His initial government position was as a legislative assistant and administrative assistant to U.S. Senator Wallace F. Bennett, eventually becoming the Senator's chief of staff.[3] After that, he served as vice president of, and taught constitutional law at, the University of Utah. He returned to Washington, resuming government service as a special assistant to the United States Secretary of Commerce. He was named head of the Administrative Office on July 15, 1985.[5]
Mecham accepting an honor at the 2006 Judicial Conference.
Mecham was the longest-serving Director of the Administrative Office, retiring after more than 20 years in April 2006.[2][6] One of the principles that Mecham spearheaded during his lengthy tenure was court budget and management decentralization,[7] permitting individual courts to set their own local policies and spending priorities within broad national guidelines.
Mecham's official papers are now housed at the University of Utah Marriott Library.[6]
In 2001, during his tenure as Director of the Administrative Office, the AO began monitoring the Internet communications of the judicial branch.[9] Led by Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski,[10] the Federal Judges Association, which represents about 85% of U.S. federal judges, adopted a resolution opposing the monitoring. Mecham accused Kozinski of having a "great interest in keeping pornography available to judges," saying that Kozinski was "advocating his passionate views that judges are free, undetected, to download pornography and Napster music on government computers in federal court buildings on government time even though some of the downloading may constitute felonies."[11]
House. Res. 724, 109th Cong., March 14, 2006, Honoring Leonidas Ralph Mecham, Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and Secretary of the Judicial Conference of the United States.
