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For
thirty years the National Center for State Courts has
provided leadership and service to the nation’s
courts. As the year 2001 comes to a close, the country
faces uncertain times. We are only just beginning to see
all of the ways the events of September 11 will change
the way our nation conducts its affairs as well as
forever altering the American people’s personal
feelings of safety. From increased vigilance by law
enforcement officers as well as the citizens themselves,
to economic recession, to fears about the future we are
creating for our children, the American psyche will be altered forever
by what we have experienced in the last few
months.
In
a recent article, Dr. Ronald J. Stupak laid out an
individual action plan for U.S. citizens to help us pick
up and move on. In it he points out that we as a nation
must "preserve and protect our values tolerance,
freedom, liberty, rule of law . . ." and that we
must "stay critical, both positively and
negatively," so that we don’t "abdicate our
power as citizens to those who constitutionally serve .
. ." The State of the Nation: An Individual
Action Agenda.
In these new times, our democratic principles will
be tried and tested and our nation’s judicial system
will play a major role in this process.
In
preparing Trends this year, the staff was mindful of the
effect the events of September 11 and following might
have on our courts. Issues concerning privacy and
security tend to overshadow all others. Consideration of
these events will color any reading of Trends,
especially reports on court security, public records in
the virtual age, the use of surveillance cameras, and
the roles of the national leadership vis á vis the
states. Understanding that the fundamental work of the
courts must go on, however, other broad topics were
selected including court administration, criminal
justice, courts and the public, access and fairness, and
federal-state relations.
Thank
you to this year’s contributors. I hope you enjoy this
edition of Report
on Trends in the State Courts.
Mary
Grace Hune, Editor
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