Rehnquist Urges Filling Vacant Judgeships

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist is urging President Clinton and the Senate to fill 113 vacant federal judgeships in 1994, including some that have gone unoccupied for the past four years.

“There is perhaps no issue more important to the judiciary right now than this serious judicial vacancy problem,” Rehnquist wrote in his year-end report on the federal courts.

“I hope that in the coming year the executive and legislative branches will take the necessary steps to fill these vacancies,” he said.

The Senate confirmed 28 new federal judges last year, but Rehnquist noted that the remaining vacancies represent more than 13% of all authorized judgeships.

He said 64 of the 113 vacancies have existed for over 18 months, “some as long as four years.”

“Were it not for the dedication of our hard-working senior (semi-retired) judges, the courts would be addressing an even more serious backlog today,” Rehnquist said.

He also said federal courts must continue to adjust to the demands of “an era of austerity.”

“Just as now we have a clearer sense that federal budget resources are finite, we need also to recognize that the judicial machinery the budget supports is a scarce commodity,” he said.

Rehnquist, the nation’s top judge, said “doing justice” in the future will be based on “the greatest good for the greatest number, not simply on . . . which litigant has the most resources, is the most insistent or can best manipulate the system.”

He said federal courts must provide more management of litigation, more control of lawyer and litigant choices and more assurances that costs don’t diminish too greatly the value of any recovery.

Greater fiscal responsibility, accountability and efficiency is needed, Rehnquist added.

“Our challenge will be to preserve the best of our current adversary system--and thereby do justice--while recognizing the new realities.

“Undoubtedly, some of the changes that will come about as a result of these efforts will please neither judges, court employees nor the legal profession.”