U.S. Judiciary: Chief Justice John Roberts Issues 2015 Year-End Report

John Roberts, Chief Justice of the United States, issued a 2015 year-end report on the judiciary.

The Chief Justice focused on amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCivP), which became effective on December 1, 2015. The Chief Justice remarked that the government is responsible for providing a tribunal for peaceful resolution of disputes. Unlike that that occurred in the history of the United States, when disputes were resolved by dueling.

The Chief Justice noted that an advisory committee in 2010 determined that “while the federal courts are fundamentally sound, in many cases civil litigation has become too expensive, time consuming, and contentious, inhibiting effective access to the courts.”

[Author’s note: I have noticed the profound injustice explained in this observation in the employment discrimination case facing the Federal Reserve Board–Artis v. Greenspan Bernanke Yellen. The length, circuitous route, and incredible expense of time (18+ years), effort and money that the plaintiffs have had to endure in this case to resolve this claim is offensive to the conscience. Such conditions demonstrate that the court system is also broken.]

The advisory committee in 2010, the Chief Justice explained, identified four needs for procedural reform, which would–

• Encourage greater cooperation among counsel,
• Focus discovery–the process of obtaining information within the control of the opposing party–on what is truly necessary to resolve the case,
• Engage judges in early and active case management, and
• Address serious new problems associated with vast amounts of electronically stored information.

 

The Chief Justice then described some of the changes brought by the amended FRCivP envision that the parties and the court work toward controlling the time and expense of litigation.

The Chief Justice explained that idea is contained within Rule 1 of the amended FRCivP, which provides that “the Federal Rules should be construed, administered, and employed by the court and the parties to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding.”

The Chief Justice noted that fulfillment of this goal can only occur with the willingness of the legal community to make it happen.

[Note 1: Judicial pay has increased for 2016. See Executive Order 13715, schedule 7) (https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/pay-executive-order-2016-adjustments-of-certain-rates-of-pay.pdf).

 

Position	Pay in 2010-2013 (in dollars)	Pay in 2014 (in dollars)	Pay in 2015 (in dollars)	Pay in 2016 (in dollars)
Chief Justice of the United States	223,500	255,500	255,500	260,700
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court	213,900	244,400	244,400	249,300
Circuit Judges	184,500	211,200	211,200	215,400
District Judges	174,000	199,100	199,100	203,100
Judges of the Court of International Trade	174,000	199,100	199,100	203,100

]

In the appendix to the report, the Chief Justice provides and explanation of the workload of the judiciary. I will focus on the Supreme Court’s workload. Eight per curiam decisions were issued during this term in cases that were not argued.

	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Filings	8521	8857	8241	7738	8159	7857	7713	7509	7376	7033
In forma pauperis	6846	7132	6627	6142	6576	6299	6160	6005	5808	5488
Paid docket	1671	1723	1614	1596	1583	1558	1553	1504	1568	1545
Cases:
argued	87	78	75	87	82	86	79	77	79	75
disposed	82	74	72	83	77	83	73	76	77	75
signed opinions	69	67	67	74	73	75	64	73	67	66