Bipartisan legislation backed by U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff will look to reduce federal court wait times.
The Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved (JUDGES) Act passed the U.S. Senate in August and will now go to the House where it was received Aug. 6.
The purpose of the bill is to “add new judgeships in Georgia and across the country, which would help reduce case backlogs, prosecute dangerous criminals, and secure justice for innocent Georgians.”
The Northern District of Georgia which includes Atlanta, Gainesville, Newnan, and Rome will see two new judgeships added in 2027 and 2033.
A press release from Osoff’s team said that in December of 2023, the Northern District of Georgia had 637 filings per judgeship, up from 538 the previous year.
“The shortage of Federal judges serving Georgians can mean justice delayed or justice denied,” Sen. Ossoff said. “That’s why we’ve now passed this bipartisan bill through the Senate to add two more Federal judge positions in the Northern District of Georgia.”
It has been over 20 years since any new district court judgeships have been added in any state, with the last time an increase happened being in 2003.
The new judgeships were requested by the Judicial Conference based on the case burdens by the 94 district courts nationwide.
The bill was originally introduced in September of 2023, with amendments by the Committee on the Judiciary leading to the new bill that was just passed.
This will increase permanent district court judgeships nationwide by 63 and alos includes three temporary judegships.
The act was cosponsored by 17 senators, nine democrats and eight republicans and passed 20-0.
Ossoff was one of the cosponsors, with him getting onto the legislation in July.
