NCJ Number
108593
Journal
Harvard Law Review Volume: 100 Issue: 6 Dated: (April 1987) Pages: 1400-1416
Date Published
1987
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The creation of an Intercircuit Panel to hear cases on reference from the U.S. Supreme Court would be the most effective means of dealing with the current unreasonable workload burden on the Court and of achieving a more satisfactory measure of uniformity in our national law.
Abstract
Awareness of the Court's excessive workload has existed for many years. Since the 1960's, both the numbers and complexity of cases have increased sharply. A large number of the cases are intercircuit conflicts cases. These cases both add to the Court's workload and make it difficult for the Court to achieve its institutional task of securing harmony of decisions in Federal law. Several solutions to the problem have been proposed, but many involve substantial problems of their own. Increasing the number of summary dispositions or extending the length of the court term would increase the Court's workload intolerably. Requiring five votes instead of the current four to grant review of a case would reduce access to the Court. Reducing the number of conferences to consider requests for review or dividing the Court into panels to hear cases would have only a minimal impact on the justices' workload. Other proposals that also present problems are eliminating the mandatory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, trying to establish guidelines, having Congress monitor and resolve the conflicting decisions of the courts of appeals, or making nationally binding the decision of the first court of appeals to consider an issue. In contrast, establishing an Intercircuit Panel would deal with one-third of the cases now before the Court. Discussions over the form that the panel should take should not obscure the basic desirability of establishing this new national appellate body. 85 references.