Justice Roberts Call for End to
Court Funding Cuts
Tuesday, 31 Dec 2013 06:14 PM
Congress and the White House need to
restore funding to the nation's federal courts to keep from undermining
"the public's confidence in all three branches of government," Chief Justice John Roberts said Tuesday in his year-end
report.
Roberts has made similar calls for more
money in the past. "I would like to choose a fresher topic, but duty
calls. The budget remains the single most important issue facing the
courts," he said.
The courts have been severely impacted by
government cost-cutting, Roberts said.
"The combined effects since July 2011
of flat budgets followed by sequestration reduced on-board court staffing
levels by 3,100 (14 percent) to about 19,000 employees — the lowest staffing
level since 1997, despite significant workload increases over that same period
— and reduced federal defender offices staffing by 11 percent in fiscal year
2013 alone," he said.
What would happen if the sequestration
cuts continue? If Congress instead freezes court funding at sequester level, it
"would lead to the loss of an estimated additional 1,000 court
staff," Roberts said. "The first consequence would be greater delays
in resolving civil and criminal cases. In the civil and bankruptcy venues,
further consequences would include commercial uncertainty, lost opportunities and
unvindicated rights. In the criminal venues, those consequences pose a genuine
threat to public safety."
Court officials are calling for $7.04
billion for fiscal year 2014, which they calculate at less than two-tenths of 1
percent of total federal outlays.
"In the coming weeks, and into the
future, I encourage the president and Congress to be attentive to the needs of
the judicial branch and avert the adverse consequences that would result from
funding the judiciary below its minimal needs," Roberts said.
"The judiciary continues to depend on
the vision and statesmanship of our colleagues in the executive and legislative
departments. It takes no imagination to see that failing to meet the
judiciary's essential requirements undermines the public's confidence in all
three branches of government."
The judiciary system also is working to
save money by ensuring any new space requested by a judicial circuit is offset
by an equivalent reduction in the same fiscal year. The courts also are looking
to reduce their overall space by 3 percent by the end of fiscal 2018.
"The only exceptions from these
policies are new courthouses and repair and alterations projects specifically
approved by Congress," Roberts said.
John Roberts
John G.
Roberts Jr. is the chief justice for the U.S. Supreme
Court, an honorary member of the Robert Trent
Jones Golf Club (Gainesville,
VA), and the
chancellor for the Smithsonian Institution.
Note: Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is
the president emeritus for the Robert Trent Jones Golf
Club (Gainesville, VA), an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a director at the American
Friends of Bilderberg (think
tank), was the president for the Economic Club of
Washington, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
David
M. Rubenstein is the president for the Economic Club of
Washington, a regent for the
Smithsonian Institution, and a trustee
at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Committee for Economic
Development.
George Soros
is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open
Society.
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), the Committee
for Economic Development, and the Smithsonian
Institution.
Shirley
Ann Jackson is a trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), a
trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development, and a regent for the Smithsonian
Institution.
Joseph
R. Biden Jr. is a regent for the Smithsonian Institution, and the vice president for the Barack Obama administration.
John
W. McCarter Jr. is a regent for the
Smithsonian Institution, a member of
the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was the
SVP for Booz Allen Hamilton.
Booz
Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency
(NSA).
Edward
Snowden leaked information about the National Security Agency (NSA),
and an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Robert
S. Osborne is the EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen
Hamilton, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Walter E.
Massey is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and was a regent for the Smithsonian Institution.
R. Eden
Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama
was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Newton N.
Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
W.
James McNerney Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing Company.
Barbara
G. Fast was a VP at the Boeing Company,
and a VP for the CGI Group Inc.
CGI
Group Inc. was the Obamacare
contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.
Obamacare
is Barack Obama’s signature policy
initiative.
Donna S.
Morea was the EVP for the CGI Group Inc.,
and a trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development.
Alan G. Spoon
is a trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development, and was a regent for the Smithsonian
Institution.
Shirley
Ann Jackson is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, a
trustee at the Brookings Institution (think
tank), and a regent for the Smithsonian Institution.
Cyrus
F. Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory
A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Valerie
B. Jarrett is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
the senior adviser for the Barack Obama
administration, and her great uncle is Vernon E.
Jordan Jr.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, an honorary trustee at the
Brookings Institution (think tank), a
director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), the president emeritus for the Robert Trent
Jones Golf Club (Gainesville,
VA), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think
tank).
John G.
Roberts Jr. is an honorary member of the Robert Trent
Jones Golf Club (Gainesville,
VA), the chancellor
for the Smithsonian Institution, and the chief
justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.
No comments:
Post a Comment