Judge Warns Federal Cuts Will 'Strike At The Heart' Of Judiciary
From the Legal Times
Speaking today at the Judicial Conference's biannual meeting in Washington, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Julia Gibbons warned that sequestration – mandatory budget cuts that went into effect March 1 – put the federal judiciary "in uncharted territory," according to a release from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Gibbons, who chairs the conference's budget committee, said that the cuts will affect "every facet of court operations." Sequestration required the judiciary to find $350 million in cuts, representing a five percent reduction of the courts' budget this year.
The largest share of those cuts, $93 million, would come from salaries, as previously reported by The National Law Journal. Court officials in each district will have to decide whether to achieve the cuts by closing courts, furloughing employees, or layoffs.
The judiciary has estimated that the cuts could mean that 2,000 employees are laid off this year, or face furloughs for one day each pay period, which would be the equivalent of a 10 percent pay cut. Gibbons told the Judicial Conference that the measure approved to make the cuts "are unsustainable, difficult, and painful to implement."
"Indeed, the Judiciary cannot continue to operate at sequestration funding levels without seriously compromising the Constitutional mission of the federal courts," she said.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Legal Times
Speaking today at the Judicial Conference's biannual meeting in Washington, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Julia Gibbons warned that sequestration – mandatory budget cuts that went into effect March 1 – put the federal judiciary "in uncharted territory," according to a release from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Gibbons, who chairs the conference's budget committee, said that the cuts will affect "every facet of court operations." Sequestration required the judiciary to find $350 million in cuts, representing a five percent reduction of the courts' budget this year.
The largest share of those cuts, $93 million, would come from salaries, as previously reported by The National Law Journal. Court officials in each district will have to decide whether to achieve the cuts by closing courts, furloughing employees, or layoffs.
The judiciary has estimated that the cuts could mean that 2,000 employees are laid off this year, or face furloughs for one day each pay period, which would be the equivalent of a 10 percent pay cut. Gibbons told the Judicial Conference that the measure approved to make the cuts "are unsustainable, difficult, and painful to implement."
"Indeed, the Judiciary cannot continue to operate at sequestration funding levels without seriously compromising the Constitutional mission of the federal courts," she said.
Read more in our daily News Update...