Court Funding and Cost Containment

In his year-end report, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said that despite a decade of cost-cutting efforts, federal courts need help in overcoming budget damage caused by sequestration.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit had a problem. With four appellate judges in its Philadelphia courthouse approaching senior status, there wasn’t enough room to construct chambers for the new judges who would fill their seats.

Four non-resident court facilities are being closed in the final months of 2013, as part of a continuing effort to reduce federal Judiciary expenses.

When two chief probation officers in neighboring states crossed district lines, the Judiciary saved money and personnel.

The government is running again, but federal district and bankruptcy courts and those who practice in them were shaken, to varying degrees, by the government’s 17-day shutdown at the start of the new fiscal year.

Thirty-one federal court facilities will be downsized or closed in a nationwide program to reduce work space, claiming more than $1.7 million in incentives to release underused offices back to the General Services Administration (GSA).

At its biannual meeting, the Judicial Conference approved the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures. Conference actions continue the Judiciary's decade-long cost-containment efforts that have become increasingly aggressive as sequestration triggered broad cuts in court staff and programs.

In a September 10 letter, the Judiciary has appealed to President Obama for the funding necessary in fiscal year 2014 to perform its essential constitutional functions. Without it, the federal courts face additional reductions in staff and services that will severely affect individuals and businesses seeking to resolve disputes.