Opinion ID: 2427838
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reasons for Granting the District of Arizona's Application

Text: The District of Arizona's application sets forth the reasons why a judicial emergency exists in Arizona. The data detailed below shows that the District of Arizona has calendar congestion because of an inordinate amount of criminal cases, criminal defendants, and a lack of judicial resources.

In FY 2009, the District of Arizona ranked first in the Ninth Circuit and third in the nation for criminal case filings. The national average of criminal felony filings per judgeship was 97 during FY 2009. During this same period, each Arizona district judge averaged 328 criminal felony filings, but in the Tucson Division, this number was 652 filings per judge. The picture becomes bleaker when one looks at the number of criminal defendants, not just the number of cases. In Arizona, there have been 6,922 criminal defendants (4,913 were in Tucson) during Calendar Year 2010, a 33.9% increase over the previous year. We incorporate by reference the numbers for FY 2008 through FY 2010 for felony case filings, felony defendant filings, felony case sentencings, and felony defendant sentencings as listed in Judge Roll's November 24, 2010, letter. See Tab A at pp. 3-4. Since Judge Roll's criminal caseload has now been distributed among the three active district judges in Tucson, their caseloads are even more staggering. As of January 31, 2011: Judge Collins had 972 criminal cases, and 1,218 criminal defendants; Judge Jorgenson had 1,005 criminal cases, and 1,222 criminal defendants; and Judge Bury had 963 criminal cases, and 1,182 criminal defendants. If filings continue at the same pace as the past 12 months, the active judges will receive an average of 1,548 criminal defendants In Calendar Year 2011. The District of Arizona's magistrate judges are overburdened as well. In FY 2009, its magistrate judges heard 20,952 petty offense casessecond highest in the nation, the first being the Southern District of Texas. Most of the petty offense cases were heard in Tucson (over 17,000). In addition, magistrate judges in Arizona heard 1,016 Class A misdemeanor cases second highest in the nation, out of a total of 8,700 such cases nationwide.
The District of Arizona is also experiencing inordinate pressure with its civil caseload. Three percent of civil cases filed in Phoenix, and 5.6% of the Tucson cases, have been pending over 3 years as of December 31, 2010, a total of 3.4% for the district. Of the motions filed in this district, 10.6% were pending over 6 months as of January 18, 2011. Because of the overwhelming caseload, in FY 2009, Arizona ranked an unenviable 54th in the nation and 6th in the circuit for time from filing to trial in civil cases, and 35th in the nation and 7th in the circuit in time to disposition. These percentages demonstrate the pressure of the civil caseload and motion docket at all times. Given that these numbers were generated when the District of Arizona had no vacancies, and now there are three vacancies with no nominees, the backlog will continue to grow. We note that Circuit Judge Tashima graciously volunteered to take on Judge Roll's civil docket, which will help the District of Arizona's overburdened district judges.
The District of Arizona has a large number of inmates on death row. Currently, there are 135 individuals on death row, virtually all of whom will file petitions for a writ of habeas corpus in the federal district court. These cases consume an enormous amount of judicial and staff resources. Within the Ninth Circuit, only California has a higher number of death row inmates. The District of Arizona has also had a large number of federal death penalty cases prosecuted; 13 cases involving 32 defendants eligible for the death penalty have been filed since 1999.
In FY 2009, Arizona carried a weighted caseload of 603, and an unweighted caseload of 860 cases per active district judge (which was third highest in the nation). In FY 2010, Arizona's weighted caseload was 653, ranking ninth highest in the nation (the unweighted caseload data is not yet available). The higher ranking districts include districts in other border states or districts with multi-district litigations (MDLs).
The District of Arizona's criminal caseload has grown because the Department of Homeland Security has increased border enforcement, and the United States Attorney's Office has increased its efforts to prosecute these cases along the United States-Mexico border. See Tab D: Administrative Office of the United States Courts: Report on the Impact on the Judiciary of Law Enforcement Activities along the Southwest Border, prepared for the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate Committees on Appropriations (July 2008) (AO Report). Operation Streamline, a program that requires criminal prosecution and imprisonment of all individuals unlawfully crossing the border, eliminated the discretion traditionally reserved by United States Attorney's offices to limit prosecution to immigrants with criminal records or previous illegal border-crossings. Id. at pp. 1-7. This program has led to a burgeoning number of federal criminal prosecutions in all districts bordering Mexico, but the increase has been particularly pronounced in the District of Arizona. In the few years since Operation Streamline commenced, the United States Attorney's Office in Tucson has doubled its number of prosecutors and empaneled a third grand jury in January 2011. The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona reports that it added 42 AUSAs since 2006, and filled eight other AUSA vacant positions. See Tab E: United States Attorney District of Arizona Border Security Fact Sheet June 2010. There are currently 170 AUSAs in the District of Arizona, a 62% increase over the past 10 years. See http://www.justice. gov/usao/az/office_overview.html. There has also been a dramatic increase in the number of U.S. Border Patrol and other federal law enforcement agents in Arizona. Id. In FY 2009, the Border Patrol apprehended approximately 241,000 people in the Tucson Sector and seized well over 1 million pounds of marijuana. Due to this dramatic increase in resources, the USAO was able to investigate and prosecute 3,200 felony and 22,000 misdemeanor illegal immigration cases in FY 2009, in addition to prosecuting other border-related crimes involving drug and firearms smuggling. Id. at p. 1. All Operation Streamline cases resulting from Border Patrol apprehensions in the Tucson Sector (comprised of 262 miles of international border, extending from the Arizona border with New Mexico to the Yuma County line) are heard at the Evo A. DeConcini Federal Courthouse in Tucson. The 2008 AO Report deemed this area the the busiest sector along the entire border. See Tab D: AO Report at p. 6. Presently, Tucson division magistrate judges hear 70 Operation Streamline cases per workday. During Calendar Year 2010, the Tucson Division disposed of 20,066 immigration petty offense cases, of which 16,981 were part of Operation Streamline. In fact, the Department of Justice asked for a funding increase of $231.6 million for FY 2010 to support its immigration enforcement along the southwest border, including Operation Streamline. The DOJ request includes $8.1 million to fund new USAO positions in response to the rising caseload along the U.S.-Mexico border. See U.S. Department of Justice, Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Request (2009), available at http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/2010 factsheets/pdf/safeguardingour-swb.pdf. According to the 2008 AO Report, an additional $100 million was appropriated in FY 2008 to the Department of Justice, including $7 million to hire additional AUSAs and support staff, and in FY 2009, the Department of Justice requested $100 million in new funding for the Administration's Southwest Border Enforcement Initiative, including $8.4 million to hire another 50 AUSAs along the border. See Tab D, AO Report at p. 8. There has been no correlating increase in Article III judgeships, and as noted above, there is a further significant decrease in judicial resources with the three current vacancies.