State of the Judiciary

Chief Justice Warren E. Burger makes no secret of his hope that Congress will eventually invite him and his successors to deliver an annual "State of the Judiciary" address--a report that would, in effect, be a corollary to the President's State of the Union message. At the American Bar Association convention in St. Louis last week, Burger gave 2,500 delegates a sample of what he has in mind: a nationally televised address that proved to be a 27-minute diagnosis of what he thinks ails the nation's federal court system.

"In the supermarket age," said the Chief Justice, "we are like a merchant trying to operate a cracker-barrel grocery store with the methods and equipment of 1900." When it comes to funds, he noted, "the entire cost of the federal judicial system is $128 million," compared with $200 million for a single C-5A military airplane. But "more money and more judges alone is not the real solution," he said. "Some of what is wrong is due to the failure to apply the techniques of modern business to the management of the purely mechanical operation of the courts--of modern record keeping, systems planning for handling the movement of cases. Some is also due to antiquated, rigid procedures which not only permit delay but often encourage it."

Twice as Slow. As if archaic methods were not bad enough, said Burger, federal courts are reeling under the impact of rising population, new legislation obliging judges to hear new kinds of cases, and pressure for closer scrutiny of confessions and police evidence "before depriving any person of his freedom." Though liberty must outrank efficiency, Burger said, it is disturbing "that in all federal district courts it now takes twice as long as it did ten years ago to dispose of criminal cases from indictment to sentence." He added, "Finality at some point is indispensable to any rational--and workable --judicial system."

Burger warned his audience that the entire criminal-law system, including the number of judges, prosecutors and courtrooms, is built on a shaky premise: "that approximately 90% of defendants will plead guilty, leaving only 10%, more or less, to be tried." As defendants exercise new rights, he said, the system could easily flounder. A reduction in guilty pleas to 80% "requires the assignment of twice the judicial manpower and facilities--judges, court reporters, bailiffs, clerks, jurors and courtrooms. A reduction to 70% trebles this demand."

Drastic Changes. Even as the system now stands, Burger acknowledged, the plain truth is that American criminal justice does not deter criminal conduct. "If ever the law is to have genuine deterrent effect, we must make some drastic changes. The most simple and most obvious remedy is to give the courts the manpower and tools--including the prosecutors and defense lawyers --to try criminal cases within 60 days after indictment and let us see what happens. I predict that it would sharply reduce the crime rate." On other fronts, Burger recommended:

> A hard look at legislation that encourages new kinds of lawsuits and further clogs the courts. "People speak glibly of putting all the problems of pollution, of crowded cities, of consumer class actions and others in the federal courts. We should look more to state courts familiar with local conditions and problems." The Chief Justice recommended the creation of a six-man federal judiciary council that would advise Congress on how proposed legislation may affect the judicial branch.

> A reduction of federal case loads by state assumption of responsibility for the great mass of habeas corpus cases. --

>More attention to the total concept of criminal justice, not just the period from arrest through trial. Stressing his deep concern about prison reform, Burger told the lawyers: "We can no longer limit our responsibility to providing defense services for the judicial process, yet continue to be miserly with the needs of correctional institutions and probation and parole services."

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