Brooklyn federal court employees are deemed ‘essential’
As the United States government continues its stalemate on the federal budget and negotiations on the raising the debt ceiling, the government remains in shutdown, forcing hundreds of thousands of U.S. federal employees home from their jobs without pay.
Many federal entities have remained open during the government shutdown because the work done by these entities is deemed essential, since they assist in the protection of “human life and property.” When the shutdown was announced on Oct. 1, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced, in its contingency plan, that a “high percentage of [justice] activities and employees…can continue during a lapse in appropriations.”
Criminal litigation taking place in Brooklyn’s federal courts is not interrupted, but civil litigation is to be curtailed and limited wherever possible. The determination of which employees associated with civil litigation in Brooklyn’s federal courts, including EEOC claims, bankruptcy court, and federal civil rights cases, will be affected depends on which are deemed to be essential to the “safety of human life or the protection of property,” the DOJ noted and Robert Nardoza, spokesman for Eastern District U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch, confirmed.