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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Courts - One of the federal trial judges in the 7th Circuit is reportedly not taking new criminal cases
"U.S. judge Stadtmueller not taking new criminal cases" is the headline to this lengthy story by John Diedrich of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, dated August 23rd. Some quotes:
A federal judge in Milwaukee has stopped taking new criminal cases and is passing off cases he already had in a move legal experts are calling highly unusual and perhaps unprecedented nationally.The changes come after U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller got into a high-profile dustup with prosecutors, and his moves are likely to lead to delays in other judges' courts.
Federal judges, who make $174,000 a year and have lifetime appointments, spend about half their time on criminal cases, which take precedence over civil lawsuits, experts said.
Stadtmueller has not taken any new criminal cases since July 22, while his three Milwaukee colleagues received all 16 new criminal cases with 48 defendants, according to court records.
Stadtmueller also recused himself on at least a half-dozen criminal cases, sending those to the same judges. He has not passed off all his criminal cases, and it is unclear whether he will, though officials said they expect more cases to be moved.
Stadtmueller has not explained in writing what he is doing and did not return repeated calls from the Journal Sentinel. His brief recusal orders cite law saying judges must pass off a case if they give an opinion on it.
Legal experts say that, without more explanation, it is impossible to figure out why Stadtmueller is recusing himself. Whatever the reason, his position will cause problems for other judges, they said. * * *
Stadtmueller's moves come after the U.S. attorney's office in Milwaukee took the rare move of challenging him at the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in the spring. Prosecutors accused Stadtmueller of showing bias in a 2005 gun case and breaking federal rules by suggesting they strike a plea deal in it.
Underlying that dispute was a concern by Stadtmueller - and shared by other judges - about the kind of cases coming into federal court. Because of congressional changes, federal court has shifted from mostly complex white-collar and organized crime to more low-level drug, gun and child pornography cases.Stadtmueller wondered how this gun case had taken so much court time and why it was in federal court in the first place. The simple case was hung up by a plea change and several appeals. The government said those comments showed Stadtmueller was biased and he should recuse himself. Stadtmueller fired back that the government was "judge-shopping."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 26, 2009 09:05 AM
Posted to Courts in general