Access to Justice in Federal Courts

ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN FEDERAL COURTS

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I am pleased to report that, last Friday, S. 1720 was presented to the President for his consideration, after receiving the unanimous approval of both the House and Senate. I sponsored S. 1720, joined by Senator HUTHINSON, because I believe that this legislation is necessary to ensure that all of the citizens of North Texas have access to justice in the Federal courts.

S. 1720 authorizes the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to hold court in the City of Plano. Such legislation was first endorsed by the Judicial Conference of the United States and the Eastern District of Texas in 1991. Yet although, prior to this year, the House had already approved such legislation five times since 1991, it has never received the approval of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate until this year.

Federal law does not currently authorize the Eastern District of Texas to hold court in Plano-making the Eastern District, of all 93 judicial districts across the United States, the only judicial district in which its largest city cannot hold Federal court. The nearest Eastern District judge is in the city of Sherman, a 100-mile or more roundtrip drive away. As a result, Federal prosecutors, public defenders, other attorneys, and law enforcement officials must waste precious time and resources conducting even the most simple court business. The people of the Eastern District of Texas are woefully underserved as a result.

S. 1720 enjoys strong support among officials across the State of Texas. Most notably, U.S. Attorney Matthew D. Orwing, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Gregory, Chief Judge John Hannah, Jr., and Judge Richard A. Schell worked closely with my office in this effort, and I am grateful to each and every one of them for working with me to ensure that the people of North Texas enjoy adequate access to justice in the Federal courts.

The judges of the Eastern District firmly believe that this legislation is good for the citizens of Sherman as well as Plano. On June 13, 2003, on behalf of all the judges of the Eastern District, Chief Judge Hannah issued General Order No. 03-15, which resolves, "if pending legislation passes that authorizes Plano as a place of holding court, to have half the Sherman Division caseload docketed and tried in Sherman, and the other half of the caseload docketed and tried in Plano. If Judge Brown ceases holding court in Sherman, a new resident judge shall be designated to hold court in Sherman as soon as possible, and pending the new judge's residing in Sherman, 50 percent of civil and criminal cases shall be docketed and tried in Sherman, and the clerk's office in Sherman shall remain staffed sufficiently to support a resident judge."

Relying on this general order, the Grayson County Bar Association, which includes Sherman, and the Collin County Bar Association, which includes Plano, recently approved a joint resolution endorsing this legislation. Furthermore, consistent with the terms of the order, Congressman Ralph Hall inserted the following statement into the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD just moment before House approval of S. 1720 last Wednesday:

Both Sherman and Plano shall have a resident United States District Judge. Fifty percent of the cases filed in or transferred to the Sherman Division of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas shall be assigned for trial and tried in Sherman by either the resident United States District Judge sitting in Sherman or another United States District Judge assigned to hold court in Sherman. The remaining 50 percent of the cases shall be assigned for trial and tried in Plano by either the resident United States District Court Judge sitting in Plano or another United States District Judge assigned to hold court in Plano. If the resident judge in Sherman or Plano retires or dies, 50 percent of the cases shall continue to be tried in Sherman and 50 percent tried in Plano while a new resident judge is being assigned. This provision shall not prevent the transfer of a case to another judge or division of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas or another United States District Court for trial, if such transfer is permitted by applicable law.

This language reflects the intentions of the judges of the Eastern District of Texas as stated in General Order No. 03-15-as confirmed by Chief Judge Hannah last week. Accordingly, I am pleased to join Congressman HALL in inserting this statement into the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.