CHIEF JUSTICE BLAMES CONGRESS FOR WORKLOAD

Creating federal crimes burdens courts, he says

Chief Justice William Rehnquist, in his year-end report on the judiciary,
faulted Congress yesterday for turning local offenses into federal crimes,
a trend that he said has overburdened the U.S. courts.

Last year, the number of new crime cases in the federal judiciary rose by
15 percent, he said, the largest increase in nearly three decades. The rise
was propelled mostly by drug and immigration cases, he added.

Whether controlled by Democrats or Republicans, Congress has regularly
created new federal crimes over the past two decades.

Amid the ``war on drugs'' of the 1980s, Congress authorized federal
prosecutors to go after drug dealers and ``drug kingpins.'' Next came
carjackers, arsonists and those who flee their duty to pay child support.
Recently, House Republicans have been pushing to make various juvenile
offenses into federal crimes.

The chief justice, adhering to the old-fashioned view, says the federal
courts should be reserved for truly national matters.

``The trend to federalize crimes . . . threatens to change entirely the
nature of our federal system,'' Rehnquist said. ``Federal courts were not
created to adjudicate local crimes, no matter how sensational or heinous
the crimes may be. State courts do, can and should handle such problems.''

At the Supreme Court, Rehnquist has pressed the same theme during his
26-year career.

In death penalty cases, he has repeatedly called for a more hands-off
approach by federal judges. When U.S. judges in California act to block the
state from imposing a death sentence, Rehnquist can be counted upon to vote
in favor of returning the matter to state officials.

He also successfully persuaded Congress in 1996 to change federal law to
make it harder for state death row inmates to have their cases reviewed by
federal judges.

In his year-end report, he urged the House Judiciary Committee to hold
hearings to set general standards for when crimes should be federalized.

Rehnquist suggested that federal jurisdiction be limited to crimes that
cross state lines or those involving ``high-level state or local government
corruption,'' which cannot be entrusted to state courts. A threshold
consideration for creating a new federal crime is a ``demonstrated state
failure'' to handle the matter, he said.

Last year, the conservative chief justice used his year-end report to scold
Senate Republicans for stalling on voting on President Clinton's nominees
to the federal bench. His rebuke appeared to bring results.

In 1998, 65 judges were confirmed by the Senate, a marked improvement from
the 36 approvals in 1997 and 16 in 1996.