NCJ Number
141564
Journal
Judicature Volume: 76 Issue: 4 Dated: (December-January 1993) Pages: 185-186,191-193
Date Published
1993
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This examination of Federal judicial gridlock notes that fewer than 850 Federal judges are employed to process the civil actions of over 200 million citizens as well as the criminal cases arising out of the war on drugs and the increasing incidence of violent crime. Every year, more than 25,000 civil cases in the Federal system have been pending for at least three years.
Abstract
While most solutions to court gridlock assume that Congress will reduce the Federal court workload and jurisdiction, in truth the only laws passed have promised to increase judges' future workload and cut the judiciary's budget. Another factor in Federal court gridlock is the high number of vacant judicial positions, which the political branches of government have failed to fill expeditiously. Three areas which require immediate attention in breaking the gridlock are the creation of additional judicial positions, the reform of the expensive and inefficient Criminal Justice Act assistance offered to indigent criminal defendants, and the installation of the latest in information and communications technologies. Any long-term proposal must include these crucial components: creation of a U.S. Court of Bankruptcy Appeals, separation of circuit courts of appeals into civil and criminal divisions, establishment of an Intercircuit Court of Appeals, and a 50-percent increase in the number of Federal bankruptcy, district, and appellate judges. 48 notes