Working Committees of the Society
Archival Preservation Committee
The Committee works with judges to encourage and facilitate preservation of their non-official papers and electronic files and assists in identifying universities and other institutions that may be interested in becoming repositories for these materials. The Committee also recommends and formulates subject matter of historic significance for exhibits, publications and programs.
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The Committee encourages and conducts research into the history of the Courts of the Circuit and cases and issues addressed and, in coordination with the Communications Committee, develops written materials for publication on the Society’s website, in the quarterly newsletter, and on Facebook and Twitter.
The Committee also seeks to identify repositories for artifacts, documents, and photographs commemorating the work of the D.C. Circuit Courts that are offered for donation.
Communications Committee
The Committee supports and supervises the Society’s website, FaceBook, Twitter, and Newsletter. It fosters creation and identification of material for publication on the website, Facebook and Twitter and in courthouse exhibits and newsletters. The Committee also creates and promotes commentary informing the public about the activities of the Historical Society.
Education Committee
The Education Committee creates and presents programs and other projects designed to educate student groups regarding the operation and history of the federal judiciary and to introduce them to the Courts of the D.C. Circuit.
In recent years, the Committee has carried out its mission through:
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(1) the annual Mock Court Argument Program, in which students from high schools located in the District of Columbia, mentored by volunteer attorneys, argue hypothetical cases before federal judges of the Courts of the D.C. Circuit
(2) the reenactment of the argument over the constitutionality of a ban on students’ wearing black armbands protesting the war in Vietnam in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District.
Law Clerk Initiative Committee
The mission of this Committee is to interest current and former law clerks of judges of the Courts of the D.C. Circuit in becoming members of the Historical Society and participants in its activities. The Committee plans and produces the annual Law Clerks Reception.
Oral History Committee
The Committee sets the policies for and supervises the taking and publishing of full-life oral histories of judges and staff of the Courts of the D.C. Circuit as well as attorneys who have practiced before these Courts. The Committee identifies candidates warranting interview and encourages them to give their oral histories.
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It selects and trains volunteer attorneys to take the oral histories, including publication of a training manual, and pairs interviewees with interviewers.
It manages the procedures for interviewees to donate their completed histories to the Society and, with permission of the interviewees, publishes transcripts on the Society’s website and in three repositories: the Library of Congress; the library of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.; and the Prettyman Courthouse Library.
Programs Committee
The Committee identifies, produces and presents programs on cases and issues of historic significance addressed by the Courts of the District of Columbia Circuit and on other topics illuminating the administration of justice in the independent federal courts of the D.C. Circuit.
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Programs, customarily presented in the Ceremonial Courtroom of the Prettyman Courthouse, are videotaped and streamed on the Society’s website. In addition to developing the content and focus of programs, the Committee identifies and invites the participants.
The Committee coordinates with and supports the Law Clerk Initiative’s production of the annual Law Clerks Reception.