Hearing on judicial budget cuts has focus on Brooklyn’s court
The New York County Lawyers Association Task Force on Judicial Budget Cuts will hold a day-long public hearing to receive testimony about the continuing impact of judicial budget cuts on the administration of justice.
A September report by the Task Force revealed the dire need to address increased workloads and decreased budgets within federal courts. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Julia Gibbons noted, “overall, the Judiciary’s workload is at or near record levels in most filing categories,” including increasing “bankruptcy, immigration, and pretrial and post-trial supervision needs.”
Budgets have been decreasing rapidly. The Eastern District of New York’s (EDNY’s) Fiscal Year 2013 budget was less than that of Fiscal Year 2008, which in turn was less than the Fiscal Year 2005 budget, the Task Force report stated. Congress has been lowering the budgets for the majority of federal branches and agencies, with the most signficiant instances being the December 2012 sequester and the October government shutdown.