[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 73 (Friday, May 4, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E949]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E949]]
  THE INTRODUCTION OF A BILL THAT WILL ADDRESS THE NEED FOR A FOURTH 
             PERMANENT JUDGESHIP FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII

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                          HON. MAZIE K. HIRONO

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 3, 2007

  Ms. HIRONO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce with Congressman 
Abercrombie a companion measure to legislation that will soon be 
introduced by Senators Inouye and Akaka that would convert the fourth 
temporary judgeship for the District of Hawaii to permanent judgeship 
status.
  The fourth temporary judgeship for the District of Hawaii was created 
in 1990 by Public Law 101-650. Although, the judges appointed to 
temporary judgeships have lifetime appointments, legislation creating 
temporary judgeships usually specifies that the first vacancy in the 
district cannot be filled after a certain date. In the 1990 bill, this 
time frame was determined to be ten years after each temporary 
judgeship was filled. That meant that Hawaii could not fill a temporary 
vacancy occurring after October 2004.
  Currently, the District of Hawaii has four active judges. However, if 
any of these judges become inactive, by taking senior status or 
otherwise, the district will not be able to replace that judge because 
of the ten-year limitation, which has long passed. This would place a 
great burden on not only the three remaining active judges, but also on 
the litigants themselves, especially civil litigants. Due to the right 
to speedy trial, felony cases regularly bump civil trials off the 
calendar, leading to long delays to get to court. Civil cases include 
disputes involving personal injury, civil rights, the environment, 
business, and other non-criminal matters.
  The Judicial Conference of the United States has recommended that 
Hawaii's fourth temporary judgeship be converted to permanent status. 
The conversion is included in the 2007 Judicial Conference Judgeship 
Biennial Recommendation. In its 2003 recommendation, the Judicial 
Conference stated that the District of Hawaii weighted caseloads per 
judgeship will be over 600 should that district lose a judgeship. As 
the caseload for the district has since increased, it is imperative 
that Congress act on this matter as quickly as possible.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues on this and other 
initiatives that will address our need for additional federal 
judgeships across the country.

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