Evening star., 1941-02-17
Local Court Reform

Proposed legislation to conSollodCe
the Police and Municipal Courts
under a presiding judge clothed with
administrative as we'll as judicial
powers is in line with recent reforms
in the administrative setup OF the
Federal District Courts. Creation by
Congress of an administrative officer
for the Federal judiciary has resulted
In a smoother working court organl-
cation and this, in turn, has brought
about a more efficient, more effective
system of administering Federal
Justice. In advocating the Federal
reform several years ago, the then
Attorney General, Homer Cummings,
pointed out that "an eff1cacious ad-
ministrative machinery is as neces-
sary in the courts as 1t is IN other
branches of government and in pri-
vate enterprise" And before the
Senate Judiciary Committee he made
observations which would seem to
apply in principle as we'll to the Po-
lice and Municipal Courts here as to
the Federal Courts which he was
discussing: There is no general ad-
ministrative officer in the District or
outside of it who is responsible for
the arrangement of the judicial busi-
ness, the handling of the docket or
any other matters that would tend
to expedite or facilitate the disposi-
ton of litigation. Not only is
each court a law unto itself, in way,
but each judge in a district in which
there is more than one Judge is prac-
tically independent of his colleagues"
A lack of cooperation and co-ordi-
nation among the various police and
municipal judges has been indicated
on more than one occasion in the
past. There has been a confusing
lack of uniformity in handling cases,
especially with reference to severity
of sentences meted out in Police and
Traffic Courts Some courts dispose
of cases more expeditiously than
others. Dockets are congested in
varying degrees. Clerical and ad-
ministrative procedures are out of
date. Legal responsibility for these
conditions rests on no one officer.
While, by custom, the senior judges
of the Police and Municipal Courts
have been regarded as presiding off,
GERS, actually, according to Depart
ment of Justice officials, they lack
authority to enforce any general re-
organization of their tribunals. Each
Judge is supreme in his own particu-
lar court and, If he wishes, he can
ignore suggestions for Improvement
of the machinery under his control.
1t is largely with view to correct
ing these defects in the local courts
that the Department of Justice is
sponsoring a bill to merge the Mu-
nicipal and Police Courts into a city
tribunal with criminal and civil di-
visions and with a presiding judge
who would be vested with certain ad-
ministrative authority over the whole
organization. Such presiding judge
presumably could apportion the work
of the courts equitably, prescribe
uniform procedure and bring about
a more efficient administration of the
courts clerical, financial and other
business affairs. These advantages
of a merger, and any disadvantages
that may be inherent in such plan,
will be discussed at a meeting of rep
resentatives of the judiciary and Of
the bar tomorrow in the Department
of Justice. 1t is proper that the de-
partment should give all parties con-
cerned full opportunity to famil-
iarize themselves with the plan and
to express themselves on it. The
proposal is an extremely important
one and it merits the most careful
consideration by all groups and indi-
viduals interested in bettering law
enforcement in Washington.