Court Backlog

Archive Report

Growing Caseload Gult

Mounting Concern Over Backlog Problem

The U.S. Supreme Court opened its 1983–84 session on Oct. 3. If recent trends are an indication, Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and most of his colleagues will again complain that the court's caseload is too heavy. Although Burger has been complaining about the heavy workload since assuming his position in 1969, the size of the court's docket — the register of cases filed with the court — has grown by nearly 25 percent during his tenure. “The real risk is that the institution will be submerged gradually, by placing on it burdens that cannot adequately be carried,” Burger said last November.1 Since then, Burger has renewed his calls for means of relief, including the creation of an ...

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