The Senate has, at long last, acted on the problem of understaffing in the federal judiciary. Even before the Supreme Court’s elimination of Chevron deference made more work for federal judges, the judiciary was in a bit of a pinch. The cases are up, and the number of judges has not kept pace.
Now the Senate has passed the JUDGES Act. As reported by Reuters:
The bill, which passed by unanimous consent, is designed to address longstanding requests, from the judiciary to help address rising caseloads by adding judges in 25 district courts in 13 states including California, Texas, and Delaware. The bill now goes to the U.S. House of Representatives.
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This would be the largest expansion of the federal judiciary since 1990; no new judgeships have been created since 2003. As Delaware Senator Chris Coons said, “For decades, Congress has failed to authorize new federal judgeships, creating a massive backlog of case filings for our nation’s federal judges – especially in Delaware, where there are only four active judgeships.”
Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr, director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, said he’s “hopeful” the House of Representative will take this up when they return next month.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].