Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-24
Bench Unable to Keep
Abreast of CaSeS-Con-
geStion Grows Worse.
R0VER'S OFFICE is NOW
756 INDICTMENTS BEHIND
Eighty-0ne Prisoners Awaiting
Trial; $500 Law Suits Pending;
More Judges Needed.
BY THOMAS M. HARVEY.

Litigation in the District Supreme
Court is almost hopelessly congested.
Indictments to the number of 756,
some Of them years old and one, the
Doheny bribery case, reported in 1924,
are pending In the Office of United
States Attorney Leo Rover despite his
action In dropping by the ''nolle route"
76O cases to which he fell heir from for
mer administrations since he took Of
nice IN April, 1928. Some of the nolled
cases were nearly 10 years old.
Weekly additions are being made to
the number Of indictments by the
grand jury's reports the last return
OF that body having included 66 indict-
ments. The Police Court is daily hold
ing large numbers for grand jury action
Persons named in 322 of these pend
ing indictments, some going back of
1924, have never been apprehended:
more than 800 others are on bond and
81 are in the District Jail awaiting
action OF the grand jury in their cases.
No figures are available as to the num-
ber of persons who had been held under
bond in Police Court and were await
ing grand jury action November /.
Only Sc trials were held in the two
criminal courts in october and liz
pleas of guilty taken.
Civil Cases damned.
In the civil courts even greater con-
gestion prevails. More than 1000 cases
were left unheard on the Circuit Court
calendar at the completion of the court
year last June and no cases, which have
been ready for calendaring since July
/, were ever placed on the calendar
The total number of law suits pending
is about 2,500. On the calendar is one
laA lw,
filed in 1922 as the result of the Knick-
erbocker Theater disaster. Many new
suits are daily filed.
Trials in the two law courts in Octo-
ber totaled 35. OF a. total of 1922
equity proceedings, including divorces,
which were pending June 80, 1929,
about 500 are shown ready for trial and
most of these have been on the calen-
dar for more than year and one of
those on the calendar was started in
1920. Daily additions are being made
TO the number Of pending suits and to
the number ready for hearing.
About SO cases were heard during
October in the two Equity Courts. What
Is the cause of this congestion and how
can 1t be remedied?
The lack Of sufHcient justices stands
out as the prime cause. While the
population of Washington has trebled
SlAlCC JilC huHiOCA VA JuStACCo was AACd
at six and litigation has advanced by
leaps and bounds, but one increase has
been made In the number Of justices,
and he has been on the bench but a few
months.
Illness Of Justices.
Unfortunate illness of several of the
justices has also played no little part
in the failure to bring cases to trial.
Purely local cases are sidetracked by
the demand of Federal cases involving
the oil scandals, and controversies
growing out of the departmental activi-
ties, against which not only local peo-
pie have grievances, but also are
brought into the District Supreme
Court from all parts of the United
States because Washington is the place
where cabinet officers have to be used.
BY congressional distate Federal con-
demnation cases and appeals from the
Public Utilities Commission are given
preference over other duties of the
court. Mandamus cases against a num-
ber of independent Government agen-
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