The Federal Judicial Center Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation that Congress established to receive gifts to support the work of the Center. The Foundation has sole authority to decide whether to accept gifts, and thereby to determine the suitability of would-be donors. The Foundation may not accept gifts earmarked for projects that have not previously been approved by the Center’s Board, and the Center has sole control over the design and conduct of activities supported by donations.
The Foundation is governed by a seven-person board appointed by the Chief Justice, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. No Foundation Board member may be a active judge. Foundation Board members at the close of 2004 were as follows:
Marna S. Tucker, Washington, D.C., chair;
Richard D. Casey, Sioux Falls, S.D.;
Charles A. Legge, San Francisco, Cal.;
Laurie L. Michel, Washington, D.C.;
Sam C. Pointer, Birmingham, Ala.;
John B. White, Jr., Spartanburg, S.C.; and
Benjamin L. Zelenko, Washington, D.C.
In creating the Foundation, Congress directed that this annual report describe the purposes for which Foundation gifts were used in the relevant year. The Center used the following Foundation gifts in 2004:
- A multi-year grant from the Hewlett Foundation to support a project that provides on-site consultation to courts seeking assistance in developing or refining their alternative dispute resolution programs. In 2004 the grant funded travel expenses for several consultations with courts and staff salaries for development and support of the project.
- Funds provided by Professor Margaret Berger of Brooklyn Law School from a grant she received from a trust fund created by the settlement of silicone gel breast implant litigation; the funds supported federal judges’ attendance at two law and science seminars coordinated by Professor Berger in cooperation with the Center.
- Residual class action settlement funds to provide instruction on class action litigation at orientation programs for new district judges.
- Non-earmarked grants to provide partial support of a judicial seminar on the humanities and science at Princeton University (the “Medina Seminar”) and partial support of the Center’s Federal Judicial History Office project to provide educators with Web-based curriculum materials about historic federal trials.