The Need for a New National Court

17 Pages Posted: 19 Nov 2011

See all articles by Douglas D. McFarland

Douglas D. McFarland

Mitchell|Hamline School of Law

Thomas E. Baker

Florida International University (FIU) - College of Law

Date Written: 1987

Abstract

By any measure, the Supreme Court is tremendously overburdened with too many cases. Recently, some observers have suggested that this overwhelming workload can be alleviated by the creation of a new Intercircuit Panel, which would hear cases on reference from the Supreme Court. Such a court would hear cases primarily involving conflicts of federal law among the court of appeals. This commentary does not focus on the form of the proposed new court. Rather, it broadly considers two current problems with the federal court system: the unreasonably heavy workload burden on the Supreme Court and the inadequate capacity for achieving a satisfactory measure of uniformity in our national law. It then considers possible alternatives to an Intercircuit Panel, arguing that they are inadequate to solve these two problems.

Keywords: National Court, Supreme Court, Intercircuit Panel, workload, circuit conflicts

Suggested Citation

McFarland, Douglas D. and Baker, Thomas Eugene, The Need for a New National Court (1987). Harvard Law Review, Vol. 100, p. 1400, 1987, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1955546

Douglas D. McFarland (Contact Author)

Mitchell|Hamline School of Law ( email )

875 Summit Ave.
Saint Paul, MN 55105
United States

Thomas Eugene Baker

Florida International University (FIU) - College of Law ( email )

University Park, GL 495
Miami, FL 33199
United States
305-348-8342 (Phone)

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