Grassley Works to Help Improve Federal Judiciary
Report Reflects Careful Study, Thorough Examination
Sen. Chuck Grassley today issued a report on his findings and recommendations following a three-year review of the federal circuit courts. Grassley is chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts.
The report is a direct result of a series of subcommittee oversight hearings that examined the allocation of judgeships. Those hearings stemmed from a first-ever congressional survey of Article III judges conducted by Grassley in early 1996. Over 68 percent of all circuit judges at the time voluntarily responded to the questionnaire issued by Grassley. The Iowa senator said his goal was to "ask and hear straight from the source. The judges have invaluable insight to the workings and specific challenges facing their individual circuits."
Among the findings and recommendations, Grassley's report found:
- None of the circuits requesting additional judgeships made the case for increasing permanent judgeships for their courts. However, some circuits have made the case that existing judicial vacancies should be filled in order to maintain the proper functioning of that court.
- Serious efforts should be made to control the growth of the federal judiciary. Smaller courts create a collegial atmosphere and generally maintain a more stable rule of law. Grassley said that his review found that many judges agreed an expanded judiciary can have detrimental long-term effects on collegiality and the quality of judicial decisions. Open-ended growth of the federal judiciary is neither feasible, nor desirable.
- Congress should not act on any legislation creating new judgeships unless such legislation is appropriately offset, in accordance with the requirements of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. The Congressional Budget Office considers the creation of additional judgeships to require new mandatory spending. Therefore, any request submitted by the federal judiciary to create additional judgeships should contain proposals for sufficient offsets to avoid a budget point of order in the Senate. Elimination of existing yet vacant judgeships are appropriate offsets, among others, and should be given serious consideration.
- The use of mechanical formulas as a benchmark for federal judgeship needs has significant drawbacks. For example, the appellate formula for the most part does not distinguish between cases which consume a large quantity of judge time from cases which are not time- consuming. The current formula does not take into account issues such as case disappearance, consolidation and case law maturity. The report also suggests that a formula should be used to decrease judgeships if it is used to increase the size of a court.
- When a request for new judgeships is sent to Congress and there is no unanimity on the part of judges of the court requesting new judgeships, dissenting views should also be forwarded to Congress for consideration. Otherwise, Congress is denied access to important information.
- Further court management techniques should be implemented to assist the circuits in promoting efficiencies and cost-savings. A number of circuits have such programs, and they should be reviewed for possible implementation in other circuits. For example, Grassley said that screening programs can have an extremely beneficial influence on the number of cases and amount of time spent on cases by judges. Also, judges can manage their time more effectively by placing reasonable limitations on oral argument.
- More efficiencies may be achieved through studies of settlement and mediation program eligibility requirements or the timing of these programs during the court process. Grassley said there are indications that a fully-functioning settlement office can resolve almost as many cases as one judge, settlements can prevent the filing of additional lawsuits, and settlements are not appealed. Beyond that, he said mediation programs dispose of cases at a lower cost than by judicial decision.
- The Judicial Conference should formally factor senior judges' actual workload into any calculation for more judgeships. Grassley said this is based on the fact that senior and visiting judges can significantly help out a court in handling its caseload. The senior judge study of the General Accounting Office concluded that senior judges have reduced certain court caseloads by nine to 16 percent.
- Circuits requesting the creation of additional judgeships should seriously evaluate how much time is spent by their judges on non-case related travel, and they should take constructive steps to reduce the days judges miss due to non-case related activities. Grassley said this recommendation is based on the fact that the GAO has found that many circuits engage in substantial non-case related travel.
- Congress and the administration should pay more attention to determining the proper allocation of jurisdiction between the federal and state courts. Grassley said that Congress and the administration both hold responsibility for increasing the federal court workload.
- Congress should not act to fill vacancies or create new judgeships in a specific court of appeals until the following criteria are met: 1) there is a consensus among the judges of the court on the need to fill the vacancy or create new judgeships; 2) the court's caseload justifies this consensus; and, 3) the court has made every effort to identify and use all available efficiencies and court management techniques to avoid the need for filling the vacancy or adding new judgeships.
Following is the table of contents of the Chairman's Report on the Appropriate Allocation of Judgeships in the United States Courts of Appeals. To view the report in an Adobe Acrobat format, click the links below.
General Findings
General Findings Continued
Specific Circuit Court Analyses
First Circuit
Second Circuit
Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Seventh Circuit
Eighth Circuit - Part A
Eighth Circuit - Part B
Eighth Circuit - Part C
Eighth Circuit - Part D
Tenth Circuit
Eleventh Circuit
District of Columbia Circuit
Federal Circuit