The Federal Courts
Challenge and Reform
Revised Edition
Richard A. Posner
Preface
The Institution
The Organization of the Federal Courts
The basic structure.
The judges.
The state courts compared.
The Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts
The Challenge
The Growth of the Caseload
Caseload ... versus workload.
Caseload and workload in the Supreme Court.
The Chicken Little question.
Why the Caseload Has Grown So
Models of caseload growth.
The district courts.
The courts of appeals.
The Supreme Court.
Consequences: The System Expands ...
More judges, working harder.
The rise of the law clerk.
...And Is Streamlined
Curtailment of oral argument.
Nonpublication of opinions.
The standard of review, the trend toward "ruledness," summariness.
Sanctions.
Incremental Reform
Palliatives
Upping the ante.
Limiting or abolishing diversity jurisdiction.
Better management.
Alternative dispute resolution.
The reform of the bar.
Specialized Courts
Specialized Article III courts.
Rethinking administrative review.
Fundamental Reform
The Role of Federal Courts in a Federal System
The optimal scope of federal jurisdiction.
Specific caseload implications.
Federal Judicial Self-Restraint
Principled adjudication.
The meaning and consequences of judicial activism and self-restraint.
The restraint ratchet and other extensions.
The Federal Judicial Craft
District judges.
The institutional responsibilities of federal appellate judges.
Rule versus standard again.
Stare decisis.
Appendix: Supplementary Tables
Index
Richard A. Posner is Circuit Judge, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.
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