Packed court: Judiciary presses Congress for major expansion of court system
Kaelan Deese
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The federal judiciary‘s policymaking division is asking for additional permanent judgeships from Congress, citing a lack of a comprehensive expansion in the last 30 years.
The Judicial Conference, which convenes twice a year to consider administrative and policy issues affecting the court system, approved a request to Congress to add 68 permanent judgeships and convert seven temporary district court positions into permanent ones. The total request also includes two appeals court judgeships.
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“There’s a need to have additional judgeships … so the weighted average of cases that they’re hearing remains manageable and provides the best access to efficient justice for people all across the country,” Chief Circuit Judge Lavenski R. Smith, the chairman of the conference’s executive committee, said during a Tuesday afternoon press call.
A press release from the Judicial Conference notes that the last expansion of the judiciary happened in 1990 with the passage of the Judicial Improvements Act.
It also mentions that on average, more than 500 cases were assigned per judgeship in 17 of the 30 courts in which the conference is recommending additional judgeships.
“In eight of these courts, weighted filings exceeded 600 per judgeship, and were greater than 700 per judgeship in three,” the Judicial Conference press release says.
Notably, the number of judgeship requests made Tuesday was smaller than a similar request in 2021, which called for 79 new permanent judgeships. That request was ultimately not fulfilled by Congress.
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When asked by a reporter why the number had decreased from years past, Smith cited “diminished” case filings in certain parts of the country.
Evan Walker, the owner of a legal firm in La Jolla, California, previously told the Washington Examiner that temporary court closures spurred by COVID-19 had led to an influx in case filings piling up in lower courts.