FEDERAL COURTS NEED ENOUGH FUNDING TO CARRY OUT JUSTICE

Senate appropriations for the federal judiciary are $280 million short of
what it will take next year to maintain court operations at this fiscal
year's level, Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist complained in a
letter to Congress. The House passed a bill that, according to Rehnquist,
is only slightly better, falling $180 million short of current needs.

Rehnquist may or may not be correct in his assertion that the judicial
branch needs a minimum of $4.1 billion in 2000 merely to sustain itself.
But there is a respectable amount of evidence to back up the claim that the
Congress is pinching the federal courts.

Since 1996, federal criminal case filings and pretrial investigations are
up 35 percent, and bankruptcy cases are up 24 percent. Furthermore, more
than three dozen vacant federal judicial positions have led to backlogs in
many of the nation's courts.

Nonetheless, the Senate is proposing to fund the courts at only 1996 staff
levels. That could mean a 10-day furlough for nonjudicial court personnel,
Rehnquist warns. Ultimate passage of either the Senate or House versions of
the funding bills would likely mean even existing staff vacancies could not
be filled.

The public will bear the fallout of a court system that does not function
properly, including delayed case dispositions, dismissal of criminal cases
when provisions of the Speedy Trial Act are not met and compromised public
safety if too few probation officers are supervising too many felons.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., pointed out that agreed-on
spending caps mean the federal courts will have to bear the same kinds of
sacrifices that other government agencies will be called on to make --
resolve that no doubt will delight taxpayers. But it is just as likely that
the judiciary asked for at least a tad more than absolutely required to
carry on -- as is the wont of virtually every entity seeking congressional
budget approval.

A responsible Congress will provide the courts at least enough money to
maintain the reasonable flow of justice and to avoid jeopardizing public
safety.