Legislators push for more judges in border states


Gary R. Martin, Hearst Washington Bureau


Wednesday, May 18, 2011


Skyrocketing criminal caseloads creating a judicial crisis in U.S.-Mexico border states prompted senators Wednesday to announce plans to create new federal judgeships in California, Texas and Arizona.

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would create four new judicial seats in California, three in Texas and one in Arizona to address the crowded criminal dockets resulting from increased law enforcement efforts.

Feinstein said the bipartisan bill, supported by Texas and Arizona senators, "is a narrow emergency measure to provide relief in the handful of districts that need it the very most."

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, in his annual report on the federal judiciary this year, declared that there was a judicial crisis in border courts that are burdened by caseloads that have grown dramatically with stepped-up law enforcement efforts.

Cases jumped 10 percent in the Western District of Texas last year, to 8,244 filings, according to the U.S. Administrative Office of the Courts, while cases in the Southern District increased by 15 percent in 2010.

The bill would also create a judgeship for Minnesota, the only state along the northern U.S. border to receive a new post. In addition to the new judicial seats, two temporary judgeships in California and Arizona would be converted to permanent posts under the bill.

Roberts, in his annual report, was critical of the White House and the Senate for moving slowly to fill vacant judicial posts. Of the 93 court vacancies nationwide, the White House has nominated 40 people for those posts.

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