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5 Third Branch 1 (1973)

handle is hein.journals/thirdbran5 and id is 1 raw text is: Do:s Madison House. 1520 H Street, NW,Washington, D.C. 20005 Bullein of the Federa Couirts VOL. 5, NO. 1 Published bythe Administrative Officeof theU.S.Courts and the Federal Judicial C- A distinguished seven member panel of professors and members of the Bar familiar with the problems of the Su- preme Court recommended last month that a new National Court of Appeals be established to deal with the mounting number of cases filed with the Court. The Committee, headed by Harvard Professor Paul A. Freund and working under the auspices of the Federal Judicial Center, said that such measures as adding additional staff to the Court or having the Justices meet in panels would not be adequate remedy to solve the problem of mounting filings which may top 7000 before the end of the decade. In addition to Professor Freund, the committee also included Alexander M. Bickel, Peter D. Ehrenhaft, Russell D. Niles, Bernard G. Sagal, Robert L. Stem, and Charles A. Wright. After considering the problem for over a year, the committee concluded that Congress should establish a Na- tional Court of Appeals which should consist of seven judges drawn on a rotating basis from the Federal Courts of Appeals, and that the members would serve staggered three year terms, The study group said that the pro- posed court would serve two functions: (1) screen all petitions presently filed with the Supreme Court and refer the most review worthy (estimated at about 400 to 450 per term) for decision by the Supreme Court; (2) either deny the remainder of the petitions or retain for decision on the merits cases of genuine conflict between circuits(ex- cept those of special moment, which should be certified to the Supreme Court). In addition, the study group also recommended the elimination of direct review by the Supreme Court of deci- sions made by three judge District Courts; the elimination also of direct appeals of ICC and antitrust cases; and the substitution of certiorari for appeal in all cases where appeal is now the prescribed procedure for review in the Supreme Court. Finally, the committee also recom- mended the creation of an ombudsman- type organization which would investi- gate and report on complaints of prisoners, both collateral attacks on convictions as well as mistreatment complaints. (Cont'd. on Page 3. Col. i JANUARY 1973 A MESSAGE (Hi10 JUSTO The recently published Report of the Study Group on the Caseload of the Supreme Court is a thoughtful analysis which is provoking healthy debate. The public is becoming increasingly aware that some adjustment to the growing caseload in the Supreme Court, as in all other courts, cannot be avoided. This is the essence of the unanimous conclusion of a group of eminent schol- ars and practitioners after long and care- ful study. After theanalysis of the prob- lem, the Report provides a set of recom- mendations. Few, if any, will find a (Cont'd. on Page 3, Col. 1) Federal Criminal Code Bill Is Introduced On January 4th, the first legislative proposal to create a Federal Criminal Code in the nation's history was intro- duced in the Senate by Senators John L. McClellan, Sam J. Ervin and Roman L. Hruska. The bill, titled The Criminal Justice Codification, Revision and Reform Act of 1973, is the product of a national effort which began in 1966 when Con- gress created the National Commission on Reform of Federal Criminal Laws. As Senator McClellan said when the bill was introduced, it is an important and historic milestone. The 538 page bill is expected to spark intense debate as it proceeds through Congress. A companion mea- sure which is being prepared by the Nixon Administration is expected to be introduced soon. Senator McClellan said in a Senate floor speech that, Numbers alone do not do credit to the tremendous amount of study, discussion and preparation that went into the presentations of a number of the organizations which ap- peared or submitted comments. The organizations include: The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Legal Aid and De- fender Association, the National Coun- cil on Crime and Delinquency, the New York County Lawyers Association, the (Cont'd. on Page 2, Col. 2) FREUND COMMITTEE RELEASES SUPREME COURT STUDY

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