President Joe Biden is threatening to veto a bi-partisan bill which would add 66 judges to federal courts where understaffing is occurring. That doesn’t sit well with U.S. Senator James Lankford, who points to a federal court backlog in Oklahoma.
The U.S. Senate passed the JUDGES Act in August, and the House is expected to vote on the measure soon.
Biden cites the reason why he will veto the bill is because the House waited until after the November General Election to move the legislation forward.
Lankford says that the federal district courts in Oklahoma are seeing a backlog of cases because of the increased load due to the U.S. Supreme Court’s McGirt ruling which changed the nature of law enforcement in the eastern half of the state where Native tribes have established reservations.
“I’m deeply disappointed in the Biden Administration’s threat to veto the JUDGES Act. This bill passed the Senate unanimously, reflecting broad bipartisan support for addressing an urgent issue facing our judiciary. Oklahoma desperately needs three additional federal judges to address our significant case backlog due to the Supreme Court’s McGirt decision.
“Right now, our current judges are overwhelmed, focusing almost exclusively on criminal cases, leaving civil cases without the attention they deserve. Judges are brought into Oklahoma from across the country to help, but it’s still not enough. The result is that justice is delayed—and often denied—for Oklahomans,” said Lankford.
