Lee Terry: “this Conference Report does not include a permanent Judgeship for the State of Nebraska. Since 1998 Nebraska has…”

“this Conference Report does not include a permanent Judgeship for the State of Nebraska. Since 1998 Nebraska has exceeded the weighted standard of 430 filings per judge, and in 2001, that number grew to 482 filings. Without this permanent Judgeship, over the next year filings are expected to rise to over 600 per Judge. Currently, the caseload in Nebraska is the 9th heaviest in the Nation, and is only expected to increase. Nebraska has a higher drug prosecution rate than any other federal court in the 7th and 8th circuit; 65 percent of our drug cases are methamphetamine prosecutions, compared to a national average of 14.5 percent. The continued absence of this Judgeship hurts the citizens of Nebraska and brings an already over-worked court system to near standstill. This permanent Judgeship was included in the House-passed Department of Justice Authorization bill, and I would like to thank Chairman Sensenbrenner and Ranking Member Conyers for their assistance in this effort. However, I learned last night that the Nebraska's permanent judgeship designation had been stripped from the conference report. I have no idea why this language was stripped out, and it upsets me that I've been unable to obtain a definitive answer. I'm left to believe that this designation was eliminated due to political concerns, and it was not a decision based upon merit or need. Nebraska has had a temporary Judgeship since 1990 and will expire in November 2003.”