INDIANAPOLIS— U.S. Senator Todd Young is criticizing the president’s decision to veto legislation that would have allowed Indiana to add another federal judge.
On December 23, President Joe Biden vetoed the JUDGES Act which would have added 66 new federal judgeships across the country including one in Indiana.
As WRTV Investigates reported, a shortage of federal judges is causing delays in our justice system and prompted Congress to take action.
U.S. Senator Todd Young, R-Indiana, introduced the JUDGES Act which passed the Senate unanimously. He questioned Biden’s decision.
“This misguided decision is just another example of why Americans are counting down the days until President Biden leaves the White House. Issuing this veto is partisan politics at its worst,” said Sen. Young. “The JUDGES Act is a fair bill with strong bipartisan support that would have created 66 judgeships over three presidential terms to address our judicial backlog. The President is more enthusiastic about using his office to provide relief to his family members who received due process than he is about giving relief to the millions of regular Americans who are waiting years for their due process.”
President Biden issued a statement about his veto.
“The House of Representative’s hurried action fails to resolve key questions in the legislation, especially regarding how the new judgeships are allocated, and neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate explored fully how the work of senior status judges and magistrate judges affects the need for new judgeships,” read Biden’s statement. “The efficient and effective administration of justice requires that these questions about need and allocation be further studied and answered before we create permanent judgeships for life-tenured judges.”
Biden also said the JUDGES Act would create new judgeships in States where Senators have sought to hold open existing judicial vacancies.
“Those efforts to hold open vacancies suggest that concerns about judicial economy and caseload are not the true motivating force behind passage of this bill now,” read Biden’s statement. “Therefore, I am vetoing this bill.”
Federal courts handle everything from civil rights violations to bankruptcy, as well as immigration, federal taxes, labor rights and business contract disputes.
Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt is a federal judge in the Southern District of Indiana, which covers 60 counties.
Currently, her docket has more than 600 pending civil and criminal cases. She says litigants feel the impact.
“It’s just the access to justice,” said Chief Judge Pratt. “We just have a really heavy caseload."
The Southern District currently has seven judges— including four active judges and three senior judges.
"The strain of operating in excess of full capacity for an extended period of time continues to exhaust the ability of judges and staff to respond in a timely and appropriate fashion to the cases that are filed here and further hinders the court’s ability to respond to its caseload efficiently,” said Chief Judge Pratt. “In the end, it is the litigants of the Southern District of Indiana who suffer when there is a delay in deciding their cases.”
WRTV Investigates asked the Southern District of Indiana how long, on average, it takes to resolve criminal and civil cases.
However, the Southern District of Indiana does not track that information.
“We do try to move criminal cases along,” said Chief Judge Pratt. “There is a federal speedy trial act. If there’s a civil case set the same day as a criminal trial, the criminal trial is the trial that will go even if it’s not as old."
A national report shows the number of civil cases pending more than three years increased 14 percent from 71,425 on September 30, 2023, to 81,617 on March 31, 2024.
The Southern District of Indiana is urging President Joe Biden to sign the JUDGES Act, which would add two new circuit judgeships and 66 district judgeships including one for the Southern District of Indiana.
"It's long overdue and very much needed,” said Chief Judge Pratt.
