MORE FEDERAL JUDGES NEEDED ALONG BORDER

Beefed-up drug and immigration law enforcement is wreaking havoc in federal
courts across the southwest border region.

Between 1994 and 1998, criminal filings in the region, which includes
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, have increased from 6,460 to
14,517, primarily due to more illegal immigration and drug cases.

Officials expect that by 2002 the five border judicial districts will
handle a third of all federal criminal cases in the United States.

Lawyers along the border shy away from filing civil federal cases because
of the clogged dockets.

The problem with the crowded dockets in courts along the border is not new.

Previous attempts to pass bills creating more judgeships have been stalled
by partisan politics.

Hopefully, legislation introduced last week by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein,
D-Calif., will meet with a better conclusion. She wants 18 new federal
courts for border states.

Under the proposed bill, S. 147, the Southern District of Texas, which
includes the Rio Grande Valley, would get one judge and the Western
District, which includes San Antonio, would get two permanent and one
temporary court.

The five districts earmarked for the new judgeships handle 26 percent of
all criminal cases in the United States today.

The other 74 percent of the cases are distributed among the 99 other
federal courts in the country.

Additional federal benches in the Southwest border region are a necessity,
and the courts are needed now.