
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 2, 1994                   TAG: 9401020098
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

REHNQUIST URGES NAMING OF JUDGES

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist is urging President Clinton and the Senate to fill 113 vacant federal judgeships in 1994, including some that have gone unoccupied for four years.

"There is perhaps no issue more important to the judiciary right now than this serious judicial vacancy problem," Rehnquist wrote in his year-end report on the federal courts.

"I hope that in the coming year the executive and legislative branches will take the necessary steps to fill these vacancies," he said.

The Senate confirmed 28 federal judges last year, but Rehnquist noted that the remaining vacancies represent more than 13 percent of all authorized judgeships.

He said 64 of the 113 vacancies have existed for over 18 months, "some as long as four years."

"Were it not for the dedication of our hard-working senior [semi-retired] judges, the courts would be addressing an even more serious backlog today," Rehnquist said. - Associated Press

by CNB