Judge Mize is currently a Judicial Fellow at the National Center for State Courts. In that capacity, he is a member of NCSC’s Center for Jury Studies designed to help state courts around the country improve their jury trial systems. He is editor of the Jur-E Bulletin and co-author/research manager of the State of the States Survey – the first-ever national study of how jury trials are managed and conducted in federal and state trial courts. He also guides several projects for the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) including monitoring Congressional proposals that implicate federalism principles.
He was appointed to the trial bench by President George H.W. Bush. Thereafter, from 1990 to 2002, he presided over hundreds of civil and criminal jury trials in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. In 1997-1998, Judge Mize co-chaired the D.C. Jury Project, resulting in issuance of “Juries for the Year 2000 and Beyond” containing proposals to improve jury practices in the Superior Court and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
He is co-editor and contributing author of “Tough Cases – Judges Tell the Stories of Some of the Hardest Decisions They’ve Ever Made (The New Press 2018). His other writings include “On Better Jury Selection – Spotting UFO Jurors Before They Enter the Jury Room,” Court Review, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Spring 1999); “Be Cautious of the Quiet Ones,” Voir Dire, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Summer 2003); “Building a Better Voir Dire Process,” The Judges’ Journal (ABA), Vol. 47, No. 1 (Winter 2008); “Jury Trial Innovations,” Journal of Court Innovation, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Fall 2008); “State Chief Justices Call to Achieve Civil Justice for All, Judicature, Vol. 101, No. 1 (Spring 2017).
Before joining the trial bench, Judge Mize was first a trial lawyer and then General Counsel to the District of Columbia City Council.
