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37 J. Am. Jud. Soc. 10 (1953-1954)
The Federal Courts Need More Judges

handle is hein.journals/judica37 and id is 12 raw text is: The Federal Courts Need More Judges By WILL SHAFROTH THE FEDERAL trial court dockets are overcrowded because the volume of incom- ing cases has exceeded the ability of the pres- ent judicial force to handle them. The number of civil cases filed in the fed- eral district courts in the fiscal year 1941, the last full year before World War II, was 38,477, compared with 58,428 in 1952 and prospective filings, of 64,000 in 1953. The increase by 1952 had amounted to 52 per cent, and it will be about 66 per cent by June 30 of this year. During the same period the number of district judges has increased by only 14 per cent. The reason for these increases lies in the general expansion of business. The popula- tion is up almost 20 per cent since 1940, auto- mobile registrations over 50 per cent, national income more than two and one-half times, and gross national product, in 1939 dollars, more than 80 per cent. Automobile travel has 1952 15,252 1941 5,194 INCREASE OF TORT CASES 66% MORE CASES But Only 14% MORE JUDGES SINCE 1941 increased enormously, and with it automobile accident litigation. Since the war, new fed- eral legislation such as the G. I. Bill of Rights, the Federal Tort Claims Act, price and rent control legislation, and the De- fense Production Act of 1950, along with greater impact of previous statutes such as the Federal Employers Liability Act, giving relief to injured railroad employes, and the Jones Act, providing remedies to injured sea- men, all have been reflected in the increase of litigation in the United States district courts. Tort cases commenced in the federal courts in 1952 were three times as many as in 1941. The increase in number of criminal cases commenced during the same years has been much smaller, but this is not of great importance because most of the time of the federal judges is given to civil actions. Gains In Judicial Efficiency Is the creation of additional judgeships the only remedy? The question of the efficiency of the courts is constantly before the Judicial Conference of the United States, and that body is always striving for methods of im- proving the work of the courts. A notable advance was made in 1938 by the adoption of the new federal rules of civil procedure, and chiefly within the past ten years the pro- vision for law clerks for district judges has been implemented. About two-thirds of these judges now have such assistants. Pre-trial procedure has been increasingly used since

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