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Vol. 35, Number 7—July 2003 Shortfall Projected Before End of Fiscal Year Judiciary Asks President and Congress for Supplemental Funds The anticipated early entry on duty of 15 new Article III judges and higher than anticipated Criminal Justice Act (CJA) representations and juror days have prompted the federal Judiciary to ask for additional funding in fiscal year 2003. A proposed emergency supplemental appropriations request has been sent to the White House and to congressional leaders with an appeal for $32.2 million for the current fiscal year. Leonidas Ralph Mecham, writing on behalf of the Judicial Conference, called the additional funds "critical to the effective operation of our federal courts." Expenses outside the control of the courts and the anticipated confirmation of 15 new Article III judges fueled the need for a supplemental. Without it, the Judiciary will not have the space to house the new district judges, will have to halt all payments to private panel attorneys for the last month of the fiscal year, and will not be able to pay jurors in civil cases the daily rate required by statute. Nominations already have been submitted for all of the new judgeships created by P.L. 107-273 in November 2002, and some, if not all, nominees will likely enter on duty earlier than anticipated. Funds to cover the cost of courtrooms, chambers and equipment for those judges were not included in the enacted FY 2003 appropriations. The new judges may begin their time "on the bench," literally without a bench. Meanwhile, the Judiciary is experiencing higher than anticipated spending for CJA representations and juror days. Both are currently 5 percent over available FY 03 funding levels, which will result in a projected shortfall before the end of the fiscal year of $17.2 million in the Defender Services appropriations account and $2.8 million in the Fees of Jurors appropriations account. Since the Constitution guarantees criminal defendants the right to counsel and mandates the right to a trial by jury, the Judiciary is faced with an unavoidable bill for counsel and jurors. The Judiciary may need to use available juror funding for criminal cases to avoid Speedy Trial Act requirements that place time limits on when criminal cases must go to trial. This will be at the probable expense of delays in civil cases for the month of September, since there will be no funds to pay jurors in those civil cases.

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