1st Session
S. ____
January 25, 2013
A BILL
To amend certain statutes coded in 28 USC Part I.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the 'Court Administration Reform
Act of 2013'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND AUTHORITY.
1. Congress finds the United States Constitution, Article III, does not provide that judges must be appointed to particular courts.2. The authority for this act is the United States Constitution, Article I, Section 1, and Article III.
SEC. 3. ENACTMENT AND REPEALS.
1. Public laws and amendments thereto coded in 28 USC Part I, concerning Article III courts, are amended, effective immediately, as follows:
a. Henceforth judges shall not
be appointed to specific courts at confirmation, but shall
be assigned to a pool from which vacancies shall be filled
by drawing from the pool at random.
b. No vacancy shall be filled
until there are at least 20 judges in the selection pool.
c. While in the selection pool,
judges shall enjoy the same salaries and benefits of
assigned judges, but may be assigned temporary duties as
magistrates, clerks, administrators, researchers, writers,
or teachers.
d. Judges assigned from the
selection pool shall serve for two years, beginning October
1 of the first odd-numbered year after their assignment,
after which they shall return to the pool, and may not be
assigned to the same court twice in succession.
e. Magistrates and clerks shall
be similarly appointed to pools, one for magistrates and one
for clerks, and shall be randomly assigned to courts from
such pools, there to serve for four years, but not to
succeed themselves on the same court, and no vacancy shall
be filled until the pool for that kind of position shall
contain at least twenty candidates.
f. Judges, magistrates, and
clerks shall receive a reasonable compensation for the costs
of relocations to their assignments.
2. Beginning October 1, 2017, and each odd year thereafter,
the number of judges on each appellate court, including the
Supreme Court, shall be increased by two, until the number
shall reach twenty-seven.
a. All appellate cases shall be
initially heard by a randomly selected panel of three, from
which appeal may thereafter be made to a randomly selected
panel of nine, unless the court shall not then have nine, in
which case all of them, and if the court shall have at least
fifteen judges, appeal may then be made to the entire court
sitting en banc.
b. A vote of two judges shall be
sufficient to accept an appeal for review.
3. In any case tried or heard on appeal by a panel of more
than one judge, the judges must be unanimous to sustain a
claimed power of a government actor against a claim by a
private party that the government actor lacks authority to
exercise such power.SEC. 4. TRANSITION.
1. Additional magistrates and clerks shall be appointed sufficient to handle the workload of the judges, subject to appropriations by Congress.2. Courtrooms and offices shall be expanded in number and size as required to accommodate all court personnel, subject to appropriations by Congress.
END.