Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Don’t shortchange courts

Sunday, Sept. 5, 1999 | 10:43 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

THE ADMINISTRATIVE office of the United States Courts, in a recent memo, reflects the frustration our federal courts are experiencing with the games being played by the other two branches of government. Someplace along the line more than a few members of Congress and budget builders in the executive branch have stepped up the use of withholding needed dollars to punish the judicial branch.

The American Bar Association has gone as far as proposing a resolution that "urges Congress to amend federal law to: (1) authorize the Judicial Branch to submit its annual budget request, including its request for court facility projects, directly to Congress; and (2) to strengthen the statutory prohibition against presidential alteration of the Judiciary's budget when he submits the annual unified federal budget to Congress."

There is justification for this proposal but I'm not sure it will ever be approved or will in the long run solve the basic shortcomings now creating the financial problems of the courts. The real changes must be made in attitudes of government leaders who fail to follow the Constitution and treat the judiciary as a separate and equal branch of our government. In recent decades, going back to the days of FDR's court packing attempt I can recall, efforts to use executive powers and legislation to bully the courts has become way too common.

Less than three years ago Republican House Majority Whip Tom "The Hammer" DeLay of Texas threatened to impeach several federal judges. He remarked that "We have a whole big file cabinet full (of names). We are receiving nominations from all across the country of judges that could be prime candidates for impeachment." He went on to add that "judges need to be intimidated." Although mostly hot air and body gases these remarks show the unhealthy attitude of some present members of Congress. The legislative foot-dragging and tampering with judicial pay has only added to a bad situation.

Combining the attitudes of people such as DeLay and Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, holding up appointments of badly needed judges, the quality of government has continued to deteriorate. At the same time our nation's social and legal problems are increasing and Congress responds by dumping more problems on our federal courts. Early this year William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the U.S., reported that, "The trend to federalize crimes that traditionally have been handled in state courts not only is taxing the Judiciary's resources and affecting its budget needs, but it also threatens to change entirely the nature of our federal system."

So how should the problems be fixed? Very simply, it's time for Congress and the executive budget makers to grow up and treat the judges as equals. This would lift a large number of the legislators and executives up to a level few of them have earned. Shortchanging the courts of $280 million while spending billions on "emergencies" and pork is a shameful act and should be corrected when the House-Senate Conference Committee meets next week. The entire budget requested by the judicial branch is only $4.1 billion or about two-tenths of 1 percent of the national budget.

Responsible executives and legislators should demand that the needs of our judicial system are met before a damaging emergency is created by the selfish political game players.