Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-06-01
Prospects Declared
Best Ever for New
District Courthouse
U. 5. Soon to Acquire
Proposed Accounting
Office Site, Vocute Old

Office Site, Vocute Old
Prospects for new home for Dis
trict Court and the United States
Court of Appeals are brighter now
than ever before, F. Regis Noel,
chairman of the Committee on the
New Courthouse of the District Bar
Association, asserted yesterday. The
Federal Government is about to &C
quire the necessary land for the new
General Accounting Office at Fifth
and G streets NV, clearing the way
for early erection of the new court
house,
Under present plans, the new
courthouse is to be constructed
the site of the old Pension Building,
on the north side Of judiciary Square,
now occupied by the General Ac-
counting Office. After the necessary
land has been acquired it is antici-
pated that about a year would be
required to erect the new General
Accounting Office.
Justice James M. Proctor of Dis
trict Court is in the forefront of
the movement for a new courthouse,
having been designated by his COL
leagues to aid in advancing this
program.
Mr.. Noel pointed out that the old
Pension Office site is owned by the
Government, so that both time and
money will be saved by construction
of the new courthouse there, obvi-
ating lengthy land condemnation
proceedings and the necessity for
purchase.
Other Agencies Cooperate.
Serving with Chairman Noel on
the committee are Louis G. Caldwell
Ugo Carusi. j. Harry Covington
Marvin harrington. Christopher B.
Garnett, Charles D. Hamel, Abram
F. Myers, Logan Morris, William A.
Roberts, Leo A. Rover, Archie K.
Shipe, Joseph P. Tumulty, former
Attorney General Homer S. Cum
mingS, William Roy Valance, Harry
S. Wender and the secretary, Gull
ford S. Jameson.
This committee, said Mr.. Noel, has
received the cooperation and SYM
pathetic hearing of the National
Capital Park and Planning Com
mission, Justice Department, David
Lynn, Capitol architect; the Fine
Arts Commission. Bureau of the
Budget, Henry P. Chandler, director
of the Administrative Office of the
United States Courts, and others.
The present courthouse is en-
tirely too crowded." declared Mr..
Noel. I'VE need a more adequate,
modern structure, where justice may
be dispensed amid more appropriate
surroundings"
Mr.. Noel was chairman of all the
committees that worked for the
erection of the new Municipal, Police
and Juvenile Courts. Now that the
lower courts have been taken care of
In modern structures, the chairman
declared that it Is time that the
higher courts in the District be
housed correctly. He said that when
District Court and the United States
Court of Appeals have been taken
care of the court system of the Ma
tional Capital, for the first time in
many years, will be properly accom-
modated.
Jackson to Help.
Attorney General Jackson has
promised full cooperation in the
movement to acquire new court
house, Mr.. Noel said.
Pointing to the need of a new
courthouse, Francis w. Hill, IT,,
president of the District Bar Associ-
alton, said:
In 1919 the building housing the
United States District Court for the
District of Columbia was designed.
The court then consisted of three
judges. One hundred years later
the building was remodeled chow
ever, its exterior dimensions were
not enlarged to accommodate a
court of six judges. At the present
time there are II judges of the Dis
tr1ct Court, and its work has grown
tremendously. Nine of these judges.
their clerks, the district attorney
and his staff, the clerks Office, the
register of wills, the auditor, the
tnent commissioner are housed in
the District Court Building.
Because of the lack of space,
three of the judges of the District
Court have chambers and hold court
IN the Police Court Building. The
work of the District Court is thus
divided between two buildings full
square apart. Witnesses and juries
are frequently inconvenience, and
much time is lost in their going
from courtroom in one building
to courtroom in the other build
ing. There is also expense and de-
lay In the carrying of records back
and forth between these two build
ings.
Filing Space Cramped.
THE old courthouse is woefully
lacking in facilities to serve the in
creased demands made upon it. In
the district attorneys Office there
are, in some instances, three law
yers occupying one room. The
clerks Office is overcrowded, and this
same statement applies to the office
of the register of wills. The space
for filing is inadequate, and a ire
mendous amount of time is lost by
the filing clerks and by the general
public in withdrawing papers from
the files, for some of the files, on
account of the lack of space, are
kept in what might be described as
subcellars, which areas are more or
less dark and were never intended
for filing space. The arrangements
for the accommodations of the
jurors and witnesses are likewise
woefully lacking. The court is SO
crowded and SO congested that it
tends to Illustrate the present at
tempt to modernize court procedure
and to expedite court work.
1T is earnestly believed that the
construction of new courthouse
building is one in which the general
public is vitality interested, and we
urge all to join in the support of the
movement and obtain for our city a
modern home for our District Court"