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Hello from SCOTUS, where the Judicial Conference of the United States, the federal judiciary's policymaking arm, just had its semiannual meeting. It's not public, but we get a briefing after from the chair of the exec committee – currently DC Circuit Chief Judge Merrick Garland 
Here's a thread on what the conference adopted and announced: A new model employment dispute resolution policy (part of a broader effort to better address workplace conduct issues across the courts) and an increase in the quarterly fee waiver for PACER
Garland said the judges heard from AG Bill Barr, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, but said we'd have to ask their offices what they said (this is the standard answer we get each time we ask about this when the Judicial Conference meets)
Garland said the conference did not discuss:
- the status of a possible new code of ethics for SCOTUS
- complaints that the judiciary's jurisdiction over ethics complaints ends when judges step down or are elevated to SCOTUS (a la what happened after Kavanaugh was confirmed)
- the status of a possible new code of ethics for SCOTUS
- complaints that the judiciary's jurisdiction over ethics complaints ends when judges step down or are elevated to SCOTUS (a la what happened after Kavanaugh was confirmed)
As for a renewed push in Congress to establish an inspector general for the judiciary, Garland noted the Judicial Conference has opposed such a move before. He said the judiciary would be submitting something in response to the new proposal, didn't have details on the substance
As for other conference business today, Garland said there was an executive session on cybersecurity and the judiciary.
Finally, Garland noted his term as chair of the executive committee would end in February. He didn't know who would replace him as chair.
Finally, Garland noted his term as chair of the executive committee would end in February. He didn't know who would replace him as chair.
Update: A reporter asked Garland if the Judicial Conference discussed nationwide injunctions today. Garland said no. But per a DOJ spox, when AG Bill Barr spoke to the judges, he talked about nationwide injunctions — but was working off notes, so there's no copy of what he said
Barr has called for an end to nationwide injunctions (see: wsj.com/articles/end-n…). Because the Judicial Conference's meetings aren't public, this means we know that Barr had a platform today to speak to federal judges about the issue, but we don't know what exactly he said
