JULY 9, 2015, 7:53 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015, 11:32 PM
BY JANE FRITSCH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
New Jersey’s federal courts, among the busiest in the nation, are operating under a “judicial emergency,” as declared by the body that sets standards for caseloads, because of vacant judgeships that have gone unfilled for months.
Four of the state’s 17 federal judges have retired or moved to part-time status since the beginning of the year, but the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, under Republican control, has taken no action on three pending nominations backed by New Jersey’s Democratic senators.
“We’re at the mercy of the Senate,” Jerome B. Simandle, New Jersey’s chief federal judge, said in an interview.
Politics as usual ,this is one very good reason why nothing is accomplished anymore.