Caseload emergency to delay US trials in AZ

The declaration allows federal courts to delay criminal trials up to six months because of a shortage of judges - a shortage worsened, ironically, by Roll's Jan. 8 shooting death.

As Arizona's chief federal jurist, Roll had written Nov. 24 to a U.S. Court of Appeals judge, asking permission to delay bringing felons to trial. The fact that there are now more than 3,000 Border Patrol officers in the Tucson Sector created "a tsunami of federal felony cases," Roll wrote, "far beyond the management capacity of the four active district judges in Tucson division."

It was this issue, in fact, that led Roll to stop by the "Congress on Your Corner" event Jan. 8 at a Tucson-area supermarket, according to court documents. He wanted to thank U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords for helping his efforts to ease the overburdening of the court system. It was there that a gunman opened fire, killing Roll and severely wounding Giffords. Five others died in the attack and a dozen more were injured.

The emergency declaration could delay the trial of the suspect in those shootings, Jared Lee Loughner.

Loughner entered a not guilty plea in a Phoenix federal courtroom Monday on charges related to the shootings of Giffords and two staffers. Loughner's case has been assigned to a San Diego judge, but the pretrial proceedings will remain in Arizona for the time being.

A judicial emergency is a rarely used tool to suspend the demands of the Speedy Trial Act for 30 days. It was last used in the Southern District of New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Roll's request originally went to the 9th Circuit in November. It was denied, but was due to be reheard after two judges said they wanted more input from prosecutors and defense lawyers.

Roll's successor as chief judge, Judge Roslyn O. Silver, ordered the judicial emergency last week.

"The need to suspend the time limits is of great urgency due to a heavy criminal caseload, a lack of adequate resources and the tragic death of Chief Judge John Roll," said Silver.

The declaration allows courts to take up to 180 days to bring a defendant to trial, instead of the statutory 70-day limit.

On Tuesday, the Judicial Council for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Arizona, then took the even rarer step of extending Silver's emergency declaration for another year, until February 2012. It applies only to cases filed after Jan. 20.

Arizona is authorized 12 permanent federal judgeships and one temporary position, but three of the posts are vacant due to Roll's death, the elevation of Judge Mary H. Murguia to the 9th Circuit appellate bench and the move to semi-retired senior status last year by Judge Frank R. Zapata.

Moreover, based on current caseloads, Arizona should have as many as 18 federal judges, after seeing criminal cases increase by 65 percent since 2008.

"I assume the council saw the yearlong extension as necessary because Arizona is unlikely to get its three vacancies filled within a year," said Russell Wheeler, a Brookings Institution scholar who studies the federal judiciary and nomination process. He noted that President Obama has not yet nominated anyone for the Arizona vacancies.

Obama has been slow to name jurists to the federal bench during his first two years in office, and the Senate Judiciary Committee has confirmed fewer of his nominees than those of previous presidents.

Arizona's federal courts have been inundated with immigration and border security cases because of stepped-up enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In announcing the emergency, judges said a Department of Homeland Security program that requires criminal prosecution and imprisonment of anyone unlawfully crossing the border has exacerbated their backlog. More federal prosecutors were brought in to the Tucson district, but no additional judges have been authorized, the judges said.

The Los Angeles Times, the Arizona Daily Star and The Associated Press contributed to this report.