The Heyburn Initiative is a national, non-partisan endeavor established in 2016 in honor of the late U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II. It was established to study and document the role of the Third Branch in our democracy.
Our mission is drawn from what inspired Judge Heyburn to leadership in the Federal Judiciary: "to ever improve the legal system considered the envy of the world."
Speaker & Conference Program
In partnership with the University of Kentucky College of Law, the Heyburn Initiative hosts a national lecture series with prominent speakers to engage students, judges, and others on judicial topics of seminal importance to judges, and therefore, the nation.
The Initiative has expanded its programming to occasionally host the Federal Judicial Center's official training program for newly-confirmed U.S. District and Circuit judges.
Archives & Oral Histories
Working with the University of Kentucky Libraries, the Heyburn Initiative is creating archives and oral history collections.
These materials are devoted to the preservation of Federal Judicial history - with a particular focus on Kentuckians' contributions - and understanding the way the three branches of government interact historically and currently in our democracy.
U.S. Senate Honors Heyburn Initiative
On December 12, 2017, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recognized the Heyburn Initiative on the Senate floor.
Senator McConnell called the Initiative a "groundbreaking program" in his home state, and described in great detail how the Initiative came about and how it seeks to benefit and educate citizens, students, and members of the Federal Judiciary.
"Many of us are familiar with Presidential libraries and Congressional centers throughout the country, but this project would be distinctive in its study of the Federal Judiciary," McConnell said.
