ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE 

UNITED STATES COURTS 

NEWS RELEASE 

June 26, 1990 

Contact: David Sellers 

202-633-6040 

JUDGES ADDRESS CIVIL REFORM--JUDGESHIP NEEDS 

Two federal judges testified before Congress tOday in 

support of the creation of new judgeships as well as efforts to 

improve civil case management in the trial courts. 

However, the judges questioned if pending legislation 

addressing these issues establishes sufficient judgeships to meet 

the growing workload and whether it is necessary to impose new 

civil case management procedures on the courts. 

"The federal judiciary has long been committed, 

unequivocally to the values and concerns that inspire this 

proposed legislation," said Judge Robert F. Peckham, Chairman of 

the Judicial Conference's subcommittee on the Civil Justice 

Reform Act of 1990. In sponsoring the bill Senator Joseph Biden 

has performed a valuable service in raising the awareness of the 

courts to these real concerns in civil litigation, he said. 
Title I of S. 2648, introduced on May 17 by Senator Biden as 

a substitute to his S. 2027, would require each district court to 

develop and implement a civil justice expense and delay reduction 

plan. 

While endorsing the principle behind the legislation, Judge 

Peckham told the Senate Judiciary Committee that it duplicates 

much of a program recently adopted by the Judicial Conference and 

would circumvent the use of the existing Rules Enabling Act. 

Further, Judge Peckham testified that the mandatory nature and 

rigidity of some of the provisions in the bill would impair 

judges' ability to manage their dockets most effectively and 

might intrude on procedural matters that are properly the 

province of the Judiciary. As a result, the Executive Committee 

of the Conference has said that it cannot endorse Title I of the 

bill. 

Judge Peckham told the Committee that recent actions taken 

by the Judicial Conference in response to the original S. 2027 

has resulted in implementation of many of the positive 

suggestions proposed by Senator Biden. At its March 1990 

meeting the Conference adopted a statement of its intensified 

commitment to individualized case management as well as a 

recommendation that each district court convene an advisory group 

to help isolate causes of cost and delay and recommend possible 

solutions. 

The following month the Conference approved a 14-point 

program designed to assess and address cost and delay in every 

district court in the country. 
The Conference supports Title II of S. 2648, which would 

create 77 additional federal judgeships. 

"Absent meaningful cuts in the federal courts' jurisdiction, 

the additional judicial positions added by this bill are 

essential to the operation of justice and the federal judiciary. 

said Judge Walter T. McGovern, Chairman of the Judicial 

Conference's Committee on Judicial Resources. 

However, Judge McGovern noted that the legislation was based 

on out-dated workload data. On June 6, 1990 the Conference 

approved recommendations for 96 judgeships, a figure that takes,'" 

into account the steady growth in the Judiciary's workload using 

the most current statistics available. 

Since the last judgeships were authorized in 1984, the 

number of criminal cases filed in the district courts has grown 

by nearly 30 percent, Judge McGovern said. Drug cases alone have 

increased nearly 130 percent, and now represent approximately 30 

percent of all criminal cases. 

The situation in the courts of appeals is similar. In 1984 

appeals of drug cases represented only 6 percent of all appeals~ 

Since that time drug appeals have grown by more than 120 percent 

and now represent more than 12 percent of the appeals filed. 

Projections indicate that the steady growth in trial and 

appellate courts is expected to continue. 

Judge McGovern concluded by reiterating the support of the 

Judicial Conference for legislation authorizing additional 

judgeships.