[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 3, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E532-E533]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  THE INTRODUCTION OF A BILL THAT WILL ADDRESS THE NEED FOR A FOURTH 
             PERMANENT JUDGESHIP FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MAZIE K. HIRONO

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 3, 2009

  Ms. HIRONO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce with Congressman 
Abercrombie a bill 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

[[Page E533]]

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 for civil litigants. 
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 previously 
recommended that Hawaii's fourth temporary judgeship be converted to 
permanent status. The conversion was included in the 2007 Judicial 
Conference Judgeship Biennial Recommendation.
  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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