Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-09-23
BY ROBERT X. WALSH

ny AO0Eh4 kAs WALSH
Federal courts this year counted
10 few more blessings-and more
money from Congress-in their
struggle with clogged dockets.
but fought without success to
halt a rising tide Of civil cases.
the judicial Conference was told
today.
Henry P. Chandler. admins
Itrative officer Of United States
courts, reported to Chief Justice
Warren and circuit court chief
judges at their annual meeting
that districts-not including the
District Of Columhia-made "oc-
casional gains" in cutting down
the huge backlog Of litigation.
"But the serious fact is that
lin 1885," he said, congestion
and delay In civil cases which
have been noticeable In recent
years have increased. The num-
her Of districts in which this
trend was manifest was greater
than the year before"
He noted that the median
time between the filing and the
disposition Of civil cases in Fed
eral district courts. nationally.
rose to 14.6 months. as COM
pared to 1875 months in 1864.
The range for civil cases in
lvolying jury trials in q. s. Dis
ttrict Court for the District Of
Columbia was ~ months. as
compared with 20 the year be-
fore. Intervals for the same
type Of cases were 1877 months
in Federal court In Maryland,
1873 months In the Eastern Vir-
ginia district and 1913 months
in the Western Virginia district.
Condition Deplored
1.-THE time" Mr.. Chandler
commented on the national me-
dian. has risen more than one
lhalf from 1947 when 1t was only
mine months. The condition is
lone for grave concern.
Data provided by Mr.. Chandler
and VIII Shafroth, chief Of the
division of procedural studies
and statistics for the adruinis-
ltrative ONCE of the United States
courts. showed the median In
creased In 40 districts this year
land decreased in 90. The me-
dian was exceeded In IS districts,
one more than In 1853. The Dis.
trict Court here was nth highest
among those IS.
Mr.. Chambers report present.
led the following main points
about the situation in the Dis
trict:
/ The especially eongested con-
dition in District Court here is
complicated by responsibility for
local as well as Federal jurisdic-
Ition. There were 203 fewer civil
cases filed during the 1855 fiscal
year but the number of cases
terminated was 3l1 less than the
number commenced and 1913 less
than the number disposed of in
fiscal 1854.
Time Comparisons
Besides the time median OF "a
months involving jury trial civil
cases, the interval for pre-triable
nonjury cases was Is months.
as compared with is months the
year before: 10 months for non
bury contested divorce cases, as
compared with Is months: and
three months for noncontested
divorce cases, the same Is In
1854.
Despite q drop Of 523. or 81
lper cent. in the number of GRIM
inal cases filed during the past
fiscal year. the courts here made
inc marked progress In reducing
the pending case load. The
1 ,223 criminal cases terminated
during the year were 535 fewer
than in 1854. The number pend
ing last July was 735 as COM
pared with 785 on the CORE
spending date last year.
The national picture, Mr..
Chandler informed the judicial
Conference indicated termina-
|tion OF 58.974 civil cases. about
/ 900 more than the number
ended in the previous year. But
this was 401 less than the num-
Der of new civil suits reaching
the dockets. so that the pile-up
of pending cases reached 68.832
last July. he explained.
In the criminal case category.