Second Regular Session
Sixty-first General Assembly
LLS NO. R980606.01 JJC
STATE OF COLORADO
BY REPRESENTATIVES Grossman, Leyba, Tate, Udall,
and Veiga.
JUDICIARY
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 98-1011
WHEREAS, Chief Justice William Rehnquist issued his
annual YearEnd Report on the Federal Judiciary on January
1, 1998; and
WHEREAS, Chief Justice Rehnquist, in that report,
pointedly expressed his disapproval of the slow pace of confirmation
of federal judges by the U.S. Senate; and
WHEREAS, The President shares the responsibility
for nominating federal judges with the U.S. Senate, making such
appointments by and with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate;
and
WHEREAS, Courts of appeals and bankruptcy filings
were at their highest rates in history in fiscal year 1997; and
WHEREAS, There was a five percent increase in criminal
cases in federal court in 1997 alone, creating the largest federal
criminal caseload in sixty years; and
WHEREAS, Bankruptcy filings increased twentythree
percent in 1997 alone, with the overall increase coming predominantly
from nonbusiness filings; and
WHEREAS, Congress has not created any new judgeships
since 1990, but the federal appeals court caseload has increased
twentyone percent and the federal district court caseload
has increased twentyfour percent in that same time; and
WHEREAS, While there are no pending federal judicial
vacancies in Colorado, the Judicial Conference of the United States
recommended in 1996 that one temporary and one permanent judgeship
be created for the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado,
but Congress has yet to act on that recommendation; and
WHEREAS, Judge Zita Weinshienk of the U.S. District
Court for the District of Colorado has announced that she will
be taking senior status in April of this year, thus creating a
vacancy in the federal judiciary serving Colorado; and
WHEREAS, Judges Clarence Brimmer and Alan Johnson
of Cheyenne and Judge William Downes of Casper, all of the U.S.
District Court for the District of Wyoming, have each been assisting
with the pending federal caseload in Colorado, each taking approximately
onethird of a fulltime caseload in Colorado; and
WHEREAS, In his annual report, Chief Justice Rehnquist
maintained that judicial vacancies contribute to a backlog of
cases, undue delays in civil cases, and stopgap measures to shift
judicial personnel; and
WHEREAS, Nearly one in ten federal judgeships is
currently vacant, and there are now twentysix vacancies
in the federal judiciary that have been awaiting Senate disposition
for eighteen months or longer and now constitute "judicial
emergencies"; and
WHEREAS, The U.S. Senate has confirmed only fiftythree
federal judges over the last two years, compared to confirming
one hundred one judges in 1994 alone; and
WHEREAS, In his annual report, Chief Justice Rehnquist
asserted that: "Vacancies cannot remain at such high levels
indefinitely without eroding the quality of justice that traditionally
has been associated with the federal judiciary"; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives
of the Sixtyfirst General Assembly of the State of Colorado,
the Senate concurring herein:
(1) That the General Assembly requests
the U.S. Senate to timely act upon all pending and future nominations
for federal judgeships.
(2) That the General Assembly requests
the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate to timely review and
act upon the qualifications of nominees for the federal judiciary
and, after the necessary time for inquiry, to so inform the rest
of the Senate and to bring pending nominations to prompt resolutions.
(3) That the General Assembly expresses
its concern to both the President and the U.S. Senate regarding
the continuing harm to the state of the federal judiciary due
to a prolonged nomination and confirmation process.
Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent to Senator Wayne Allard and to Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, and, in addition, to all members of the United States Senate, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and to the President urging them to expedite the nomination and confirmation of federal judges consistent with the appeal by Chief Justice Rehnquist.