[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 138 (Tuesday, September 29, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2393]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           INTRODUCTION OF THE FEDERAL JUDGESHIP ACT OF 2009

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                  HON. HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 29, 2009

  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Madam Speaker, today I am introducing the 
Federal Judgeship Act of 2009, which calls for the creation of 
additional federal judgeships in the courts of appeals and district 
courts.
  The United States legal system is the envy of the world. Our legal 
system has historically provided fair, timely, and expert adjudication 
of civil disputes and criminal prosecutions for hundreds of years. 
There are, however, a number of challenges facing our federal legal 
system that must be addressed if it is to maintain the standard of 
service our citizens expect and deserve. One of these challenges is an 
overworked judiciary.
  Many of our federal courts are in desperate need of new judges. It 
has been nearly 19 years since Congress has passed a comprehensive 
judgeship bill. In this time, caseloads for district courts have gone 
up 31 percent and the caseloads for appeals courts have gone up 38 
percent, placing significantly increased demands upon our federal court 
system. This unfairly burdens our judges and leads to delays in the 
administration of justice. If we are to avoid realization of the old 
adage, ``justice delayed is justice denied,'' we must not delay in 
providing our judiciary with the resources it needs.
  The Federal Judgeship Act of 2009 calls for 12 additional court of 
appeals judgeships and 51 additional district court judgeships. The 
number of judgeships called for in this legislation mirrors those 
called for by the Judicial Conference of the United States in its 2009 
recommendations.
  The Judicial Conference's recommendations are based on a 
comprehensive analysis of the workload of federal judges, which took 
into consideration not only the number, but also the nature and 
complexity of the cases before the various courts. According to this 
analysis, the average weighted case filings for the 25 district courts 
receiving additional judgeships under this bill were 573, while the 
target number of case filings is only 430. In other words, the workload 
before these courts is 133 percent of what is considered the normal 
capacity of these courts. Clearly, this is stretching our judiciary 
beyond reason.
  In the interests of timely and effective administration of justice, 
we must pass comprehensive judgeships this Congress. I thank my 
colleagues Representatives John Conyers, Silvestre Reyes, Sheila 
Jackson-lee, and Robert Wexler, who have worked with me on this very 
important piece of legislation. I also ask the rest of my colleagues in 
the House of Representatives to support rapid passage of this 
legislation.

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