j. harvey wilkinson. i might be the chief judge, but he is the dean of this court. i also want to thank sam phillips and the staff of this office for the fine job they did in planning this conference and making sure that everything went so smoothly. i want to thank you, the membership, at this conference. all of us a judge's look forward to getting to know you and form lasting friendships. this is our 76 conference. i hope that you all had a wonderful time. our 77 conference is tentatively scheduled to take place next year june 24-26. we look forward to seeing you there. that is in 2010. i wish each of you safe travels home, and we now stand adjourned. thank you. [applause] ♪ [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> you can watch the fourth circuit judicial conference again with remarks from chief justice john roberts later today at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on c- span. hearings on judge sonia sotomayor's nominations began june 16. now a look on talks about the supreme court nominee highlighting

j. harvey wilkinson. i might be the chief judge, but he is the dean of this court. i also want to thank sam phillips, karen and the staff of the circuit executive's office for the work they did in planning this conference and making sure that everything ran so smoothly. and finally you, the membership at this conference. all of us judges love being with us, and it gives us the opportunity to know you and form lasting friendships. this is our 76th conference, and i hope you all had a wonderful time. our 77th conference is tentatively scheduled to take place at the greenbriar june 24-26, and we look forward to seeing you all there again in 2010. i wish each of you safe travels home, and we now stand adjourned. thank you. [applause] pplaus [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> up next, stan kansas ten. after that, a senate panel looks at regulation foss a banking derivative. >> this week on prime minister's questions, prime minister gordon brown discusseses the fate of british hostages in ira

j. harvey wilkinson, who was appointed by president ronald reagan to the fourth circuit in 1984, which i guess makes you the senior -- no, judge ryan heart. to judge wilkinson's right was is judge -- a judge who brings a scourt perspective. >> last but not leeth, judge reinhart who was appointed by president carter in 199. to plunge in and taking them in that order, i wanted to get people talking about the topic of improving the courts. what are the major challenges facing your circuit? i would like to bring out the fact that, just like not all judges are the same, not all circuits are the same. they face different kinds of problems. sketch out for us what are some of the major challenges, problems, aspirations of life on your own circuit? >> first i would like to begin by noting, which is obvious, that we are all circuit judges, which means that although this is billed as a discussion about the federal government, it is really a discussion about the federal courts of appeals, and the escort -- zorte issues are quite different. secondly, although there are more things we can talk about,