INSIDE THIS ISSUE Southwest Border Court Judges Tell Congress of Crisis Cameras in Courtroom Provision Clouds Future of H.R. 1752 Congress Confirms 16 Judges Judicial Panel On Multidistrict Litigation Reorganized Judges' Legitimate Need for Security Cited by Chief Justice Federal Courthouses Win NEA Recognition Internet and Electronic Case Filing Raise Privacy Concerns Criminal Law Committee Chair Sees Active Role Judicial Milestones Judicial Boxscore New Ambassador to South Africa Sworn in By Former Classmate

Click here to go to the Federal Judiciary homepage.

Southwest Border Court Judges Tell Congress of Crisis

Members of the Congressional Southwest Border Caucus who met with the border court judges included Representative Solomon Ortiz (D-TX) standing above, and fellow member of the Congressional Border Caucus, Representative Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), and in photo below Representatives Joe Baca (D-CA), Charles Gonzalez (D-TX), and Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX).

Seven judges from the U.S. southwest, shown in the photo at right, went to the Hill last month to tell Congress about the continuing crisis in the border courts. Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King (5^th Cir.) led Chief Judge George P. Kazen (S.D. Tex.), Judge Edward C. Prado (W.D. Tex.), Judge W. Royal Furgeson (W.D. Tex.), Chief Judge John E. Conway (D. N.M.), Chief Judge Stephen M. McNamee (D. Ariz.), and Chief Judge Marilyn Huff (S.D. California), who represented the five districts that currently handle 26 percent of all criminal case filings in the U.S. The southwest border courts report record numbers of federal prosecutions—drug prosecutions nearly doubled between 1994 and 1998 and immigration prosecutions increased fivefold.

The average caseload per district judge in the southwest border courts is more than quadruple the national average. Since 1994, personnel for the U.S. Border Patrol increased by 99 percent, INS by 93 percent, DEA by 155 percent and FBI by 37 percent in the border courts. During that same period, however, judicial resources in the five districts increased a mere 4 percent, with probation and pretrial services resources increasing only 19 percent.

The delegation of federal judges first met with the members of the Congressional Southwest Border Caucus, then spent the day in private talks with congressional members including Senators John Kyl (R-AZ), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), and Representative Henry Bonilla (R-TX). Judges also met with staff from the offices of Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Diane Feinstein (D-CA), and Representative Randy Cunningham (R-CA).

Members of the bipartisan caucus are from congressional districts next to or near the U.S. southwest border, and meet to share concerns and solutions to mutual problems. Caucus members who met with the southwest border court judges included Representative Solomon Ortiz (D-TX), co-chair of the caucus, and fellow members Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), Charles Gonzalez (D-TX), and Joe Baca (D-CA). When caucus members asked what relief was needed along the southwest border, King laid out a five-point plan asking for adequate funding for the entire Judiciary for fiscal year 2001; new judgeships; additional resources for the U.S. Marshals Service; more federal detention centers; and improved compensation for attorneys representing indigent defendants.