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31 Third Branch 1 (1999)

handle is hein.journals/thirdbran31 and id is 1 raw text is: THE THIRD BRANCH Newsletter of the Federal ~ Courts Vol. 31 Nutmber I Januiary 1999 Special Issue The 1908 Year-End Report of the Federal Judiciary The federal Judiciary enters the last year of the 20th century immersed in many of the same struggles that have defined our federal system of government for 210 years. The ad- ministration of justice is affected not only by the relationships among the Judiciary and the other two branches of the federal government, but also by the balance of power between the federal and state governments. In this, my 131h Year-End Report, I will address several of the problems affecting the Judiciary in 1998. I am pleased to report on the progress made in 1998 by the Senate and the President in the appointment and confirmation of judges to the federal bench-a need that I raised in my 1997 Report as one for which both the Executive and Legislative Branches bore responsibility. The Senate confirmed 65 judicial nomi- nees in 1998, a figure that is above the average number of judges nominated and confirmed in recent years. These appointments will help address the disparity between the courts' workload and their resources. I also note my gratitude to senior federal judges who, despite their semi-retired status, continue to help ease backlogs in courts around the country. I also extend my thanks to Con- gress for continuing to provide adequate financial support to the Judiciary as we work together to maintain a balanced budget. The Judiciary remains committed to fiscal responsibility, and for its part, requested the smallest percent- age funding increase in 20 years for fiscal year 1999, even as it faces a growing caseload. The Third Branch is particularly appreciative of the appropriation for the construc- tion of 13 new or expanded court- house facilities for fiscal year 1999. The new courthouses will replace aging and obsolete facilities and are much needed to alleviate over- crowded conditions and reduce security risks. Appointments, Jurisdiction, and Salaries Although the Judiciary is strengthened by the progress made on important issues in 1998, serious problems continue to confront us. The most pressing of those problems are not new, but they have grown in importance either from the neglect or ambivalence of the other branches of government. They are: (1) the failure to appoint any Commissioners to the United States Sentencing Commis- sion-all seven Commissioner positions are vacant; (2) the growing caseload in the federal Judiciary resulting from continued expansion of federal jurisdiction; and (3) the continuing relative decline in judicial salaries. There are, of course, many challenges facing the Judiciary. I focus primarily on these three problems, however, because they need immediate attention. All three are soluble. Appointments to the United Staes Sentencing Commission The political impasse on the appointments to the United States Sentencing Commission, which has been problematic for the past few years, has now reached stunning proportions. There currently are no Commissioners at the Sentencing Commission and no nominations are pending. The failure to fill these vacancies is all the more egregious when one considers the fact that the seven Commissioners authorized by statute have staggered six-year terms, and that there are additional statutory constraints to insure a bipartisan Commission. For ex- ample, at least three of the Commis- sioners must be federal judges, and no more than four can be members of the same political party. The fact that no appointments have been made to fill any one of these seven see Report on page 2

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