While the inability of the government to approve a new Supreme Court justice has received plenty of press, the State of Idaho is experiencing a similar issue. It’s been waiting for approval of a new Federal District court judge for a year, which has left the state with one, rather than two full time judges.
Idaho is in what is termed a “Judicial Emergency.”
Currently there is only one full time US district court judge, B. Lynn Winwill, operating in the gem state, since Federal Judge Edward Lodge went on senior status 18 months ago, after fifty years of service. "Senior Status" means he has considerably reduced his workload.
Dana Herberholz is with the Idaho chapter of the Federal Bar Association:
“There are about a thousand cases filed in the district of Idaho every year, and with Judge Lodge on Senior Status, that means Judge Winmill is handling the majority of those cases. You can imagine any judge handling a thousand cases, that is quite a task."
Herberholz says, as an attorney, he has seen that create delays in the system.
“Motions that would normally be heard a couple of months after the filing could languish a little bit longer. It could take longer to get those cases resolved, especially in civil cases, because criminal cases take priority. It has created a backlog that is noticeable.”
That doesn’t mean efforts to replace Lodge haven’t been made. The Obama administration worked with Idaho Senators, Crapo and Risch to name a replacement, Judge Dave Nye. Nye also made it through a Senate Judiciary committee hearing, but Senator Mitch McConnell refused to allow the full Senate to confirm Nye in an election year, even with support from both of Idaho’s Republican senators. That nomination has been pending since April.
There were only about 40 federal district court vacancies at the start of January 2009, when President Obama took office, a number that has more than doubled to 81.
Herberholz is hopeful the election of Donald Trump will allow the nomination of Nye to get a full Senate hearing. He says in the meantime, two magistrate judges, as well as two other judges who were hoping to retire, are hearing cases on a part time basis.
