THE JUDICIAL BUSINESS OF THE UNITED STATES The District of Puerto Rico embraces the entire Commonwealth, and has one judge. Because there are local courts on the island the United States District Court is confined to cases arising solely under federal jurisdiction. The number of civil cases filed annually in the court has varied greatly, as a glance at Table 1 (attached) shows. During the last six fiscal years the number of civil cases filed annually has averaged 370. However, in 1955 only 278 were commenced, while in 1958, 471 were filed. In 1953, when a great many private negotiable instrument suits were filed, the volume rose to 1,592, but this situation is unusual. During 1959, 78 United States plantiff actions were commenced, compared with a national average of 66 per judgeship. Most numerous were suits to foreclose on real estate, or to evict tenants, which totaled 36 cases. There were 10 suits by the Secretary of Labor to enforce the Fair Labor Standards Act. In the United States defendant category in which 26 cases were filed in 1959, 14 were brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and 10 were motions to vacate or correct sentences under Sec. 2255 of Title 28. Eighty-five Federal Question suits were commenced in 1959, more than twice the national average per judgeship. However, 62 of the 85 were suits brought by lending institutions under the national banking laws. Cases commenced in 1959 under the diversity of citizenship jurisdiction were a third greater than the national average per judgeship. Contract actions other than insurance were 50 percent above the national average, and all types of personal injury actions were one-fourth greater. There were 39 private admiralty cases filed during the year. On June 30, 1959, there were 221 private civil and 74 United States civil cases pending. Of these 295 pending cases, only 26 had been pending over two years, indicating a very good degree of currency of the civil docket. The median time interval from filing to disposition for cases which reached trial and were terminated during 1959 was 15.9 months, six-tenths of a month longer than the national median. The district's median interval for the period from issue to trial was 8.1 months, over 2 months below the national median of 10.3 months. Effect of 1958 Jurisdictional Act. The number of private civil cases commenced during 1959 was larger than the number commenced during 1958. This was true in each of the three jurisdictional categories Federal Question, diversity of citizen ship, and private admiralty. If the Jurisdictional Act of July 25, 1958 had any effect on the number of cases filed in this district it was only to hold down the size of the increase over the previous year. The following table shows the number of civil cases filed during the last five years by jurisdictional categories and points out the increases that have occurred in the federal question and diversity parts. Total Ptf. Def. Total F.Q. Div. Adm. The table indicates that annual variations in total cases filed are due to changes in volume of United States cases, rather than private cases. The figures for the first half of the 1960 fiscal year indicate that a sizeable increase may be expected for the year. The volume of United States cases for the 6 months has equalled the volume for the entire previous year. A substantial increase in diversity and admiralty cases is also indicated. Visiting Judges During the fiscal year 1959 the district had the benefit of two visiting judges. Judge Delehant of Nebraska spent a total of 44 days in the district and Judge Magruder of the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit was there for 12 days. Criminal Caseload The criminal caseload varies in volume considerably. During the 1957 fiscal year, 261 cases were commenced, 156 in 1958 and 186 in 1959. The national average per judgeship has been 105 for 1957 and 108 for 1958 and 1959. marijuana charges and 66 on other types of narcotic violations. 54935 0-60- 43 |