[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 273 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 273

  To amend title 28, United States Code, to divide New Jersey into 2 
                          judicial districts.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 7, 2001

 Mr. Torricelli (for himself and Mr. Corzine) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 28, United States Code, to divide New Jersey into 2 
                          judicial districts.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) In 1978, the Judicial Conference of the United States 
        established a procedure for creating new Federal judicial 
        districts, which is still in force. According to the 
        ``Proceedings of the Judicial Conference, September 21-22, 
        1978'', this procedure requires that 4 principal criteria be 
        taken into consideration in evaluating the establishment of a 
        new Federal judicial district: caseload, judicial 
        administration, geography, and community convenience.
            (2) The criterion of ``caseload'' is found to include the 
        total number of Federal court cases and the number of cases per 
        Federal judge, for both criminal and civil Federal cases.
            (3)(A) The 13 southern counties of New Jersey, consisting 
        of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, 
        Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem, 
        Somerset, and Warren Counties, have a substantial criminal 
        caseload which requires the creation of a separate judicial 
        district.
            (B) 463 Federal criminal cases originated in the 13 
        southern New Jersey counties in fiscal year 1999 and were 
        handled principally by the 5 judges of the Camden vicinage and 
        the 3 judges of the Trenton vicinage.
            (C) In fiscal year 1999, the criminal cases originating in 
        the 13 southern New Jersey counties exceeded that of 57 of the 
        current 93 Federal judicial districts other than the District 
        of New Jersey. Only 36 of the other current Federal judicial 
        districts had more criminal cases than the southern region of 
        New Jersey.
            (D) For example, in the District of Massachusetts (19 
        judges), 434 criminal cases were filed in fiscal year 1999. In 
        the District of Connecticut (14 judges), only 250 criminal 
        cases were filed in fiscal year 1999.
            (4)(A) The substantial civil caseload concentrated in the 
        southern counties of New Jersey requires the creation of a 
        separate judicial district.
            (B) Approximately 2,983 Federal civil cases originated in 
        the 13 southern New Jersey counties in fiscal year 1999 and 
        were handled principally by the 5 judges of the Camden vicinage 
        and the 3 judges of the Trenton vicinage.
            (C) In the fiscal year 1999, the civil cases originating in 
        the 13 southern New Jersey counties exceeded that of 68 of the 
        current Federal judicial districts other than the District of 
        New Jersey. Only 25 of the other Federal judicial districts had 
        more civil cases than the southern region of New Jersey.
            (D) For example, in the Southern District of West Virginia, 
        a separate judicial district with 8 judges, only 1,203 civil 
        cases were commenced in fiscal year 1999. The Western District 
        of Tennessee, with 6 judges, had only 1,512 civil cases 
        commenced in fiscal year 1999.
            (5) The criterion of ``judicial administration'' is found 
        to include the backlog of pending cases in a Federal judicial 
        district, which hinders the effective resolution of pending 
        business before the court.
            (6)(A) The size of the backlog of pending cases 
        concentrated in the 13 southern counties of New Jersey requires 
        the creation of a separate judicial district.
            (B) In fiscal year 1999, the pending criminal cases 
        attributed to the 13 southern New Jersey counties exceeded that 
        of 62 of the current 93 Federal judicial districts other than 
        the District of New Jersey. Only 31 of the other current 
        Federal judicial districts had more pending criminal cases than 
        the southern region of New Jersey.
            (C) In fiscal year 1999, the pending civil cases attributed 
        to the 13 southern New Jersey counties exceeded that of 66 of 
        the current 93 Federal judicial districts other than the 
        District of New Jersey. Only 27 of the other current Federal 
        judicial districts had more pending civil cases than the 
        southern region of New Jersey.
            (D) The number of pending cases in the Camden vicinage of 
        New Jersey exceeds the number of cases pending before entire 
        judicial districts with similar numbers of judges, clearly 
        indicating that southern New Jersey merits a separate Federal 
        judicial district. For example, as of October 1, 1999, there 
        were 1,431 civil cases pending before the Camden vicinage, and 
        only 113 of those were commenced in fiscal year 1999. The 
        Western District of Tennessee, with 6 judges, had only 1,079 
        civil cases pending in fiscal year 1999. The Western District 
        of Oklahoma had only 1,356 civil cases pending in fiscal year 
        1999 before 9 judges. Finally, there are 161 criminal cases 
        pending before the Camden vicinage, while the entire Southern 
        District of Indiana, with 7 judges, had only 117 criminal cases 
        pending in fiscal year 1999.
            (7) The criterion of ``geography'' is found to mean the 
        accessibility of the central administration of the Federal 
        judicial district to officers of the court, parties with 
        business before the court, and other citizens living within the 
        Federal judicial district.
            (8)(A) The distance between the northern and southern 
        regions of New Jersey and the density of New Jersey's 
        population create a substantial barrier to the efficient 
        administration of justice.
            (B) The distance from Newark, New Jersey to Camden, New 
        Jersey is more than 85 miles.
            (C) When a new Federal court district was created in 
        Louisiana in 1971, the distance between New Orleans and Baton 
        Rouge (nearly 80 miles) was cited as a major factor in creating 
        a new district court, as travel difficulties were impeding the 
        timely administration of justice.
            (9) The criterion of ``community convenience'' is found to 
        mean the extent to which creating a new Federal judicial 
        district will allow the court to better serve the population 
        and diverse communities of the area.
            (10)(A) New Jersey's culturally and regionally diverse 
        population of over 8,000,000 citizens, widely distributed 
        across a densely populated State, is inconvenienced by having 
        only 1 judicial district.
            (B) The District of New Jersey is the third most populous 
        Federal judicial district in the United States.
            (C) The population of the 13 southern New Jersey counties 
        exceeds the population of 67 of the current 93 Federal judicial 
        districts other than the District of New Jersey. The population 
        of the 8 northern New Jersey counties (consisting of Bergen, 
        Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, and Union) 
        exceeds the population of 73 of the current 93 Federal judicial 
        districts other than the District of New Jersey.
            (D) Of the 25 States that have only a single Federal 
        judicial district (including Puerto Rico, the United States 
        territories, and the District of Columbia), New Jersey has the 
        highest population.
            (E) More than a dozen States have smaller populations than 
        New Jersey, yet they have multiple Federal judicial districts, 
        including Washington, Oklahoma, Iowa, Georgia, West Virginia, 
        and Missouri.
            (11) In evaluating the creation of a new Southern District 
        of New Jersey, the Judicial Conference should seek the views of 
        the chief judge of the affected district, the judicial council 
        for the affected circuit court, and the affected United States 
        Attorney as representative of the views of the Department of 
        Justice, as required in the procedure established by the 
        ``Proceedings of the Judicial Conference, September 21-22, 
        1978''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF 2 DISTRICTS IN NEW JERSEY.

    (a) Creation.--Section 110 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 110. New Jersey
    ``New Jersey is divided into 2 judicial districts to be known as 
the Northern and Southern Districts of New Jersey.

                          ``Northern District

    ``(a) The Northern District comprises the counties of Bergen, 
Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, and Union.
    ``Court for the Northern District shall be held at Newark.

                          ``Southern District

    ``(b) The Southern District comprises the counties of Atlantic, 
Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, 
Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem, Somerset, and Warren.
    ``Court for the Southern District shall be held at Camden and 
Trenton.''.
    (b) Judgeships.--The item relating to New Jersey in the table set 
forth in section 133(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended to 
read as follows:

``New Jersey:
        ``Northern.............................................     10 
        ``Southern.............................................    7''.
    (c) Bankruptcy Judgeships.--The item relating to New Jersey in the 
table set forth in section 152(a)(1) of title 28, United States Code, 
is amended to read as follows:

``New Jersey:
        ``Northern.............................................      4 
        ``Southern.............................................    4''.

SEC. 3. DISTRICT JUDGES, BANKRUPTCY JUDGES, MAGISTRATE JUDGES, UNITED 
              STATES ATTORNEY, UNITED STATES MARSHAL, AND FEDERAL 
              PUBLIC DEFENDER.

    (a) Transfer of District Judges.--(1) Any district judge of the 
District Court of New Jersey who is holding office on the day before 
the effective date of this Act and whose official duty station is in 
Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, or Union 
County shall, on or after such effective date, be a district judge for 
the Northern District of New Jersey. Any district judge of the District 
Court of New Jersey who is holding office on the day before the 
effective date of this Act and whose official duty station is in 
Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, 
Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem, Somerset, or Warren County 
shall, on and after such effective date, be a district judge of the 
Southern District of New Jersey.
    (2) Whenever a vacancy occurs in a judgeship in either judicial 
district of New Jersey, the vacancy shall first be offered to those 
judges appointed before the enactment of this Act and in active service 
in the other judicial district of New Jersey at the time of the 
vacancy, and of those judges wishing to fill the vacancy, the judge 
most senior in service shall fill that vacancy. In such a case, the 
President shall appoint a judge to fill the vacancy resulting in the 
district of New Jersey from which such judge left office.
    (b) Transfer of Bankruptcy and Magistrate Judges.--Any bankruptcy 
judge or magistrate judge of the District Court of New Jersey who is 
holding office on the day before the effective date of this Act and 
whose official duty station is in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, 
Morris, Passaic, Sussex, or Union County shall, on or after such 
effective date, be a bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge, as the case 
may be, for the Northern District of New Jersey. Any bankruptcy judge 
or magistrate judge of the District Court of New Jersey who is holding 
office on the day before the effective date of this Act and whose 
official duty station is in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, 
Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem, 
Somerset, or Warren County shall, on and after such effective date, be 
a bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge, as the case may be, of the 
Southern District of New Jersey.
    (c) United States Attorney, United States Marshal, and Federal 
Public Defender.--
            (1) Those in office.--This Act and the amendments made by 
        this Act shall not affect the tenure of office of the United 
        States attorney, the United States marshal, and the Federal 
        Public Defender, for the District of New Jersey who are in 
        office on the effective date of this Act, except that such 
        individuals shall be the United States attorney, the United 
        States marshal, and the Federal Public Defender, respectively, 
        for the Northern District of New Jersey as of such effective 
        date.
            (2) Appointments.--The President shall appoint, by and with 
        the advice and consent of the Senate, a United States attorney 
        and a United States marshal for the Southern District of New 
        Jersey. The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit shall 
        appoint a Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of 
        New Jersey.
    (d) Pending Cases Not Affected.--This Act and the amendments made 
by this Act shall not affect any action commenced before the effective 
date of this Act and pending in the United States District Court for 
the District of New Jersey on such date.
    (e) Juries Not Affected.--This Act and the amendments made by this 
Act shall not affect the composition, or preclude the service, of any 
grand or petit jury summoned, empaneled, or actually serving in the 
Judicial District of New Jersey on the effective date of this Act.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) In General.--This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 
take effect 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Appointments.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), the President 
and the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit may make the 
appointments under section 3(c)(2) at any time after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>