History
The District of New Jersey was one of the original 13 courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, 1 Stat. 73, on September 24, 1789. The District was subdivided into the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New Jersey and the United States District Court for the Western District of New Jersey on February 13, 1801, by the Judiciary Act of 1801, 2 Stat. 89, with the judicial districts being headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Burlington, New Jersey, respectively. The repeal of the 1801 Act restored New Jersey as a single judicial district on March 8, 1802, 2 Stat. 132. New Jersey is the largest state by population to only have one district court, and is larger in population than several states that have multiple districts.
In recent years, Congress has considered several bills, introduced by South Jersey representatives, to divide New Jersey into two districts, a Northern District and a Southern District. For example, such bills were introduced in the 106th Congress in 2000 and the 109th Congress in 2005. None of these bills have ever passed either house of Congress. Proponents of the change have cited the caseload of the New Jersey District Court as well as the distance between the seats of the two proposed districts, Newark and Camden (85 miles) as justification for splitting the current district. It has also been observed that such a split would guarantee South Jersey a greater share of judgeships as well as new positions to which residents of the area would be appointed, such as court clerks, U.S. Attorney, U.S. Marshal and Federal Public Defender for the new Southern District.
Read more about this topic: United States District Court For The District Of New Jersey
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