[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 21, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1517-S1519]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. TORRICELLI:
  S. 2259. A bill to amend title 28, United States Code, to divide New 
Jersey into two judicial districts; to the Committee on the Judiciary.


        creating a northern and southern district of new jersey

 Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a 
bill that will help bring more criminals to justice and create a better 
federal judicial system in New Jersey. This legislation will divide the 
federal District of New Jersey into the Southern and Northern Districts 
of New Jersey which will enable the federal courts and federal agencies 
to better serve the approximately 8 million residents of the state. It 
will also bring much needed federal law enforcement resources to the 
state, particularly southern New Jersey.
  Under the bill, the proposed Southern District of New Jersey would 
include 8 of the 21 counties in New Jersey and the Northern District of 
New Jersey would include the remaining 13. The federal courthouses 
would be located in Camden and Trenton for the Southern District and in 
Newark for the Northern District. All federal cases arising in the 
eight-county Southern District would be heard in the federal court in 
Camden or Trenton and cases from the 13-county Northern District would 
be heard in Newark. The bill would also result in the creation of 
several new federal positions for the Southern District including a 
Clerk of the Court, U.S. Attorney, U.S. Marshal, and a Federal Public 
Defender, among others.
  By creating a new Southern District of New Jersey, more federal 
crime-fighting resources will be brought to a region which crime 
statistics reveal is besieged by violent crime. In 1998, southern New 
Jersey accounted for 25 percent of the state's urban murders, 32 
percent of the state's murder arrests and 33 percent of the state's 
arrests for violent crimes. This initiative will also ensure that 
crime-fighting decisions are made locally instead of by officials who 
are based elsewhere in the state and that law enforcement officials in 
the region will get the resources needed to prosecute crimes 
effectively and expeditiously.
  The creation of two districts will also provide relief from the crush 
of cases that have crowded the dockets of the federal courts in 
southern New Jersey and caused a severe backlog in the system. In 1998 
alone, 281 federal criminal

[[Page S1518]]

cases were filed in federal courts in southern New Jersey and 161 
criminal cases were still pending at the end of the year. In that same 
year, 2,116 civil cases were filed and 1,318 civil cases were pending 
at the end of the year. Moreover, of the 95 federal judicial districts 
across the nation, more than half generated fewer criminal and civil 
cases than southern New Jersey and in some cases with far more federal 
judicial and law enforcement resources. Currently, only 10 percent of 
the FBI agents, 15 percent of the United States Marshals and 18 percent 
of the Drug Enforcement Administration agents in New Jersey are 
assigned to the region. Of the 119 Assistant United States Attorneys in 
the state, only 12 are assigned to South Jersey.
  Finally, the creation of a new Northern and Southern Districts of New 
Jersey is warranted based on the sheer size of the state. The current 
District of New Jersey is the third most populous federal judicial 
district in the nation. Of the 25 states that have a single federal 
judicial district, New Jersey has the largest population and more than 
a dozen states with smaller populations have multiple judicial 
districts. In fact, with more than 2 million residents in the southern 
counties, the population of the proposed Southern District of New 
Jersey would exceed that of almost half of the current judicial 
districts and the proposed Northern District would rank even higher.
  This initiative enjoys broad bipartisan political support in New 
Jersey, and a similar bill has been introduced and cosponsored in the 
U.S. House of Representatives by the entire southern New Jersey 
Congressional delegation. The measure also has strong support in the 
southern counties and is backed by all eight southern county bar 
associations, the South Jersey Police Chief's Association, the Chamber 
of Commerce of Southern New Jersey and various former county 
prosecutors and former federal law enforcement officials.
  While the process of reviewing and deliberating the merits of this 
legislation will be lengthy and time consuming, this is an idea which 
is long overdue. The citizens of New Jersey deserve a better federal 
judicial system and their fair share of federal crime-fighting 
resources. I look forward to working with my colleagues to secure 
passage of this legislation.
  I ask unanimous consent that a copy of the legislation appear in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2259

       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 civil and criminal Federal cases.
       (3)(A) The substantial criminal caseload concentrated in 
     the southern counties of New Jersey requires the creation of 
     a separate judicial district.
       (B) 281 Federal criminal cases originated in the 8 southern 
     New Jersey counties in 1998 and were handled by the 5 judges 
     of the Camden vicinage and the 3 judges of the Trenton 
     vicinage.
       (C) The criminal caseload in the southern region of New 
     Jersey exceeds that of 51 of the current Federal judicial 
     districts. Only 44 of the 95 Federal district courts have 
     more criminal cases filed than the southern region of New 
     Jersey.
       (D) For example, in the Eastern District of Virginia (9 
     judges), 110 criminal cases were filed in 1998. In the 
     District of Connecticut (8 judges), only 221 criminal cases 
     were filed in 1998.
       (4)(A) The substantial civil caseload concentrated in the 
     southern counties of New Jersey requires the creation of a 
     separate judicial district.
       (B) 2,116 Federal civil cases originated in the 8 southern 
     New Jersey counties in 1998 and were handled by the 5 judges 
     of the Camden vicinage and the 3 judges of the Trenton 
     vicinage.
       (C) The civil caseload in the southern region of New Jersey 
     exceeds that of 52 of the current Federal judicial districts. 
     Only 43 out of the 95 Federal districts have more civil cases 
     filed than this region of the New Jersey District.
       (D) For example, in the Southern District of West Virginia, 
     a separate judicial district with 5 judges, only 1,315 civil 
     cases were filed in 1998. The Western District of Tennessee, 
     similarly, with 5 judges, had only 1,581 civil cases filed in 
     1998.
       (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 southern counties of New Jersey requires 
     the creation of a separate judicial district.
       (B) 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, there are 1,431 civil cases 
     pending before the Camden vicinage, and only 113 of those 
     were commenced in 1999. The Western District of Tennessee, 
     with 5 judges, had only 1,104 civil cases pending in 1998. 
     The Western District of Oklahoma had only 1,359 civil cases 
     pending in 1998 before 6 judges. Finally, there are 161 
     criminal cases pending before the Camden vicinage, while the 
     entire Southern District of Indiana, with 5 judges, had only 
     116 criminal cases pending in 1998.
       (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 creates 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 8,000,000 citizens, widely distributed across a 
     large State, is inconvenienced by having only 1 judicial 
     district.
       (B) 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.
       (C) 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, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, 
     Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren.
     ``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, Mercer, and Salem.ER
     ``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.........................................................9 
  ``Southern.......................................................8''.
       (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

[[Page S1519]]

     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, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, 
     Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, or Warren 
     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, Mercer, or Salem 
     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, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, 
     Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, or Warren 
     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, Mercer, 
     or Salem 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.
                                 ______