Provides for the transfer of district judges, bankruptcy judges, and magistrate judges to the Northern and Southern Districts of New Jersey.
Transfers U.S. attorneys, U.S. marshals, and Federal public defenders for the District of New Jersey to the Northern District of New Jersey. Directs the President to appoint, by and with the advice of the Senate, a U.S. attorney and a U.S. marshal for the Southern District of New Jersey.
Specifies that neither pending cases nor juries shall be affected.
[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 273 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 273
To amend title 28, United States Code, to divide New Jersey into 2
judicial districts.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 7, 2001
Mr. Torricelli (for himself and Mr. Corzine) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 28, United States Code, to divide New Jersey into 2
judicial districts.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) In 1978, the Judicial Conference of the United States
established a procedure for creating new Federal judicial
districts, which is still in force. According to the
``Proceedings of the Judicial Conference, September 21-22,
1978'', this procedure requires that 4 principal criteria be
taken into consideration in evaluating the establishment of a
new Federal judicial district: caseload, judicial
administration, geography, and community convenience.
(2) The criterion of ``caseload'' is found to include the
total number of Federal court cases and the number of cases per
Federal judge, for both criminal and civil Federal cases.
(3)(A) The 13 southern counties of New Jersey, consisting
of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland,
Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem,
Somerset, and Warren Counties, have a substantial criminal
caseload which requires the creation of a separate judicial
district.
(B) 463 Federal criminal cases originated in the 13
southern New Jersey counties in fiscal year 1999 and were
handled principally by the 5 judges of the Camden vicinage and
the 3 judges of the Trenton vicinage.
(C) In fiscal year 1999, the criminal cases originating in
the 13 southern New Jersey counties exceeded that of 57 of the
current 93 Federal judicial districts other than the District
of New Jersey. Only 36 of the other current Federal judicial
districts had more criminal cases than the southern region of
New Jersey.
(D) For example, in the District of Massachusetts (19
judges), 434 criminal cases were filed in fiscal year 1999. In
the District of Connecticut (14 judges), only 250 criminal
cases were filed in fiscal year 1999.
(4)(A) The substantial civil caseload concentrated in the
southern counties of New Jersey requires the creation of a
separate judicial district.
(B) Approximately 2,983 Federal civil cases originated in
the 13 southern New Jersey counties in fiscal year 1999 and
were handled principally by the 5 judges of the Camden vicinage
and the 3 judges of the Trenton vicinage.
(C) In the fiscal year 1999, the civil cases originating in
the 13 southern New Jersey counties exceeded that of 68 of the
current Federal judicial districts other than the District of
New Jersey. Only 25 of the other Federal judicial districts had
more civil cases than the southern region of New Jersey.
(D) For example, in the Southern District of West Virginia,
a separate judicial district with 8 judges, only 1,203 civil
cases were commenced in fiscal year 1999. The Western District
of Tennessee, with 6 judges, had only 1,512 civil cases
commenced in fiscal year 1999.
(5) The criterion of ``judicial administration'' is found
to include the backlog of pending cases in a Federal judicial
district, which hinders the effective resolution of pending
business before the court.
(6)(A) The size of the backlog of pending cases
concentrated in the 13 southern counties of New Jersey requires
the creation of a separate judicial district.
(B) In fiscal year 1999, the pending criminal cases
attributed to the 13 southern New Jersey counties exceeded that
of 62 of the current 93 Federal judicial districts other than
the District of New Jersey. Only 31 of the other current
Federal judicial districts had more pending criminal cases than
the southern region of New Jersey.
(C) In fiscal year 1999, the pending civil cases attributed
to the 13 southern New Jersey counties exceeded that of 66 of
the current 93 Federal judicial districts other than the
District of New Jersey. Only 27 of the other current Federal
judicial districts had more pending civil cases than the
southern region of New Jersey.
(D) The number of pending cases in the Camden vicinage of
New Jersey exceeds the number of cases pending before entire
judicial districts with similar numbers of judges, clearly
indicating that southern New Jersey merits a separate Federal
judicial district. For example, as of October 1, 1999, there
were 1,431 civil cases pending before the Camden vicinage, and
only 113 of those were commenced in fiscal year 1999. The
Western District of Tennessee, with 6 judges, had only 1,079
civil cases pending in fiscal year 1999. The Western District
of Oklahoma had only 1,356 civil cases pending in fiscal year
1999 before 9 judges. Finally, there are 161 criminal cases
pending before the Camden vicinage, while the entire Southern
District of Indiana, with 7 judges, had only 117 criminal cases
pending in fiscal year 1999.
(7) The criterion of ``geography'' is found to mean the
accessibility of the central administration of the Federal
judicial district to officers of the court, parties with
business before the court, and other citizens living within the
Federal judicial district.
(8)(A) The distance between the northern and southern
regions of New Jersey and the density of New Jersey's
population create a substantial barrier to the efficient
administration of justice.
(B) The distance from Newark, New Jersey to Camden, New
Jersey is more than 85 miles.
(C) When a new Federal court district was created in
Louisiana in 1971, the distance between New Orleans and Baton
Rouge (nearly 80 miles) was cited as a major factor in creating
a new district court, as travel difficulties were impeding the
timely administration of justice.
(9) The criterion of ``community convenience'' is found to
mean the extent to which creating a new Federal judicial
district will allow the court to better serve the population
and diverse communities of the area.
(10)(A) New Jersey's culturally and regionally diverse
population of over 8,000,000 citizens, widely distributed
across a densely populated State, is inconvenienced by having
only 1 judicial district.
(B) The District of New Jersey is the third most populous
Federal judicial district in the United States.
(C) The population of the 13 southern New Jersey counties
exceeds the population of 67 of the current 93 Federal judicial
districts other than the District of New Jersey. The population
of the 8 northern New Jersey counties (consisting of Bergen,
Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, and Union)
exceeds the population of 73 of the current 93 Federal judicial
districts other than the District of New Jersey.
(D) Of the 25 States that have only a single Federal
judicial district (including Puerto Rico, the United States
territories, and the District of Columbia), New Jersey has the
highest population.
(E) More than a dozen States have smaller populations than
New Jersey, yet they have multiple Federal judicial districts,
including Washington, Oklahoma, Iowa, Georgia, West Virginia,
and Missouri.
(11) In evaluating the creation of a new Southern District
of New Jersey, the Judicial Conference should seek the views of
the chief judge of the affected district, the judicial council
for the affected circuit court, and the affected United States
Attorney as representative of the views of the Department of
Justice, as required in the procedure established by the
``Proceedings of the Judicial Conference, September 21-22,
1978''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF 2 DISTRICTS IN NEW JERSEY.
(a) Creation.--Section 110 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 110. New Jersey
``New Jersey is divided into 2 judicial districts to be known as
the Northern and Southern Districts of New Jersey.
``Northern District
``(a) The Northern District comprises the counties of Bergen,
Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, and Union.
``Court for the Northern District shall be held at Newark.
``Southern District
``(b) The Southern District comprises the counties of Atlantic,
Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon,
Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem, Somerset, and Warren.
``Court for the Southern District shall be held at Camden and
Trenton.''.
(b) Judgeships.--The item relating to New Jersey in the table set
forth in section 133(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended to
read as follows:
``New Jersey:
``Northern............................................. 10
``Southern............................................. 7''.
(c) Bankruptcy Judgeships.--The item relating to New Jersey in the
table set forth in section 152(a)(1) of title 28, United States Code,
is amended to read as follows:
``New Jersey:
``Northern............................................. 4
``Southern............................................. 4''.
SEC. 3. DISTRICT JUDGES, BANKRUPTCY JUDGES, MAGISTRATE JUDGES, UNITED
STATES ATTORNEY, UNITED STATES MARSHAL, AND FEDERAL
PUBLIC DEFENDER.
(a) Transfer of District Judges.--(1) Any district judge of the
District Court of New Jersey who is holding office on the day before
the effective date of this Act and whose official duty station is in
Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, or Union
County shall, on or after such effective date, be a district judge for
the Northern District of New Jersey. Any district judge of the District
Court of New Jersey who is holding office on the day before the
effective date of this Act and whose official duty station is in
Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester,
Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem, Somerset, or Warren County
shall, on and after such effective date, be a district judge of the
Southern District of New Jersey.
(2) Whenever a vacancy occurs in a judgeship in either judicial
district of New Jersey, the vacancy shall first be offered to those
judges appointed before the enactment of this Act and in active service
in the other judicial district of New Jersey at the time of the
vacancy, and of those judges wishing to fill the vacancy, the judge
most senior in service shall fill that vacancy. In such a case, the
President shall appoint a judge to fill the vacancy resulting in the
district of New Jersey from which such judge left office.
(b) Transfer of Bankruptcy and Magistrate Judges.--Any bankruptcy
judge or magistrate judge of the District Court of New Jersey who is
holding office on the day before the effective date of this Act and
whose official duty station is in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex,
Morris, Passaic, Sussex, or Union County shall, on or after such
effective date, be a bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge, as the case
may be, for the Northern District of New Jersey. Any bankruptcy judge
or magistrate judge of the District Court of New Jersey who is holding
office on the day before the effective date of this Act and whose
official duty station is in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May,
Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem,
Somerset, or Warren County shall, on and after such effective date, be
a bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge, as the case may be, of the
Southern District of New Jersey.
(c) United States Attorney, United States Marshal, and Federal
Public Defender.--
(1) Those in office.--This Act and the amendments made by
this Act shall not affect the tenure of office of the United
States attorney, the United States marshal, and the Federal
Public Defender, for the District of New Jersey who are in
office on the effective date of this Act, except that such
individuals shall be the United States attorney, the United
States marshal, and the Federal Public Defender, respectively,
for the Northern District of New Jersey as of such effective
date.
(2) Appointments.--The President shall appoint, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate, a United States attorney
and a United States marshal for the Southern District of New
Jersey. The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit shall
appoint a Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of
New Jersey.
(d) Pending Cases Not Affected.--This Act and the amendments made
by this Act shall not affect any action commenced before the effective
date of this Act and pending in the United States District Court for
the District of New Jersey on such date.
(e) Juries Not Affected.--This Act and the amendments made by this
Act shall not affect the composition, or preclude the service, of any
grand or petit jury summoned, empaneled, or actually serving in the
Judicial District of New Jersey on the effective date of this Act.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) In General.--This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall
take effect 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Appointments.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), the President
and the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit may make the
appointments under section 3(c)(2) at any time after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1128-1129)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1129-1130)
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