{
  "id": "R45899",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R45899",
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      "id": 604352,
      "date": "2019-09-03",
      "retrieved": "2019-09-04T22:10:55.904236",
      "title": "Recent Recommendations by the Judicial Conference for New U.S. Circuit and District Court Judgeships: Overview and Analysis",
      "summary": "Congress determines through legislative action both the size and structure of the federal judiciary. Consequently, the creation of any new permanent or temporary U.S. circuit and district court judgeships must be authorized by Congress. A permanent judgeship, as the term suggests, permanently increases the number of judgeships in a district or circuit, while a temporary judgeship increases the number of judgeships for a limited period of time. \nCongress last enacted comprehensive judgeship legislation in 1990. Since then, there have been a relatively smaller number of district court judgeships created using appropriations or authorization bills.\nThe Judicial Conference of the United States, the policymaking body of the federal courts, makes biennial recommendations to Congress that identify any circuit and district courts that, according to the Conference, require new permanent judgeships to appropriately administer civil and criminal justice in the federal court system. In evaluating whether a court might need additional judgeships, the Judicial Conference examines whether certain caseload levels have been met, as well as court-specific information that might uniquely affect a particular court. The caseload level of a court is expressed as filings per authorized judgeship, assuming all vacancies on the court are filled.\nThe Judicial Conference\u2019s most recent recommendation, released in March 2019, calls for the creation of five permanent judgeships for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (composed of California, eight other western states, and two U.S. territories). The Conference also recommends creating 65 permanent U.S. district court judgeships, as well as converting 8 temporary district court judgeships to permanent status. \nIn making its recommendations to Congress, the Judicial Conference also identifies any courts that might have the most urgent need for new judgeships. These courts are considered, by the Conference, to have extraordinarily high and sustained workloads. In its most recent recommendations, the Conference identified six U.S. district courts it considers to have the most urgent need for new judgeships to be authorized by Congress.",
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  "topics": [
    "American Law",
    "Appropriations",
    "Foreign Affairs"
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}