NEWS RELEASE
The National
Center for State Courts
300 Newport Avenue · Williamsburg, Virginia 23185
Contact:
Lorri Montgomery
Communications Manager
The National Center for State Courts
757.259.1525 or lmontgomery@ncsc.dni.us
Howell T.
Heflin Inducted Into Warren E. Burger Society
of the National Center for State Courts
Williamsburg, VA
(Dec. 2, 2003) – Howell T. Heflin, former Alabama senator and
former Alabama chief justice, was inducted on Nov. 21 into the
National Center for State Courts’ Warren E. Burger Society. The Burger
Society honors individuals who have demonstrated the highest commitment
to improving the administration of justice through extraordinary
contributions of service and support to the National Center for State
Courts.
Chief Justice of the
United States William H. Rehnquist and California Chief Justice Ronald
M. George, chair of the National Center’s Board of Directors and
president of the Conference of Chief Justices, inducted Senator Heflin,
who was unable to attend the ceremony, and other new members into the
Burger Society at a luncheon in Washington, D.C.
Senator Heflin, a
long-time champion of the State Justice Institute (SJI), was recognized
for his support of the National Center and its mission. SJI works
to improve the administration of justice in the nation’s state courts
by funding many of the National Center’s research and education
initiatives. In addition to strengthening the relationship of these two
institutions, Senator Heflin has personally contributed to the National
Center for 20 years.
Inductees to the
society are selected by a committee that is chaired by Texas attorney
Charles M. Noteboom who commissioned the original portrait of Chief
Justice Burger, which hangs in the National Center’s headquarters.
Each new society members receives a limited edition print of the
portrait, which is signed and numbered by the artist Fran Di Giacomo.
Chief Justice Burger’s children own the first two prints and Chief
Justice Rehnquist owns the last print, numbered 1986, the year Chief
Justice Burger retired and Chief Justice Rehnquist took office.
The National Center,
headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a non-profit court reform
organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by
providing leadership and service to the state courts. The National
Center, founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and Chief
Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, provides education,
training, and technology, management, and research services to the
nation’s state courts. The National Center also is taking the lead on
several key issues facing the justice system. For example, it has
established a major civil justice initiative, a multi-year project that
is examining best practices in civil case management and how complex
litigation procedures can be improved. Other national initiatives being
driven by the National Center include judicial selection reform and
increasing citizen participation in jury service.
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