[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3430 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3430

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 4, 2003

Mr. Andrews (for himself, Mr. LoBiondo, and Mr. Saxton) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 28, United States Code, to divide New Jersey in 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) 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.
            (4) 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.
            (5) 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.
            (6)(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) 352 Federal criminal cases originated in the 13 
        southern New Jersey counties in fiscal year 2002 and were 
        handled principally by the 4 judges of the Camden vicinage and 
        the 3 judges of the Trenton vicinage.
            (C) In fiscal year 2002, the criminal cases originating in 
        the 13 southern New Jersey counties exceeded that of 32 of the 
        current 93 Federal judicial districts other than the District 
        of New Jersey. Only 61 of the other current Federal judicial 
        districts had more criminal cases than the southern region of 
        New Jersey.
            (D) For example, in the Eastern District of Louisiana (12 
        judges), 304 criminal cases were filed in fiscal year 2002. In 
        the District of Connecticut (8 judges), only 251 criminal cases 
        were filed in fiscal year 2002.
            (7)(A) The substantial civil caseload concentrated in the 
        southern counties of New Jersey requires the creation of a 
        separate judicial district.
            (B) Approximately 2,744 Federal civil cases originated in 
        the 13 southern New Jersey counties in fiscal year 2002 and 
        were handled principally by the 4 judges of the Camden vicinage 
        and the 3 judges of the Trenton vicinage.
            (C) In the fiscal year 2002, the civil cases originating in 
        the 13 southern New Jersey counties exceeded that of 61 of the 
        current Federal judicial districts other than the District of 
        New Jersey. Only 32 of the other Federal judicial districts had 
        more civil cases than the southern region of New Jersey.
            (D) For example, in the Western District of Tennessee (5 
        judges), 1,410 civil cases were filed in fiscal year 2002. In 
        the Southern District of West Virginia (5 judges), only 1,778 
        civil cases were filed in fiscal year 2002.
            (8)(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 2002, the pending criminal cases 
        attributed to the 13 southern New Jersey counties exceeded that 
        of 58 of the current 93 Federal judicial districts other than 
        the District of New Jersey. Only 35 of the other current 
        Federal judicial districts had more pending criminal cases than 
the southern region of New Jersey.
            (C) In fiscal year 2002, the pending civil cases attributed 
        to the 13 southern New Jersey counties exceeded that of 72 of 
        the current 93 Federal judicial districts other than the 
        District of New Jersey. Only 21 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, 2002, there 
        were 1,846 civil cases pending before the Camden vicinage. The 
        Western District of Tennessee, with 5 judges, had only 991 
        civil cases pending in fiscal year 2002. The Western District 
        of Oklahoma, with 6 judges, had only 1,400 civil cases pending 
        during the same period. Finally, there were 250 criminal cases 
        pending before the Camden vicinage at the end of fiscal year 
        2002, while the entire Eastern District of Louisiana, with 12 
        judges, had only 191 criminal cases pending. Also, the Western 
        District of Pennsylvania, with 10 judges, had only 275 criminal 
        cases pending at the end of fiscal year 2002.
            (9)(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.
            (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 fourth most populous 
        Federal judicial district in the United States.
            (C) The population of the 13 southern New Jersey counties 
        exceeds the population of 69 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 27 States and territories that have only a 
        single Federal judicial district (including Puerto Rico 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, 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) Establishment.--
            (1) 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.''.
            (2) 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''.
            (3) 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''.
    (b) District Judges, Bankruptcy Judges, Magistrate Judges, United 
States Attorney, United States Marshal, and Federal Public Defender.--
            (1) Transfer of district judges.--(A) 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 and 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.
            (B) 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.
            (2) 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 and 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.
            (3) United states attorney, united states marshal, and 
        federal public defender.--
                    (A) Those in office.--This section and the 
                amendments made by this section 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.
                    (B) 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.
            (4) Pending cases not affected.--This section and the 
        amendments made by this section 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.
            (5) Juries not affected.--This section and the amendments 
        made by this section 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. 3. 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)--
            (1) the President may make the appointments under section 
        2(b)(3)(B), and
            (2) the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit may make the 
        appointment under section 2(b)(3)(B),
 at any time after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act, 
including such sums as may be necessary for facilities for the District 
Court for the Southern District of New Jersey.
                                 <all>