The FBA, San Diego Chapter joined the National FBA's effort to urge Congress to consider legislation that would add federal judgeships across the country. As part of its non-partisan Issues Agenda, the FBA supports establishing new judgeships when rising caseloads in the federal courts threaten the prompt delivery of justice.
Writing to Senators Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein and Representatives Darrell Issa, Sara Jacobs, Mike Levin, Scott Peters, and Juan Vargas, the San Diego Chapter emphasized that our courts are severely overburdened. New judgeships are urgently needed to relieve the backlog and ensure that justice in our courts is not unduly delayed or in effect denied as a result of these hindrances.
The Chapter highlighted that, according to the Judicial Conference, a manageable district court caseload is 430 weighted filings per year. For the period ending June 30, 2021, the weighted caseload for the Southern District of California was 658. And some other courts faced as many as 903 weighted filings per year.
Therefore, the Chapter drew the Senators' attention to the bipartisan JUDGES Act, S. 2535, and the Representatives' attention to two judgeship bills pending in the House: H.R. 4885, which was sponsored by Reps. Issa, Peters, and Vargas, and H.R. 4886. The Chapter urged the legislators to work with their colleagues on both sides of the aisle to provide a solution to the pressing burden on our federal courts and judges.