Managing Courts in Changing Times

KEYNOTE ADDRESS (Executive Summary)

Hon. Sandra Day O’Connor, Justice.

The Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor’s speech “examine[s] how to strengthen court management’s contribution to the performance of the American judicial system.” (O’Connor, 1). She indicates that “the amount – and the quality – of justice in this country are determined in large measure by the day-to-day workings of our trial courts –far away from the Supreme Court and, in fact, from most appellate courts generally.” (O’Connor, 1). Calling the administration of justice the “great cement of society,” Justice O’Connor quotes Alexander Hamilton from The Federalist Papers, noting that the courts “give stability and ordered growth to the social and economic environment in which we do our work and live our lives.” (O’Connor, 1).

To refresh the administration of justice, and to tackle the big questions involved in planning the future of the American justice system, Justice O’Connor recognizes the importance of taking time away from the busy pace of court management. “Conferences such as this one provide each of us with the opportunity to step temporarily away from the relentless day-to-day pressure of coping with change and to consider how we want our courts to deal with changing times, or, in other words, how to prepare ourselves – and our courts—for the future.” (O’Connor, 2). She predicts that “what we do today to shape our courts and to shape the principles by which we manage them will determine how they perform