| OCR Text |
Show 33 LAW AND ORDER Ibid., pp. 12, 34. CQ Almalllac, p. 225. CQ Weekly Report; April 9, 1971; p. 832. CQ Weekly Report; June 4, 1971; p.1221. 25. 26. 27. 28. 1971 THE PROBLEM-IMPROVING OUR D. COURT SYSTEM Caseloads in our courts are increasing at a rapid rate. • From 1937 to 1970, United States District Courts have had a 166 per cent increase in the number of civil cases filed, but only a 13 per cent increase in criminal cases. The U.S. Courts of Appeals have a 261 per cent increase in cases appealed, and the U.S. Supreme Court has had a 259 per cent increase in cases brought before it. The population of the U.S. has increased only 60 per cent during the had same time span.' 98 per cent increase in the number of Federal judges and a 108 per cent increase in U.S. District Appeals Court judges from 1937 to 1970.2 • There has been a Court • In 1962 in the lower state courts, alone were brought. In 1965, over four million misdemeanor single judge for the Detroit .Early Session Division had to handle over 20,000 misdemeanor and nontraffic petty offense cases. A typical judge in an adult lower court must take action on 300 or more cases a day," cases • In their 1969 a report, the Advisory Commission on Intergovern mental Relations said, "The consequences of heavy workload are seen in overcrowded corridors and long calendars that allow only cursory consideration of individual cases. The crush of the court caseload tends to make docket-clearing the primary objective of the lower court process, to the detriment of defendants' rights, careful sifting of facts, and judicious determination of appropriate sen tence.! Costs of administering court systems are state and local government fiscal crisis. another aspect of the According to the Advisory Commission, "local governments bear about 75 per cent of the total cost of State-local court ex penditures. Only seven states finance 90 per cent or more of the • costs of lower courts. About 20 states subsidize of the expenses of general trial courts.?" significant portions |
