Conference of Chief Justices
Encyclopedia
The Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) was created in 1949 after the need for an organization composed of the states and territories top jurists was amply discussed at the American Bar Association
and other juridical organizations. The first meeting, organized by the Council of State Governments
and funded by private foundations, and held in St. Louis, Missouri
, was held at the behest of New Jersey
Chief Justice Arthur T. Vanderbilt
, Nebraska
Chief Justice Robert G. Simmons
and Missouri
Chief Justice Laurance M. Hyde
, who was elected as the first chairman by the representatives of the 44 states in attendance. Thirty-two states were represented by their Chief Justices and 12 by Associate Justices empowered by their Chiefs. Four of the 48 states were not represented.
At the present time, the CCJ includes all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the nation's five territories, the United States Virgin Islands
, Puerto Rico
, Guam
, American Samoa
and the Northern Marianas Islands. It is headed by a board composed of its four officers, the immediate past president, five elected members and one member designated by the president-elect.
While the Council of State Governments served as CCJ's secretariat for many years, since 1976 that role is carried out by the National Center for State Courts
. CCJ's president, however, continues serving as a member of CSG's Governing Board.
The Conference has studied and issued policy statements on matters pertaining to the state judiciary, including habeas corpus
, federal funding for state courts, the States Justice Institute, judicial immunity
, court backlogs, cameras in the courtroom and child support
enforcement.
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
and other juridical organizations. The first meeting, organized by the Council of State Governments
Council of State Governments
The Council of State Governments is a nonpartisan non-profit organization in the United States serving the state governments. It serves state legislatures, state courts, and executive branch officials and agencies, and is the only multi-branch organization of state governments in the United...
and funded by private foundations, and held in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, was held at the behest of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
Chief Justice Arthur T. Vanderbilt
Arthur T. Vanderbilt
Arthur T. Vanderbilt was Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1948 to 1957. He also was a noted attorney, legal educator and nationally known proponent of court modernization.-Biography:...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
Chief Justice Robert G. Simmons
Robert G. Simmons
Robert Glenmore Simmons was a Nebraska Republican politician.Simmons was born on December 25, 1891 near Scottsbluff, Nebraska. He attended Hastings College from 1909 to 1911 and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1915. He was admitted to the bar in 1915 and set up practice in Gering, Nebraska...
and Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
Chief Justice Laurance M. Hyde
Laurance M. Hyde
Laurance Mastick Hyde was a chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court. He was a Republican.Hyde was born in Princeton, Missouri and served in the U.S. Army during World War I...
, who was elected as the first chairman by the representatives of the 44 states in attendance. Thirty-two states were represented by their Chief Justices and 12 by Associate Justices empowered by their Chiefs. Four of the 48 states were not represented.
At the present time, the CCJ includes all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the nation's five territories, the United States Virgin Islands
United States Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
and the Northern Marianas Islands. It is headed by a board composed of its four officers, the immediate past president, five elected members and one member designated by the president-elect.
While the Council of State Governments served as CCJ's secretariat for many years, since 1976 that role is carried out by the National Center for State Courts
National Center for State Courts
The National Center for State Courts is a non-profit organization charged with improving judicial administration in the United States and around the world...
. CCJ's president, however, continues serving as a member of CSG's Governing Board.
The Conference has studied and issued policy statements on matters pertaining to the state judiciary, including habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
, federal funding for state courts, the States Justice Institute, judicial immunity
Judicial immunity
Judicial Immunity is a form of legal immunity which protects judges and others employed by the judiciary from lawsuits brought against them for official conduct in office, no matter how incompetent, negligent, or malicious such conduct might be, even if this conduct is in violation of statutes.For...
, court backlogs, cameras in the courtroom and child support
Child support
In family law and public policy, child support is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child following the end of a marriage or other relationship...
enforcement.