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Out-Of-State Judges May Fill Void Nottingham Left

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Oct 24, 2008 11:30 am US/Mountain

Out-Of-State Judges May Fill Void Nottingham Left

DENVER (CBS4) ― The U.S. District Court for Colorado is considering asking for help from out-of-state federal judges as a result of the resignation of Chief Judge Edward Nottingham.

The court administrator said Thursday the 200 active cases Nottingham had on his docket could be delayed as the result of his resignation.

The court was short of judges before Nottingham's resignation and his stepping down seemingly makes it more likely that cases will be delayed even more.

To deal with the situation, the administrator, Clerk of the Court Greg Langham, told CBS4Denver the judges "are looking at the option" of asking for help from judges in other states.

Persons with cases in the court are affected by delays in cases moving along. An example of the court's timetable is that a lawsuit filed in June has been set for a trial in January 2010. Because of the right to a speedy trial, criminal cases are given priority and move faster.

"We will continue to struggle along without a full complement of judges," one of the judges said.

The 55 criminal cases and 150 civil cases Nottingham had pending in various stages meanwhile are being reassigned to other judges, Langham said.

The court is short two judges, one because of Nottingham's resignation and one due to the death in January of Judge Phillip Figa. Persons long involved in the process of filling judge vacancies predict it will be at least a year before the two vacancies are filled by a new President and a new U.S. Senate.

After Nottingham's departure, the court has five fulltime active judges and five parttime judges, known as senior judges.

Langham said it will not be known until after Nottingham's cases are reassigned how much delay there will be in moving his cases along. He said the goal is to keep the current schedules for the cases, if possible.

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