ENSURING JUSTICE

Congress Needs To Approve Border Courts

The U.S.-Mexico border from Brownsville to San Diego has become an economic
Times Square, with the crush of goods flowing across it creating a distinct
commercial buzz. But the winding and overlooked stretch of America also is
generating legal problems.

Most notably, border communities have too few federal judges to handle a
rise in drug and immigration cases. As this newspaper reported recently,
the criminal caseloads for border judges runs four times greater than the
average criminal docket across the nation.

The hike partly stems from successful law enforcement. Congress has
dispatched more federal agents to the border to control illegal crossings
and drug shipments. The extra patrols have led to higher arrest rates.

Still, the situation has left border courts looking like an inner city
hell, where judges work as furiously and as forgotten as any overwhelmed
Bronx magistrate. Even with visiting judges and two new courts in Texas,
the situation is a mockery of the constitutional promise of a speedy trial.

Congress and the White House can alleviate this problem in two ways.

First, the Senate must move speedily on legislation sponsored by border
state senators Kay Hutchison, R-Texas, and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to
create more courts along the border. Their bipartisan bill would create
nine new district courts, plus another nine temporary judgeships along the
border.

New Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy could stoke the cause
of justice by promptly reporting the bill out of his panel so the full
Senate can consider additional courts. The new benches could at least
partially relieve the burden on border judges. More than 25 percent of all
federal criminal prosecutions are now filed in the five judicial districts
that run along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Second, the White House should promptly send the nominations of three
judges to Capitol Hill so they can help relieve the overloaded criminal
docket of border judges. On June 12, Texas Sens. Hutchison and Phil Gramm
recommended that the Bush administration nominate state District Judge
Philip Martinez and attorneys Randy Crane and Andrew Hanen to fill three
vacancies in the border courts. Swift action by both the White House and
Senate Judiciary Committee on these nominees is imperative.

Congress was correct to crack down on border enforcement. Now, legislators
must provide the judges to ensure speedy trials.