§3174 Judicial Emergency and Implementation

Summary

When a district court cannot meet the time limits in section 3161(c) because its calendar is too crowded and it has used its resources well, the chief judge may ask the circuit’s judicial council for a suspension. The chief judge must get advice from the district planning group first. The judicial council will look at the district’s staff, the availability of visiting judges, and suggest ways to ease the backlog. If the council finds no workable fix, it can approve a suspension for up to one year for cases with indictments or informations filed during that year. During that suspension, the arrest-to-indictment limits in section 3161(b) stay the same and the penalties in section 3162 still apply, but the time from indictment to trial cannot be stretched beyond 180 days. Time limits for people held in custody only because they are waiting for trial are not changed. Before July 1, 1980, a chief judge who, with the planning group, felt ready to put all of section 3162 into effect could apply to the circuit council, showing the district’s last 12 months of compliance and a plan with a start date and notice for parties; the council would either approve or return the application with reasons. Any council approval under these rules must be reported within 10 days to the Director of the Administrative Office, with the application and a written explanation and, if from a calendar-congestion request, a plan to fix the congestion. The Director must send that report within 10 days to Congress and the Judicial Conference. A council cannot grant another suspension for a district within six months after a prior suspension ends unless Congress agrees, except if the prior suspension was already in effect when the Speedy Trial Act Amendments Act of 1979 was passed. If the chief judge believes an immediate suspension is urgently needed, the judge may order a suspension for up to 30 days and must apply to the circuit council within 10 days.