United States Courts Overcrowding

Seven federal judges began grappling Thursday with the tough question of whether consolidation of the nation's 31,000 asbestos cases would relieve overwhelmed courts or cause more expense and delay. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, which acts to consolidate large and complex federal cases, heard about 50 lawyers argue how the cases should be handled. The standing-room-only hearing was held in Manhattan federal court.

The federal courts are in danger of being overwhelmed if Congress persists in assigning U.S. judges the responsibility for handling new cases involving guns, drug murders and sexual assaults, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist said Tuesday in a year-end report. Rehnquist, a former Phoenix attorney, compared the federal court system to a Western desert town facing overdevelopment amid a water shortage. "In that situation, we must conserve water, not think of building new subdivisions," he said.

The federal courts are in danger of being overwhelmed if Congress persists in assigning U.S. judges the responsibility for handling new cases involving guns, drug murders and sexual assaults, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist said Tuesday in a year-end report. Rehnquist, a former Phoenix attorney, compared the federal court system to a Western desert town facing overdevelopment amid a water shortage. "In that situation, we must conserve water, not think of building new subdivisions," he said.

Seven federal judges began grappling Thursday with the tough question of whether consolidation of the nation's 31,000 asbestos cases would relieve overwhelmed courts or cause more expense and delay. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, which acts to consolidate large and complex federal cases, heard about 50 lawyers argue how the cases should be handled. The standing-room-only hearing was held in Manhattan federal court.