NCJ Number
149577
Journal
St. Johns Law Review Volume: 67 Issue: 4 Dated: (Fall 1993) Pages: 757-797
Date Published
1993
Length
41 pages
Annotation
This article examines the relationship between Federal district court judicial vacancies and delays in processing the civil caseload.
Abstract
The hypotheses tested are several configurations of the hypothesis that "judicial vacancies cause delay." The statistical method of analysis of covariance was used to test this hypothesis and thereby evaluate the degree to which delays, defined by reference to certain case management statistics, are correlated to vacancy rates in individual Federal district courts and within the Federal system as a whole. The study used the case management statistics compiled and reported annually by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts for each of 90 Federal district courts. Nineteen variables were identified or calculated; taken together, they provide an objective profile of the caseload and case management profiles of each Federal district court included in the study. The data indicate that whether vacancy rates are expressed in terms of absolute vacancies or as a percentage of judicial capacity, there is no relationship between judicial vacancies and the traditional indicators that the Administrative Office of the United States Courts has used to measure civil litigation delay in the district courts. Part I explains the data used in the analyses, discusses the methodology, and presents and explains the result. Part II offers some explanations for the lack of relationship that the data showed and suggests probable causes of delay in many Federal courts. The author theorizes that the personalities of court personnel, including the judges, and court management styles are the crucial factors that most affect case delay. 13 figures and 100 footnotes