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87 Yale L.J. 1284 (1977-1978)
Undemocratic Legislation

handle is hein.journals/ylr87 and id is 1304 raw text is: Undemocratic Legislation Reform of Court Rule-Making Procedures. By Jack B. Weinstein. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1977. Pp. xiv, 216. $12.00. Reviewed by Geoffrey C. Hazard, Jr.t The general subject of this gentle and well-documented little book by Judge Jack B. Weinstein is the apparatus for drafting and promul- gating that type of legislation known as rules of court. The specific agenda in Judge Weinstein's discussion comprises the two forms of such apparatus that operate in the federal court system. One is the process that provides us with the Federal Rules-the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and (with some mis- carriage) the Federal Rules of Evidence. The other is the procedure for making local federal rules. The Federal Rules are officially the product of the Supreme Court, acting in accordance with the Enabling Act of 1934, as amended. Under that Act, the Supreme Court is empowered to prescribe by general rules, the forms of process, writs, pleadings, and motions, and the prac- tice and procedure of the district courts and courts of appeals of the United States in civil actions.' A parallel authority is conferred with respect to criminal procedure.2 In fact, however, the drafting of the Federal Rules is the immediate responsibility of the Judicial Confer- ence, which consists of the Chief Justice of the United States, the chief judges of the courts of appeals, the Court of Claims, and the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, and some district judges. This has evolved from a statutory duty imposed on the Judicial Conference to advise the Supreme Court and to make recommendations based on a continuous review of the Federal Rules.3 The Judicial Conference in turn has a Standing Committee on Rules, and that Committee has Advisory Committees on each of the principal sets of rules (Civil, Criminal, Admiralty, etc.). The committees are made up of leading federal judges, members of the bar, and law professors. Both the Stand- t John A. Garver Professor of Law, Yale University. 1. 28 U.S.C. § 2072 (1970). 2. 18 U.S.C. § 3771 (1970 & Supp. V 1975). 3. 28 U.S.C. § 331 (1970). 1284

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