In an unusual show of agreement and public lobbying, the chief judges of nearly every federal district court, including all four in New York, have joined to warn Congress of the damage budget cuts have done to judicial operations. Eighty-seven of 94 chief judges, who described themselves as "the boots on the ground in our nation's federal trial courts," signed a four-page letter describing how low funding has weakened courthouse security, reduced public safety because of probation and parole cuts, and caused dire problems for federal public defenders.
The courts have coped with flat funding for years. Then Congress imposed $350 million in budget cuts this year called sequestration. Now there is "an unprecedented financial crisis" that is harming the constitutional mission of the courts, according to the letter drafted by Chief Judge Loretta Preska of the Southern District of New York and Chief Judge Gerald Rosen of the Eastern District of Michigan. Among those signing the letter were New York chief judges Carol Amon in the Eastern District, Gary Sharpe in the Northern and William Skretny in the Western.
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