Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1994 : hearing before the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and Judicial Administration of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Third Congress, second session, on H.R. 4357 ... June 30

212 Pages·1994·6 MB·English

by  United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and Judicial Administration

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FEDERAL COURTS IMPROVEMENT OF 1994

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FEDERAL COURTS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1994
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
JACK BROOKS, Texas, Chairman
DON EDWARDS, California HAMILTON FISH, JR., New York
JOHN CONYERS, JR., Michigan CARLOS J. MOORHEAD, California
ROMANO L. MAZZOLI, Kentucky HENRYJ. HYDE, Illinois
WILLIAM J. HUGHES, New Jersey F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR.,
MIKE SYNAR, Oklahoma Wisconsin
PATRICIA SCHROEDER, Colorado BILL McCOLLUM, Florida
DAN GLICKMAN, Kansas GEORGE W. GEKAS, Pennsylvania
BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts HOWARD COBLE. North Carolina
CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California STEVEN SCHIFF, New Mexico
RICK BOUCHER, Virginia JIM RAMSTAD, Minnesota
JOHN BRYANT, Texas ELTON GALLEGLY, California
GEORGE E. SANGMEISTER, Illinois CHARLES T. CANADY, Florida
CRAIG A. WASHINGTON, Texas BOB INGLIS, South Carolina
JACK REED, Rhode Island BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia
JERROLD NADLER, New York
ROBERT C. SCOTT, Virginia
DAVID MANN, Ohio
MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina
XAVIER BECERRA, California
Jonathan R. Yakowsky, General Counsel
Robert A. LembO, Counsel/Administrator
ALAN F. Coffey, Jr., Minority ChiefCounsel
Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and Judicial Administration
WILLIAM J HUGHES, New Jersey, Chairman
DON EDWARDS, California CARLOS J. MOORHEAD. California
JOHN CONYERS, Jr., Michigan HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina
RAMANO L. MAZZOLI, Kentucky HAMILTON FISH, Jr., New York
MIKE SYNAR, Oklahoma F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, Jr.,
BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts Wisconsin \
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California BILL McCOLLUM, Florida
JACK REED, Rhode Island STEVEN SCHIFF, New Mexico
XAVIER BECERRA, California
Hayden W. Gregory, Counsel
Edward O'Connelx., Assistant Counsel \
William F. Patry, Assistant Counsel
JarILYN DUPONT,Assistant Counsel
Thomas E. Mooney, Minority Counsel
Joseph V. Wolfe,Minority Counsel
\
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(II)
CONTENTS
HEARING DATE
Page
June 30, 1994 1
TEXT OF BILL
H.R. 4357 3
OPENING STATEMENT
Hughes, Hon. William J., a Representative in Congress from the State of
New Jersey, and chairman, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and
Judicial Administration • 1
WITNESSES
Tacha, Deanell Reece, judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit,
and Chair, Committee on the Judicial Branch, Judicial Conference of the
United States, on behalfofthe Judicial Conference ofthe UnitedStates 53
Wray, Henry R., Director, Administration ofJustice Issues, General Govern-
ment Division, U.S. General Accounting Office, accompanied by Linda D.
Koontz, Associate Director, Information Resource Management Division;
William O. Jenkins, Assistant Director, Administration of Justice Issues,
General Government Division; and Brian C. Spencer, Assistant Director,
Information Resource Management, Accounting and Information Manage-
ment Division •• •• ^^^
Zobel, Rya W., judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts,
and Chair, Committee on Automation and Technology, Judicial Conference
of the United States, on behalf of the Judicial Conference of the United
States, accompanied by Roy Carter, Assistant Director for Automation and
Technology, Administrative Office ofthe U.S. Courts 102
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
Tacha, Deanell Reece, judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit,
and Chair, Committee on the Judicial Branch, Judicial Conference of the
United States, on behalf of the Judicial Conference of the United States:
Prepared statement 57
Wray, Henry R., Director, Administration ofJustice Issues, General Govern-
ment Division, U.S. General Accounting Office: Prepared statement 144
Zobel, Rya W., judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts,
and Chair, Committee on Automation and Technology, Judicial Conference
of the United States, on behalf of the Judicial Conference of the United
States: Prepared statement 106
APPENDIXES
Appendix 1.—Section-by-section analysis of H.R., 4357, the Federal Courts
Improvement Act of1994 "••• 167
Appendix 2.—Letter from R. William Ide III, past president, American Bar
Association, to Hon. William J. Hughes, chairman. Subcommittee on Intel-
lectualProperty andJudicial Administration,June 29, 1994 202
(111)

FEDERAL COURTS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF
1994
THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 1994
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Intellectual Property
AND JUDICL\L ADMESflSTRATION,
Committee on the Judicl\ry,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room
2237, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. William J. Hughes
(chairman ofthe subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Representatives William J. Hughes, Don Edwards,
Romano L. Mazzoli, Xavier Becerra, Carlos J. Moorhead, and
Howard Coble.
Also present: Hayden Gregory, counsel; Edward O'Connell, as-
sistant counsel; Phyllis Henderson, secretary; and Joseph Wolfe,
minority counsel.
OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMANHUGHES
Mr. Hughes. The Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and Ju-
dicial Administration will come to order.
Good morning and welcome to this morning's hearing.
The Chair has received a request to cover this hearing in whole
or in part by television broadcast, radio broadcast, still photog-
raphy or by any of such methods, in accordance with committee
rule 5(a). Permission will be granted, unless there is objection.
Hearing none, permission will be granted.
Let me just advise those that are here for our markup on the
performance rights bill, that there will not be a markup today. Un-
fortunately, the House late last night indicated that there would be
no legislative session today, just a pro forma session. For that rea-
son, I am putting off the markup of that legislation until we get
back in mid-July.
Welcome to the subcommittee's hearing this morning on H.R,
4357, the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1994. H.R. 4357 con-
sists of over 40 legislative proposals adopted by the Judicial Con-
ference ofthe United States over a number ofyears.
A
few ofthe provisions are within the responsibility ofother sub-
committees, and we will not be focusing on those particular provi-
sions. We also have previously discussed the in-State plaintiff di-
versity portion of H.R. 4357 in a prior hearing. Today we will dis-
cuss the remaining sections of that bill which the Judicial Con-
ference characterizes as being primarily housekeeping in nature.
(1)
My judgment, however, is that many of these proposals rise to
a Httle higher level than housekeeping, and I would encourage our
witnesses from the judicial branch to spell out those provisions
which are their priorities so we can expedite our consideration of
these matters in the waning days ofthe Congress.
In my memo to the subcommittee members, I have identified two
such proposals which I believe need special attention. They are sec-
tion 202, dealing with the judicial automation fund, and section
401, which would revise the "rule of 80" to permit a judge with 20
years ofjudicial service who has reached the age of60 to take sen-
ior status.
I highlighted the judicial automation fund since it is only author-
ized until September 30 ofthis year, and some congressional action
needs to be taken in the next few months. The automation fund
provides procedures whereby the judiciary can spend funds over
multiple fiscal years, which normally must be expended in one fis-
cal year. This provides the judiciary with both stability and flexibil-
m
ity their automation program.
Fund obligations in this program have been about $350 million
in the last 4 years, and I believe on the whole it served the judici-
ary and the public fairly well. However, there are problems with
the fund which we should pursue prior to any reauthorization. We
have a lot of ground to cover today, so I am not going to say any-
thing further.
[The bill, H.R. 4357, follows:]
103d congress H. R. 4357
2d Session
To make improvementsin theoperation and administration ofthe Federal
courts, and forotherpurposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 5, 1994
Mr. Hughes (forhimselfand Mr. Moorhead) (both byrequest) introduced
the followingbill;whichwas referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A
BILL
To make improvements in the operation and administration
of the Federal courts, and for other purposes.
1 Be it enacted hy the Senate and House ofRepresenta-
2 tives ofthe United States ofAmerica in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION1. SHORTTITLEANDTABLE OFCONTENTS.
—
4 (a) Short Title. This Act may be cited as the
5 "Federal Courts ImprovementAct of 1994".
—
6 (b) Table of Contents. The following is the table
7 ofcontents for thisAct:
Section 1. Shorttitleandtableofcontents.
TITLE I—FEDERAL COURTS STUDY COM^HTTEE
RECOMMENDATIONS
Sec. 101. Diversityjurisdiction.
Sec. 102. Prisonercivil rightssuits.
Sec. 103. Parties' consent to bankruptcyjudge's findings and conclusions of
law.
Sec. 104. EnforcementofNationalLaborRelationsBoardorders.
Sec. 105. QualificationofdiiefjudgeofCourtofInternationalTrade.
Sec. 106. Judicialcost-of-livingii
nTLE n—JUDICIAL FINANCIAL ADMINISTRA-nON
Sec. 201. Reimbursementofjodidaiyfordvilandcriminal forfeitureexpenses.
Sec. 202. Amendmentstothejudidaiyautomationfund.
Sec. 203. Increaseincivilactionfilingfee.
Sec. 204. Increaseinattorneyadmissionfees.
Sec. 205. Transferofretirementfunds.
Sec. 206. Consolidationofunclaimedregistiyfunds.
Sec. 207. Interpreterperformanceexaminationfees.
TITLE in—JUDICIAL PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS
Sec. 301. Courtarbitrationauthorization.
Sec. 302. Dutiesofmagistratejudgeonemergencyassignment.
Sec. 303. Consenttotiialincertaincriminalactions. ^
Sec. 304. Removal of cases under the Employee Retirement Income Security f|
Act.
Sec. 305. Eliminationofin-stateplaintiffindiversityjurisdictioncases.
TITLE IV—JUDICIARY PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION, BENEFITS,
AND PROTECTIONS
Sec. 401. Judicialretirementmattov.
Sec. 402. Seniorjudgecertification.
Sec. 403. Contribution rate forseniorjudgesundertheJudicial Survivors' An-
nuitiessystem.
Sec. 404. Refund ofcontributions for deceased deferred annuitants under the
JudicialSnrvivon'Annuitiessystem.
Sec. 405. Disability retirement and cost-of-living ac(justments of annuities for
territorialjudges.
Sec. 406. FederalJudicialCenterpersonnel matters.
Sec. 407. JudicialadministrativeoGBcialsretirementmatters.
TITLE V—CRIMINAL LAW
Sec. 501. Newauthority forprobationandpretrialservicesofficers.
Sec. 502. Transportationexpensesfordefendants.
Sec. 503. Federalsubstanceabusetreatmentprogram reauthorization.
Sec. 504. TechnicalAmendmentstoFederalRulesofCriminalProcedure.
TITLE VI—CRIMINAL JUS^nCE ACT AMENDMENTS
Sec. 601. EstablishmentofFederaldefenderorganizations.
Sec. 602. Panelattorneysupportoffice.
Sec. 603. JudicialConferencetodetermineratesofcompensation forattorneys.
Sec. 604. Judicial Conferencetodeterminemaximum amountsofcompensation
forservicesotherthancounsel.
Sec. 605. Compensationofparalegalsandlawstudents.
Sec. 606. Tort Claims Act amendments relating to liability of Federal public
defenders.
nTLE Vn—PLACES OF HOLDING COURT
•HR4S57 IH
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