring you will also be asked to "consult" on a real project or problem facing California’s courts. This consultation project will be done in teams.

During the Spring semester we will concentrate on the relationship between the Legislature and the Courts via a visit with the Legislature, discussions on the criminal justice system vis. the courts and related players, alternatives to the court system (ADR and mediation), and ways to promote diversity and sensitivity within the courts. Of course, as we proceed during the year you may have interests that could be explored by the entire group. We will consider those as well.

My reading and writing expectations are quite straight forward. I have the responsibility of providing you with a seminar experience that meets the traditional expectations of graduate school. This means presenting materials illustrating points of similarity or differences between the courts and other public agencies, analyzing critical issues facing public agencies in general, and providing instruction in methodology. For students, I expect participation in the seminar after reading the materials. On the other hand, we recognize your employer wants you to perform to your highest level. We know and expect that you will do that. This takes time and effort. The trick is allocating time between these set of expectations.

Obviously Fellows encounter issues and interests that we may not foresee, we want you to have a chance to explore these issues during the course of the Seminar. Accordingly, we will devote a portion of each session to topics or concerns which you wish to engage, e.g. placement concerns, topical policy, political or personality issues, or supplemental field trips. I will assign one of you to lead the discussion about a subject that the leader believes others wish to discuss or analyze. The leader will solicit suggestions from colleagues or the instructor and be responsible for distributing material(s) about the subject in order to stimulate a professional in-class analysis.

This seminar requires your participation. Your mentors are aware of this expectation. Therefore, you should arrange your schedule to accommodate the meetings, but on those occasions when a conflict is unavoidable, please let us know with ample warning. The Center’s expectation is that you will attend regularly. Unexcused absences will result in lower class grades and may involve reduction in salary and/or possible administrative review of the Fellow’s status.

These texts will be distributed to you:

Cray, Ed, Chief Justice, A Biography of Earl Warren, Simon & Schuster, 1997

Morgan, Gareth, Images of Organization, 2^nd edition Sage Publications, 1997

Readings:

"A Perspective on Court Management", "The Structure and Jurisdiction of the Courts", "Constraints on Management", and "The Functions and Role of the Court Executive" in Managing the Courts, by Ernest Friesen, Edward Gallas, and Nesta Gallas, Bobbs- Merrill, 1971

"Court Administration," Barry Mahoney and Harvey Solomon, in The Improvement of the Administration of Justice, 6^th ed. American Bar Assn, Judicial Administration Division, 1991

"Judicial Administration to the Twenty-First Century", Mark Cannon, Public Administration Review, 45, November 1985

1. In addition to the course readings, I would like you to read either a novel or biography about a legal issue or individual involved in the legal field, broadly defined. This material may not be Cray’s Chief Justice, but you may contrast your selection with this biography. If the subject matter deals with how the law is administered or how lawyers work, so much the better. At the conclusion of the semester a review of the material is required as well as a seminar presentation. The seminar will discuss the issues you raise in the review. Accordingly, you should distribute, via email, the review prior to the last seminar meeting in January.
   
   
2. Images of Organization presents the literature and ideas about how organizations operate and people in those organizations exist. Each chapter is devoted to a "metaphor" or image based upon a particular set of arguments or theoretical constructs. Nine "metaphors" are presented and discussed before Morgan presents his summary. I would like you to describe your organization using just one of these metaphors for each class meeting. This would be a five page paper that describes how your organization operates using the language and ideas expressed by the metaphor. The first paper, which is due at Session 3, applies the metaphors described in Chapters 2 (mechanistic) or 3 (organisms). For the assignment due at Session 4, use the literature and concepts from either Chapter 5 (culture), Chapter 8 (an organization in flux), or Chapter 4 (as a living brain). For Session 5, your paper should use the images in Chapter 6 (political) or Chapter 9 (instruments of domination). In summary, there will be three separate papers of approximately 5 pages in length.
   
   
3. You will be responsible for leading a portion of one seminar session during the year (not likely more than a couple of hours) on a topic of your choosing. As discussed above, you will be responsible, after consultation with the instructor and colleagues, to distribute material(s) appropriate for the presentation/discussion.
   
   
4. By the end of the academic year (May 2001) you will have served as a consultant on a court administration issue. You and a teammate will produce a written report to a real court administrator outlining "solutions" or a process to achieve a solution to an actual problem or issue facing California’s courts. The problem may be "big or small", it could involve a specific set of activities at one court, it could involve personnel, facilities, or the public, it may deal with funding or the impact of a specific piece of legislation recently enacted or about to be enacted. The requirements are that the product deals with (a) real concerns, (b) is methodologically acceptable, and (c) is understandable to your audience. In addition, I want to have you provide evidence you can integrate "the literature" within your project’s scope of work.

By the first Seminar session in January, I expect that you will have selected a topic and your team will have submitted a review of the relevant literature dealing with your issue or problem. This will be a 10 to 15 page written assignment demonstrating your knowledge how others have examined the issues you may be facing in solving your problem. Essentially, it is a guide to your future research endeavors.

Session 1: October 2^nd. (Afternoon)
Sacramento (entire group)
Discussion of the Judicial Administration as a professional field:
         History of the profession
         The Role of the Court Executive – How Independent
         Organization of the courts
                     Judges, Justice and Efficiency?
                     Specialized Courts
         Limits on the Court
                     Procedures
                     Selection and Retention of Judges – appointment and elections
                     Money, People and Locale

In preparation for our meeting please read the materials distributed to you during the Summer.

Session 2: October 5^th (Afternoon)
Sacramento (entire group)

In addition to discussion of issues raised during the two weeks, two topics will be discussed:
         A. Public Access
                     This discussion is in preparation for our meeting with the Chief and the AOC San Francisco staff on Friday.
         B. Group Project
                     Discussion of possible group projects and my expectations.

In preparation for our meeting please read The Chief Justice’s "State of the Judiciary."

Session 3: October 20^th (Southern group), October 27^th (Northern group)

Discussion on court administration: judges and administrators – who rules, are they in conflict, how can they cooperate? What is the impact of a centralized budget and technology decision making apparatus? What would occur if the Presiding Judge’s scope is narrowed to matters of law rather than operations?

Readings:
Morgan, Chapters 2 and 3

"Court Administration," Barry Mahoney and Harvey Solomon, in The Improvement of the Administration of Justice, 6^th ed. American Bar Assn, Judicial Administration Division, 1991

"Judicial Administration to the Twenty-First Century", Mark Cannon, Public Administration Review, 45, November 1985

Session 4: November 10^th (South), November 17^th (North)

One way the Chief Justice and others have described improvement in public access is through the establishment of specialized courts: family courts, drug courts, juvenile courts, and judges who are responsible for complex civil litigation matters. We will examine in detail these specialized courts: does specialized improve justice, greater efficiency for whom, is there a loss of diversity when specialists take over?

Readings:
Morgan, Chapters 4,5 and 8
AOC Task Force material to be distributed and reference to AOC’s web site.

Session 5: December 1^st (South), December 8^th (North)

We have just come through the election cycle. In some counties incumbent judges had to stand for election against aggressive challengers, while in other communities two individuals were seeking an "open" judgeship. Do all these elections distort "justice" and how does the public feel about having judges "run for office." Does it demean the office? In other states judges are candidates with a "party identification." A classic question of the Supreme Court is to ask whether they follow the election results.

Readings:
Morgan, Chapters 6 and 9

Session 6: January 3, 2001 (entire group)

New technologies in many guises have considerable influence on the way courts operate. The AOC has been studying the impact of new computer based technologies, there are multi-media advances which impact every aspect of the court system, and new telecommunication devices are also changing the way business is being conducted within courts. The public wants greater access and in a timely manner, practioners want to use these new technologies to gain access in a more cost-effective manner, and everyone wants to reduce "paperwork." But how is this all going to happen and how do we make sure that those "who are left behind" don’t have justice denied?

Readings:
Judicial Council’s Advisory Committee on Technology Report

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