Los Angeles clearly requires a new and larger courthouse. Today, the population of Los Angeles is 3.7 million people, making it the second most populous city in the United States. The Central District of California's Los Angeles division is considered the largest district court operation in the nation. The existing U.S. Courthouse on North Spring Street opened in 1938 with 8 courtrooms. Although more courtrooms were added by converting offices into courtrooms, our magistrate judges currently share two courtrooms while two senior judges and one new active district judge rotate among available courtrooms. A second courthouse site was created three blocks away in the Roybal Federal Building, and this facility also is filled to capacity. We simply do not have enough space for our judges.
And the situation will only worsen. The Los Angeles court currently has vacancies for three district judges and one magistrate judge. Two more district judgeships will be vacant by the end of the year. When these vacancies are filled, the court will not have the facilities in either building to house these judges.
As originally planned, the new Los Angeles courthouse would include thirty-three new courtrooms and would consolidate all District Court operations into a single building. Built in downtown Los Angeles, this facility would meet the space requirements of the federal courts in Los Angeles for 30 years. This project would cost approximately $379 million.
I was disappointed in the President's budget request that reduced funding for the planned Los Angeles courthouse. The budget recommended $32 million for site and design, less than the $37 million recommended by GSA.
I also disagree with OMB's demand to downsize the scope of the project limiting it to a small, companion building next to the Roybal Federal Building. By reducing the size of the new courthouse, OMB would force the District Court to continue to operate out of two buildings greatly diminishing the benefits provided by the original courthouse. Two buildings would require links for prisoner, public, and staff circulation. Furthermore, it is unclear as to where a companion building could be erected. No space exists on the same block as the federal building, and no adjacent sites are viable. OMB's project would compromise security and efficiency and would require extensive and costly duplication in building infrastructure and support services.
It also disturbs me that OMB deleted GSA's proposed high security, multi-defendant courtroom. This courtroom was approved by the Judicial Council and the Administrative Office of the Courts because high security, multi-defendant trials occur regularly in Los Angeles. For safety and security reasons, such a courtroom is vital to the operations of the District Court.
During a conference call with Chief Judge Terry Hatter, I was amazed to hear that OMB required judges to share courtrooms. The judges fear that OMB's mandate to share courtrooms represents an unwarranted intrusion by the Executive Branch into the Judicial Branch, violating the doctrine of separation of powers.
While the OMB recommendation would reduce the cost of the project to $266 million, I strongly believe that the detriments would far outweigh the benefits. This courthouse's value extends well beyond mere cost-benefit analysis. As originally designed, the Los Angeles courthouse would provide the judiciary with a quality facility and would ease the burdens created by Los Angeles growing population. By consolidating the District Court's operations into one large building, the courthouse would eliminate the need for people to travel between two court buildings, reduce the number of staff currently required by the two buildings, permit district and magistrate courtrooms to use one central cell block, and diminish the confusion inherently created by two courthouses. The new courthouse, as originally designed, is not a luxury. It is a necessity.
Fresno suffers many of the problems currently plaguing the Los Angeles judicial system. The San Joaquin Valley area where Fresno is located is the fastest growing area in the state, and it has been predicted that one-fifth of the state's population will reside in the Valley in a very short period of time. The court's caseload reveals this population growth. Bankruptcy filings increased from 6,679 in 1995 to 11,749 in 1999 (a 76 percent growth).
The court currently is housed in the B.F. Sisk Federal Building and Courthouse. This building, originally constructed in 1965, includes eight courtrooms (three district, three magistrate, and two bankruptcy). This space currently is occupied by four district judges, three magistrate judges, and two bankruptcy judges. Within ten years, the court projects that the courthouse will hold eight district judges, four magistrate judges, and four bankruptcy judges. The current facilities simply cannot accommodate such anticipated growth. In fact, five of the existing courtrooms were converted from office spaces and are already substandard in size.
Because the building was not originally designed for use as a courthouse, it fails to meet minimum security requirements for court operations. Judges and prisoners intermingle in the same basement corridors along with GSA contractors and delivery persons. The noise created by prisoners in holding cells (containing dozens of prisoners each day) often disrupts the court. A seismic evaluation was conducted, and it determined that the courthouse is seismically unsound and that retrofit was necessary. The cost of such repairs far exceeds the value of the building itself. Finally, this building is a firetrap because grates cover the windows greatly diminishing ingress or egress in case of fire or other emergency. The current building simply is a travesty.
I am deeply concerned about this situation, and I had hoped that the President's budget would reflect the severity of the problem. Although the project was overlooked by the FY2001 budget, I strongly believe that we must provide funding for a new Fresno courthouse. GSA confirms that the project is fully ready for construction and that a construction contract could be awarded early in FY2001 if funded this year. The new courthouse would cost approximately $111 million. This 360,000 square-foot, 8 story building would be built on 4.5 acres in downtown Fresno. This glass edifice would revitalize the downtown area and would ensure a federal presence that will help to make downtown business districts a top priority.
Our economy is stronger than ever. To use a cliche , we should fix the roof while the sun is shining. Well, my friends, the courthouses in Los Angeles and Fresno have much more than roofs to fix. I think that these courts deserve facilities will advocate, not impede upon, justice, and today, we can do much to provide those very buildings.