Evening star., 1939-08-20
Proctor, Born Of a New Law,
Will Uphold Courts Liberty
Lately. Created Officer to Have Practical Task
Running Judiciary's Business Side Thus
Making 1t Independent
BY Raymond p. Brandt.

AS conceived by Cummings, one of the
chief objectives of the new law was to
place responsibility squarely on the
judiciary by removing any question of
divided authority. In the future it will
not be possible for the judges to blame
the laws delay on the Department of
Justice. If new judges are necessary to
speed up the judicial machinery then
the proctor can 60 before the proper
committees of Congress and make the
proper recommendations.
In these instances he will speak, of
course, for the Supreme Court. Faced
with situation such as was precipitated
by the prohibition law, when Federal
courts were swamped with cases which
often waited trial not months but years,
the proctor can press for immediate ac-
ton. In sense he will be a liaison
officer between Congress and the courts.
Appearing before committees of Congress
will be one Of his important functions.
The new proctor will have nothing to
do, directly at least, with the appoint
ment of new judges. That procedure
is prescribed in the Constitution. Fed
eral judges shall be named by the Presi-
dent with the advice and consent of
the Senate. 1t is conceivable, however,
that the Senate Judiciary Committee
might call upon the proctor to speak
for the Supreme Court should a Presi-
dent advance lower court judge. He
would have the most complete informa-
ton on how that judge had conducted
his court.
Needless to say, the type of man
first appointed to the office will deter
mine to considerable degree how ex-
tensive are the duties to be carried out
under the new power granted by Con-
gress. Someone of the type of Justice
Felix Frankfurter, aggressive and con-
scientious, could make the new proctor
ship an instrument for bringing the
judiciary to the highest peak of eff
cheney. A political hack could become
merely disbursing officer. incidentally,
the bill sets down no specifications for
the job AS one official at the Depart
ment of Justice put it, he could be a
balloonist or ditch-dgger. Presumably
the court will choose a lawyer. The
salary is $4,000 a year
This Measure Cummings Pride.
"Of all the reforms to which my name
is attached Mr.. Cummings says, cit is
this that gives me the most pride. And
there were a number of reforms in
stituted during my term in the Depart
ment of Justice. We passed Is new
crime bills, strengthening the Federal
| Bureau of Investigation. We revised the
rules of civil procedure. We passed a
Federal juvenile delinquency statute. We
reformed the prison system. And then
| finally there was the reform of the courts
! that the President discussed in his recent
message.
II remember very well when we first
talked over the suggestion of a proctor.
A question arose as to what name we
should give this new officer There was
the feeling that this might not be un-
derstood. But I argued that it was a
perfectly good term"
There is no precedent for such an
officer in the American judicial system.
In Great Britain proctor is attached
to the courts but his function is not
comparable to that of the newly created
American official. The British proctor S
principal job is to see that plaintiffs
who have won divorce suits live up to
the terms of the probationary year when
divorce is granted under a decree nisi.
The proctor may intervene and revoke
the decree if he finds evidence of i'm
moral conduct on the part of the plain
tiff. This shoppers role has given the
term proctor a rather unpleasant con-
notation in England.
The American proctor will have no
such dsagreeable duty. Established in
an Office in the marble palace that the
Supreme Court now occupies he will be
a symbol of the independence of the
| judiciary. And more than that he will
have a practical and exacting job run
ming the business end of the courts, max
ing sure that judges and clerks are paid
and that the wheels of justice are turn
ing efficiently.