[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 93 (Friday, June 19, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1510-E1511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTION OF THE LEGISLATION TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PERMANENT 
 FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT JUDGESHIPS IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
     FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

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                          HON. KEVIN McCARTHY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 19, 2009

  Mr. McCARTHY of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of 
legislation I introduced, along with my colleagues Congressman Wally 
Herger, Congressman Dan Lungren, Congressman Tom McClintock, 
Congressman Buck McKeon, Congressman Devin Nunes, and Congressman 
George Radanovich, which would create four new permanent district court 
judgeships and one temporary district court judgeship in the U.S. 
District Court for the Eastern District of California, as well as 
designate Bakersfield, California, as a place of holding court for the 
Eastern District of California.
  For the year ending September 30, 2008, according to the most recent 
data available from the Administrative Office of the United States 
Courts, the Eastern District of California had 1,305 pending cases per 
judge, a 50.2% increase since 2003, and weighted filings of 970 per 
judge, a 26.5% increase since 2003, which is substantially above the 
weighted filing standard used by the Judicial Conference of the United 
States to determine when additional judgeships are needed. Moreover, in 
2008, the Eastern District of California had the highest number of 
pending cases and weighted filings per judge of all other district 
courts in the Ninth Judicial Circuit, including the district courts 
that serve Los Angeles and San Francisco.
  In the 2005 Biennial Judgeship Survey, the Judicial Conference of the 
United States recommended four additional permanent judgeships for the 
Eastern District of California. Specifically, the report states:
  ``The Court is requesting three permanent judgeships and conversion 
of the temporary judgeship to a permanent position based on a steadily 
increasing and consistently high weighted caseload. The Judicial 
Conference has recommended conversion of the temporary position since 
1997, and also recommended one permanent judgeship and one temporary 
judgeship in 1997 and 1999, two permanent judgeships since 2001, and 
three permanent judgeships in the 2003 survey.''
  More recently, during the March 2009 biannual meeting, the Judicial 
Conference voted to ask Congress to create sixty-three new federal 
judgeships, fifty-one of which would be for district courts. Within 
this proposal, the Judicial Conference recommended the Eastern District 
of California receive four additional permanent judgeships and one 
temporary judgeship. My bill seeks to implement the Judicial 
Conference's recommendations for the Eastern District of California, 
which includes at its southern-most point, Kern County, which I 
represent.
  My bill would also designate Bakersfield, California, as a place of 
holding court for the Eastern District of California. Such a 
designation does not require or imply a district court be located in 
Bakersfield. This designation would simply make Bakersfield eligible to 
have the Eastern District of California locate a district court judge 
there should caseload require. Under current law, the City of Fresno, 
the City of Redding, and the City of Sacramento are all currently 
designated as a place of holding court for the Eastern District of 
California.
  The current population of Bakersfield is 315,837, which is similar in 
size to Fresno (pop. 470,508) and Sacramento (pop. 460,242), and 
significantly larger than Redding (pop. 89,780). That said, Bakersfield 
is a fast growing city in California and, due to affordable housing and 
its proximity to Los Angeles, is expected to continue to grow in the 
future. To that end, the City's population is projected to grow by more 
than 14 percent to over 557,000 by 2015 and Kern County is projected to 
grow by more than 24 percent to nearly one million over the next 
decade, growth well above the 8.7 percent national population growth 
rate projected by the U.S. Census Bureau for 2010 to 2020.
  Furthermore, Kern and Inyo Counties currently account for almost 23% 
of the Fresno division civil filings and 9% of Eastern District civil 
filings. As these counties continue to grow, it is reasonable to assume 
that filings will increase, and this designation provides the Eastern 
District of California the flexibility to locate a district judge in 
Bakersfield in the future.
  In terms of geography, the Eastern District of California is the 
largest judicial district of the four federal district court districts 
in California, encompassing over 87,000 square miles (34 of 
California's 58 counties) and almost 600 miles long. According to the 
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California, this 
judicial district is the eighth most populous and physically the tenth 
largest of all 94 U.S. District Court judicial districts in the United 
States. Thus, travel within the sprawling Eastern District is time-
consuming, not to mention expensive.
  Furthermore, there is no major metropolitan area designated as a 
place of holding court in the southern region of the Eastern District 
of California. Redding is located in the north of the judicial 
district, Sacramento is located in the north central area of the 
district, and Fresno is located in the south central area of the 
district. A designation for Bakersfield would make the largest city in 
the southern part of this judicial district at minimum eligible to have 
a district court judge in the future.
  The Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees ``the right 
to a speedy and public trial.'' In order to preserve this 
constitutional right in the Eastern District of California, I fully 
support the Judicial Conference's judgeship recommendations, as well as 
making Bakersfield, California, eligible as a place of holding court. 
My bill would ensure the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District 
of California has the requisite number of judges to execute its duties 
in a timely manner for the citizens the Court serves, ensure the Court 
has the resources to adjudicate current and future cases, which are 
only expected to increase, and ensure the equitable administration of 
justice in California.

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