Demand Justice Praises Rep. Hank Johnson for New Circuit Court Expansion Bill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 22, 2022

CONTACT: [email protected] 

WASHINGTON, DC—Following news that Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, introduced The Circuit Court Judgeships Act of 2022 to create 51 new circuit court judgeships across eight judicial circuits, Demand Justice Chief Counsel Christopher Kang released the following statement:

“Chairman Johnson has been a champion leading the charge to modernize the federal judiciary, which has been suffering from a shortage of judges and a severe case backlog. Without expanding the courts of appeal, the judiciary cannot adequately ensure justice and is failing the American people. Rep. Johnson has a deep understanding of how to address the crisis in our courts at all levels, adopting the Judicial Conference’s own benchmarks for judicial workload to improve the administration of justice. Congress should pass this legislation without delay.” 

Last year, 46 organizations sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee calling for the creation of new federal judgeships, highlighting that the number of judgeships has remained largely the same since 1990, even as case filings and our country’s population have increased dramatically since then. The Circuit Court Judgeships Act, combined with the District Court Judgeships Act introduced last year, provide a non-partisan methodology for addressing this workload crisis. Increasing the number of lower court judges also would provide more opportunities to create a federal judiciary that reflects the diversity of our nation. 

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