II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2259

To amend title 28, United States Code, to divide New Jersey into 2 judicial

districts.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 21, 2000

Mr. TORRICELLI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend title 28, United States Code, to divide New Jersey

into 2 judicial districts.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds the following:

5 (1) In 1978, the Judicial Conference of the

6 United States established a procedure for creating

7 new Federal judicial districts, which is still in force.

8 According to the ‘‘Proceedings of the Judicial Con9 ference, September 21–22, 1978’’, this procedure re10 quires that 4 principal criteria be taken into consid-
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1 eration in evaluating the establishment of a new

2 Federal judicial district: caseload, judicial adminis3 tration, geography, and community convenience.

4 (2) The criterion of ‘‘caseload’’ is found to in5 clude the total number of Federal court cases and

6 the number of cases per Federal judge, for both civil

7 and criminal Federal cases.

8 (3)(A) The substantial criminal caseload con9 centrated in the southern counties of New Jersey re10 quires the creation of a separate judicial district.

11 (B) 281 Federal criminal cases originated in

12 the 8 southern New Jersey counties in 1998 and

13 were handled by the 5 judges of the Camden vici14 nage and the 3 judges of the Trenton vicinage.

15 (C) The criminal caseload in the southern re16 gion of New Jersey exceeds that of 51 of the current

17 Federal judicial districts. Only 44 of the 95 Federal

18 district courts have more criminal cases filed than

19 the southern region of New Jersey.

20 (D) For example, in the Eastern District of

21 Virginia (9 judges), 110 criminal cases were filed in

22 1998. In the District of Connecticut (8 judges), only

23 221 criminal cases were filed in 1998.
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1 (4)(A) The substantial civil caseload con2 centrated in the southern counties of New Jersey re3 quires the creation of a separate judicial district.

4 (B) 2,116 Federal civil cases originated in the

5 8 southern New Jersey counties in 1998 and were

6 handled by the 5 judges of the Camden vicinage and

7 the 3 judges of the Trenton vicinage.

8 (C) The civil caseload in the southern region of

9 New Jersey exceeds that of 52 of the current Fed10 eral judicial districts. Only 43 out of the 95 Federal

11 districts have more civil cases filed than this region

12 of the New Jersey District.

13 (D) For example, in the Southern District of

14 West Virginia, a separate judicial district with 5

15 judges, only 1,315 civil cases were filed in 1998. The

16 Western District of Tennessee, similarly, with 5

17 judges, had only 1,581 civil cases filed in 1998.

18 (5) The criterion of ‘‘judicial administration’’ is

19 found to include the backlog of pending cases in a

20 Federal judicial district, which hinders the effective

21 resolution of pending business before the court.

22 (6)(A) The size of the backlog of pending cases

23 concentrated in the southern counties of New Jersey

24 requires the creation of a separate judicial district.
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1 (B) The number of pending cases in the Cam2 den vicinage of New Jersey exceeds the number of

3 cases pending before entire judicial districts with

4 similar numbers of judges, clearly indicating that

5 southern New Jersey merits a separate Federal judi6 cial district. For example, there are 1,431 civil cases

7 pending before the Camden vicinage, and only 113

8 of those were commenced in 1999. The Western Dis9 trict of Tennessee, with 5 judges, had only 1,104

10 civil cases pending in 1998. The Western District of

11 Oklahoma had only 1,359 civil cases pending in

12 1998 before 6 judges. Finally, there are 161 crimi13 nal cases pending before the Camden vicinage, while

14 the entire Southern District of Indiana, with 5

15 judges, had only 116 criminal cases pending in

16 1998.

17 (7) The criterion of ‘‘geography’’ is found to

18 mean the accessibility of the central administration

19 of the Federal judicial district to officers of the

20 court, parties with business before the court, and

21 other citizens living within the Federal judicial dis22 trict.

23 (8)(A) The distance between the northern and

24 southern regions of New Jersey creates a substantial

25 barrier to the efficient administration of justice.
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1 (B) The distance from Newark, New Jersey to

2 Camden, New Jersey is more than 85 miles.

3 (C) When a new Federal court district was cre4 ated in Louisiana in 1971, the distance between

5 New Orleans and Baton Rouge (nearly 80 miles)

6 was cited as a major factor in creating a new district

7 court, as travel difficulties were impeding the timely

8 administration of justice.

9 (9) The criterion of ‘‘community convenience’’

10 is found to mean the extent to which creating a new

11 Federal judicial district will allow the court to better

12 serve the population and diverse communities of the

13 area.

14 (10)(A) New Jersey’s culturally and regionally

15 diverse population of 8,000,000 citizens, widely dis16 tributed across a large State, is inconvenienced by

17 having only 1 judicial district.

18 (B) Of the 25 States that have only a single

19 Federal judicial district (including Puerto Rico, the

20 United States territories, and the District of Colum21 bia), New Jersey has the highest population.

22 (C) More than a dozen States have smaller pop23 ulations than New Jersey, yet they have multiple

24 Federal judicial districts, including Washington,
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1 Oklahoma, Iowa, Georgia, West Virginia, and Mis2 souri.

3 (11) In evaluating the creation of a new South4 ern District of New Jersey, the Judicial Conference

5 should seek the views of the chief judge of the af6 fected district, the judicial council for the affected

7 circuit court, and the affected United States Attor8 ney as representative of the views of the Department

9 of Justice, as required in the procedure established

10 by the ‘‘Proceedings of the Judicial Conference, Sep11 tember 21–22, 1978’’.

12 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF 2 DISTRICTS IN NEW JERSEY.

13 (a) CREATION.—Section 110 of title 28, United

14 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

15 ‘‘§ 110. New Jersey

16 ‘‘New Jersey is divided into 2 judicial districts to be

17 known as the Northern and Southern Districts of New

18 Jersey.

19 ‘‘Northern District

20 ‘‘(a) The Northern District comprises the counties of

21 Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Mon22 mouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union,

23 and Warren.

24 ‘‘Court for the Northern District shall be held at Newark.
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1 ‘‘Southern District

2 ‘‘(b) The Southern District comprises the counties of

3 Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland,

4 Gloucester, Mercer, and Salem.

5 ‘‘Court for the Southern District shall be held at Camden

6 and Trenton.’’.

7 (b) JUDGESHIPS.—The item relating to New Jersey

8 in the table set forth in section 133(a) of title 28, United

9 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

‘‘New Jersey:

‘‘Northern .......................................................................................... 9

‘‘Southern ........................................................................................... 8’’.

10 (c) BANKRUPTCY JUDGESHIPS.—The item relating to

11 New Jersey in the table set forth in section 152(a)(1) of

12 title 28, United States Code, is amended to read as fol13 lows:

‘‘New Jersey:

‘‘Northern .......................................................................................... 4

‘‘Southern ........................................................................................... 4’’.

14 SEC. 3. DISTRICT JUDGES, BANKRUPTCY JUDGES, MAG15 ISTRATE JUDGES, UNITED STATES ATTOR16 NEY, UNITED STATES MARSHAL, AND FED17 ERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER.

18 (a) TRANSFER OF DISTRICT JUDGES.—(1) Any dis19 trict judge of the District Court of New Jersey who is

20 holding office on the day before the effective date of this

21 Act and whose official duty station is in Bergen, Essex,

22 Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris,
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1 Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, or Warren

2 County shall, on or after such effective date, be a district

3 judge for the Northern District of New Jersey. Any dis4 trict judge of the District Court of New Jersey who is

5 holding office on the day before the effective date of this

6 Act and whose official duty station is in Atlantic, Bur7 lington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester,

8 Mercer, or Salem County shall, on and after such effective

9 date, be a district judge of the Southern District of New

10 Jersey.

11 (2) Whenever a vacancy occurs in a judgeship in ei12 ther judicial district of New Jersey, the vacancy shall first

13 be offered to those judges appointed before the enactment

14 of this Act and in active service in the other judicial dis15 trict of New Jersey at the time of the vacancy, and of

16 those judges wishing to fill the vacancy, the judge most

17 senior in service shall fill that vacancy. In such a case,

18 the President shall appoint a judge to fill the vacancy re19 sulting in the district of New Jersey from which such

20 judge left office.

21 (b) TRANSFER OF BANKRUPTCY AND MAGISTRATE

22 JUDGES.—Any bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge of

23 the District Court of New Jersey who is holding office on

24 the day before the effective date of this Act and whose

25 official duty station is in Bergen, Essex, Hudson,
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1 Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Pas2 saic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, or Warren County shall,

3 on or after such effective date, be a bankruptcy judge or

4 magistrate judge, as the case may be, for the Northern

5 District of New Jersey. Any bankruptcy judge or mag6 istrate judge of the District Court of New Jersey who is

7 holding office on the day before the effective date of this

8 Act and whose official duty station is in Atlantic, Bur9 lington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester,

10 Mercer, or Salem County shall, on and after such effective

11 date, be a bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge, as the

12 case may be, of the Southern District of New Jersey.

13 (c) UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, UNITED STATES

14 MARSHAL, AND FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER.—

15 (1) THOSE IN OFFICE.—This Act and the

16 amendments made by this Act shall not affect the

17 tenure of office of the United States attorney, the

18 United States marshal, and the Federal Public De19 fender, for the District of New Jersey who are in of20 fice on the effective date of this Act, except that

21 such individuals shall be the United States attorney,

22 the United States marshal, and the Federal Public

23 Defender, respectively, for the Northern District of

24 New Jersey as of such effective date.
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1 (2) APPOINTMENTS.—The President shall ap2 point, by and with the advice and consent of the

3 Senate, a United States attorney and a United

4 States marshal for the Southern District of New

5 Jersey. The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

6 shall appoint a Federal Public Defender for the

7 Southern District of New Jersey.

8 (d) PENDING CASES NOT AFFECTED.—This Act and

9 the amendments made by this Act shall not affect any ac10 tion commenced before the effective date of this Act and

11 pending in the United States District Court for the Dis12 trict of New Jersey on such date.

13 (e) JURIES NOT AFFECTED.—This Act and the

14 amendments made by this Act shall not affect the com15 position, or preclude the service, of any grand or petit jury

16 summoned, empaneled, or actually serving in the Judicial

17 District of New Jersey on the effective date of this Act.

18 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act and the amendments

20 made by this Act shall take effect 180 days after the date

21 of the enactment of this Act.

22 (b) APPOINTMENTS.—Notwithstanding subsection

23 (a), the President and the Court of Appeals for the Third
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1 Circuit may make the appointments under section 3(c)(2)

2 at any time after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Æ