Publications

Manual on Recurring Problems in Criminal Trials, Sixth Edition
Tucker Carrington and Kris Markarian, eds.
2010, 91 pp. (In Print: Available for Distribution)
This manual outlines the law governing many of the specific issues and procedural matters that arise frequently in criminal trials. The sixth edition added new material and revised the manual's organization and format to enhance usability. Among the topics covered are pro se representation, jury-related matters, disclosure, evidentiary issues, contempt, confessions, and multiple defendants. Circuit splits are also noted. The manual includes cases decided during the Supreme Court's October 2009 term and district and appellate case summaries through July 1, 2010.

Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties and Letters Rogatory: A Guide for Judges
T. Markus Funk
2014, 40 pp. (Available Online Only)
The investigation of transnational conduct often involves gathering evidence located in foreign countries. There are two primary means of obtaining evidence for use in a transnational proceeding: a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) and a letter rogatory. This guide provides an overview of the statutory schemes and procedural matters that distinguish MLATs and letters rogatory, and it discusses legal issues that arise when the prosecution, the defense, or a civil litigant seeks to obtain evidence from abroad as part of a criminal or civil proceeding.

International Extradition: A Guide for Judges
Ronald J. Hedges
2014, 40 pp. (Available Online Only)
This guide provides a brief overview of extradition law, focusing primarily on the extradition of fugitives from the United States. It describes the grounds for extradition, extradition proceedings, legal issues that may emerge, and related case-management considerations.

The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act: A Guide for Judges
David P. Stewart
2013, 147 pp. (In Print: Available for Distribution)
This guide provides an overview of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA). It discusses the FSIA’s purpose and scope of application, and it reviews the jurisdictional, procedural, and evidentiary questions most likely to arise at the outset of litigation. The guide discusses the entities entitled to immunity (in particular the distinctions between a "foreign state," its "political subdivisions," and its "agencies and instrumentalities"), exceptions to immunity, and issues relating to execution of judgments. The addendum in Part VII discusses the terrorism exception, which was revised by Congress.

Related Special Topics

Managing Capital Cases
(FJC Webpage)
The Center prepared this site to assist judges assigned capital cases, either federal death penalty prosecutions or capital habeas cases. Included are resource guides describing practices and procedures used by courts and individual judges.

Technology in Litigation
(FJC Webpage)
This page offers a collection of Center resources on a topic that continues to grow in importance. More and more, judges are called upon to understand developments in areas such as surveillance technology, cloud computing, and cybercrime.