NCJ Number
144244
Date Published
1991
Length
76 pages
Annotation
The Administrative Office of the United States Court is required to submit a semiannual report to the chief judges of the Federal circuit courts, detailing statistics on court workloads.
Abstract
In 1990, the prosecution of drug-related offenses declined for the first time since the 1980's; drug filings, which rose by 53 percent between 1986 and 1989, decreased 5 percent in 1990. While this decline was primarily due to a drop in filings in one district, combined filings of all other districts rose by only 1 percent. However, U.S. courts of appeals had a 15-percent increase in their drug-related caseload. Civil filings in U.S. district courts continued a decline that began in 1985, falling by 6 percent. There were substantial decreases in lawsuits filed by the U.S. government related to defaulted student loan and overpayment of veterans' benefits, as well as fewer lawsuits filed against the U.S. for denied Social Security benefits. The number of bankruptcy cases filed rose by 11 percent in 1990, topping the 1 million mark for the first time. 8 tables, 5 figures, and 10 appendixes