2009 State of the Judiciary
"A Court System for Tough Times"
January 14, 2009

Watch the 2009 State of the Judiciary (Windows Media Format)

There was a time when people who worked in the judiciary thought of their task solely in terms of the rulings – guilty/not guilty, liable or not liable, sustained or overruled.  Judges were people who waited for what walked in the door, listened to the evidence and considered the law, and then ruled for one side or the other.  The courtroom was thought of as a place of relative detachment from the hub-bub in the rest of life.

In fact, the work courts do is intimately connected to all of society.  When the inevitable disputes of daily life arise, people rely on courts to resolve disputes as quickly and cheaply as possible, providing confidence that laws are actually enforced, on some reasonable timetable, at some reasonable expense.  Can contracts be enforced, family disputes resolved, criminal violators held accountable?  Society runs on the trust that the answer to all these will mostly be yes.  Just as trust in the mechanics of finance empowers the real economy, effective and reliable courts are a key part of the engine that keeps America going.

Effective and reliable courts are especially important in times when the public and private sectors are so pressed.  My speech today focuses on how the fallout of the recession shows up in courts, and how Indiana’s courts are doing our part to contribute toward recovery.