Senior Judges Play Big Role In EDCA Court

Here are some tidbits from John Ellis's piece in yesterday's Fresno Bee:

In California’s eastern federal judicial district — which includes courthouses in Fresno and Sacramento — the numbers were even higher. Senior judges here closed out almost 34% of cases in 2014. According to TRAC data, active Eastern District judges adjudicated 2,836 cases last year, while senior judges handled 1,446.

Nationally, the reason is simple, TRAC researchers say: Court cases are growing, but Congress has failed to add additional judge positions. Lawmakers are also slow to fill open positions.

 Taken together, it “clearly exacerbates the workload crisis in our district,” said federal judge Anthony W. Ishii, who retired and moved to senior status in October 2012. “This, in turn, places greater emphasis on the need for our senior district judges to continue to carry a substantial caseload.”

 

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The Eastern District of California currently has six authorized district judge positions. Four of those are in Sacramento and two are in Fresno. Bills pushed by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein to increase that number have gone nowhere in Congress.

In Fresno, Lawrence J. O’Neill is the only active district judge. Though Ishii moved to senior status more than two-and-a-half years ago, he is still waiting for his replacement to be approved. Dale A. Drozd, a magistrate judge in Sacramento, has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee to replace Ishii, but he still awaits final Senate approval. When, and if, approval comes, Drozd will set up shop as a full-time district judge in Fresno.