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18 Am. J. Trial Advoc. 593 (1994-1995)
Toward a Unified Theory of Courtroom Design Criteria: The Effect of Courtroom Design on Adversarial Interation

handle is hein.journals/amjtrad18 and id is 601 raw text is: Toward a Unified Theory of Courtroom Design Criteria: The Effect of Courtroom Design on Adversarial Interaction Jeffrey S. Wolfet I. Introduction A. Changing Courtrooms During the past thirty years, the number and, more significantly, the variation in the design of the American courtroom has dramatically increased. The traditional American courtroom, with its roots in the early days of colonial America, is now found in-the-round, oblong, trapezoidal, and, in many instances, highly mobile (i.e., once-permanent fixtures are now able to be relocated or moved within the bounds of the courtroom as a result of specially designed furnishings). The beginnings of this revolution are found in the early 1960s in the work of Judge William Fort, who presided on the bench in the Second Judicial District in Eugene, Oregon Judge Fort became interested in changing what he viewed as the limitations of his courtroom layout.2 Architect Theodore Larson describes Judge Fort's experience: He was unhappy with the furniture arrangement-a bulky bench for himself up high, symmetrically flanked by boxes for the witness and the court clerk. . . , a jury box along one wall and boxes for the court t A.B. (1973), University of California at San Diego; J.D. (1976), California Western School of Law; LL.M. (1990), University of San Diego School of Law. The author is a former Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma and is currently a visiting Associate Professor at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law. The tables, charts and several of the courtroom drawings contained herein were composed by the author. The other sketches can be found in the following locations: ABA-AIA JOINT COMMITrEE ON THE DESIGN OF COURTROOMS AND COURT FAcILrrIES, THE AMERICAN COURT- HOUSE: PLANNING AND DESIGN FOR THE JUDICIAL PROCESS 254,267,277,290 (1973) (figures 6-7, 19-20); Allan Greenberg, Selecting a Courtroom Design, 59 JUDICATURE 424-427 (1976) (figures 2-5); Richard Harbinger, Courtroom-in-the-Round, 54 JUDICATURE 71 (1970) (figure 18); United States Courts Design Guide (adopted at the March 8-9, 1984 session of the Judicial Conference of the United States) (sketch in note 127). 1. C. Theodore Larson, Future Shock Hits the American Courthouse: Opportunities and Parameters for Design, 64 AIA J. 36 (July 1975). 2. Id. at 38.

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