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New Book Examines How Trial Courts Administer JusticeWilliamsburg, VA (Sept. 25, 2007) – Judges, court administrators, and scholars have long acknowledged the important role culture plays in the function of trial courts. Newly published Trial Courts as Organizations (Temple University Press, 2007) provides a comprehensive framework to help diagnose and initiate change in court organizational culture. The authors, National Center for State Courts researchers Brian Ostrom and Matthew Kleiman, along with professors Charles Ostrom Jr. of Michigan State University and Roger Hanson of University of Colorado, examine how courts operate, what characteristics they may display, and how they function as a unit to preserve judicial independence, strengthen organizational leadership, and influence court performance. They identify four types of institutional cultures, communal, autonomous, hierarchical, and networked and actually measure the degree to which these cultures exist in 12 criminal trial courts in California, Florida, and Minnesota. The authors then show how the culture in each court is related to achieving key outcomes such as timely case resolution, access to court services, and procedural justice. Additionally, the authors find judges and administrators from all 12 courts prefer a definite pattern of different cultures, called a “mosaic” to guide how their courts operate in the future. The authors have developed a comprehensive but easy to interpret set of tools to identify the type of culture a particular court currently emphasizes as well as where it would prefer to be. Particular emphasis in the book is given to ways in which the results are useful in changing the way courts organize themselves and ultimately ways for courts to improve performance. What the courts are saying about Trial Courts as Organizations Judge Kevin Burke of the Hennepin County (Minnesota) District Court said, “On any given day being a court leader, judicial colleague, or court administrator can be a challenge. Trial Courts as Organizations” won’t eliminate all of the challenges, but it will help you better understand and react to them. It is a must read.” Daniel Becker, State Court Administrator for the Utah Courts, said “Focusing on the disparity between an existing and a preferred court culture drew our court officials into a sustained, constructive dialogue on court management, which, heretofore, had proved elusive. Trial Courts as Organizations provides welcome and important scholarship on court governance with very real application. The National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, VA, was founded in 1971 by court leaders and with the support of Chief Justice Warren E. Burger of the U.S. Supreme Court. ###
National Center for State Courts, 300 Newport Avenue, Williamsburg, VA 23185-4147 |
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