The results of a survey undertaken for the Commission on Revision of the Federal Court Appellate System, in which the attitudes of federal judges regarding appellate oral argument and opinion-writing practices were explored.

In 1975, the Commission on Revision of the Federal Court Appellate System, chaired by Senator Roman L. Hruska, recommended to the Congress, the President and Chief Justice of the United States that the geographical boundaries of the Fifth and Ninth Circuits be altered to create four circuits.

This brief report highlights modernizing developments in the state and federal judiciaries during the period 1970 to 1974, and reflects the Center's responsibility to promote and encourage judicial improvement.

The report on a sentencing experiment that revealed substantial disparity in determining both the need for incarceration and the lengths of prison terms to be imposed. Matters of disparity and the effects of particular case characteristics are discussed.