European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 11, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Doily Magazine there s quite a Jam up in the courts so his Honor would like you All to take a turn at jury duty while you re awaiting trial a Tony Ledwel associated press the 9th . Circuit court of appeals the nation s largest appellate court in the number of cases it handles and the territory it covers is mired in the worst backlog of appeals in the Federal judicial  we Don t get some additional judges in the foreseeable future there Are som cases we will never reach says the chief judge of the 13-member court James  of great Falls Mont the Legal logjam in the 9th circuit is the most extreme example of a malaise affect ing All of the nation s 11 appellate  a recent speech. Chief Justice Warren Burger said some circuits Are in danger of foundering  it takes an average of in months Roget a civil Case heard and resolved in the my circuit by far the longed median time in the country and More than 1,000 appeals Are awaiting Deci Sion. Only the St circuit based in new or leans and handling most of the deep South including Texas rivals the St in workload with about 2,600 cases pending. The St however has two More judges than the9th. The court s Headquarters is in Down town san  simply Aren t enough hours in the Day for the personnel we have com Plains Browning who has been on the court for is years and seen the number of appeals increase 650 per cent the Quality tour work is suffering. It is  cases Are not getting the consideration our litigants Are entitled  presides Over a court that has Long drawn the ire of the attorneys in it territory which encompasses California Oregon Washington Nevada. , Arizona. Alaska. Hawaii and Guam. In Many cases u takes longer to hear the Appeal than it did to try the Case say Carl r. Nil president Olathe Oregon bar. He says the time delay becomes a too to coerce a settlement forcing a party to Settle formless rather than endure a two year Appeal process. Thomas Tang of Phoenix president elect of the Arizona bar association says his state bar has officially come out i favor of an increase in the manpower of the 9th circuit by 10 judges. And Seattle at Torney Stimson bullitt assails the 9lh Cir Cuit As simply too Damn  de Lascher a Ventura calif., lawyer who specializes in appellate cases Calls the logjam  like others he would like to see the circuit split into at least two sub Ciruli. The Senate judiciary committee has and increasing the 9th circuit by 10s, although Lascher suggests that if were enough judges to do the work i would become a mob scene. The circuit is just too bloody big  our court takes the position that wended the additional judges first and then we would consider reorganization Browning says. Tfaye St circuit has fallen behind steadily in its workload during the past decade. In 1988, when the court was increased from nine to u judges there were 1,182 appeals filed. In 1976,there were 2,907. The explosion of appeals the past few years can be traced to population. Con Gress and a growing awareness of the judicial system and How to use it Browning said. Going Down for the third time prisoners now Are guaranteed the right to an attorney at Public expense to handle appeals and there is a near Avalanche of immigration cases in which deportation is automatically suspended pending  must Bear a major snare of the blame for the logjam. Browning  and More legislation is being passed and placed under the Federal court Juris diction without considering its Impact on the court he  rights cases and occupational Hazard cases among others have shifted from the state courts to the Federal courts Over the past several years Brownin said. Now Congress is heavily involved in Energy  he said. Congressional attention is not on the court but Only on  endorses chief Justice Burger s suggestion that an Impact statement detailing How legislation would affect courts called upon to enforce it accompany every Bill introduced. I think it would make Congress think different Way Browning explained. Dis Putes need a mechanism to resolve  the u courts of Appeal were Cre ated by Congress in 1891 a a Bridge Between trial courts and the . Supreme court hoping to slow Down the flood of appeals la the ugh court. There Are Only 97 circuit judges today to handle the 18,408 appeals that were filed nationwide in the 1978 fiscal year. Comparably the same number of judges received 9,116 appeals in 1968.most Federal court matters Are resolved by the 398 District court judges and never appealed once an Appeal is tiled and All documents assembled a hearing Date i scheduled for Oral arguments before a the re judge panel which will decide the  is something we can never get enough of Browning said. It would re quire the work of 22 judges for at least one year or five judges for at least 4 4 years to decide Only the backlogged  according to the judge 9 judge sat on the court in 178 trying to whittle away at the logjam. That be said include u Active 9th circuit court lodges four senior or retired St circuit judges 41 District judges and nine judges from other circuits. By and Large we do Fine work he continued but each Cate gets less and less consideration now. Of course there is noway to accelerate disposition of the Mure difficult cases where the issues Are  saturday june 11, 1977 the stars and stripes Page 13