US courts brace for government shutdown

Federal courts were set to continue hearing and deciding cases without interruption Tuesday after the U.S. government began shutting down nonessential services, officials said.

The Justice Department, however, said its attorneys will seek to curtail or postpone non-critical civil matters during the shutdown. In addition, some judicial staffers will be furloughed, while others will be forced to work without pay until the shutdown ends.

Federal courthouses remained open under the terms of the Anti-Deficiency Act, the federal law that calls for "essential" work to continue in the event that federal funding is frozen. Most judicial services are considered essential – judges will keep working, legal filings will be processed and federal defenders continue to be assigned to indigent defendants.

For the first 10 days, the courts will use revenue from filing fees and long-term appropriations that are not part of the annual budget to pay its staffers, according to a memorandum issued last week by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Courts were encouraged to conserve as much as possible by deferring non-crucial expenses.

Once those funds are exhausted, employees deemed non-essential will be furloughed without pay. Those considered essential will continue to work without pay, though they will be entitled to retroactive money after the government resumes business. Jurors would also be forced to wait for payment until the shutdown ends.

"We will continue to keep courts open as best we can," Karen Redmond, an Administrative Office spokeswoman, told Al Jazeera. "District court judges will still be taking whatever cases they can, and will designate employees they feel are essential to run the court." 

The chief judge in each district will have broad latitude to determine which services and staff members are "essential," and which could be put on hold for the duration of the shutdown.

In many cases, the government shutdown means little change in the day-to-day operation of the courts, which will continue to accept filings, hold hearings and conduct trials.

In New York, Loretta Preska, the chief judge for the Southern District, said in a memo to staff that she had deemed all current employees essential.

"We're not going to see an interruption in service, even after the 15th," said Stephanie Cirkovich, a spokewoman for the district.

The memo from the courts' central administrative office said judges should not prioritize between criminal and civil cases. During the shutdown, courts will eschew non-essential expenses, such as training, purchasing equipment and supplies, and paying for travel.

While judges will continue to hear cases, the Justice Department said it would ask to postpone appearances in civil and bankruptcy cases as long as it did not compromise the safety of human life or the protection of property under the terms of the Anti-Deficiency Act.

Criminal cases will continue to be heard without delay or interruption, the Justice Department said.

Judicial officials cautioned that furloughing any staff would strain a court system already feeling the effects of the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration. And they said that the financial impact on employees and court-appointed lawyers who would not be paid during a shutdown should not be minimized.

Redmond said sequestration means the courts are already operating very near to the edge. “To have to deal with the uncertainty of our fiscal year funding is certainly complicating things," she said. "As a result of the sequestration, we’ve already had to absorb $350 million.”

David Patten, the executive director of Federal Defenders New York, told Al Jazeera that with or without the shutdown, public defenders across the country are operating on sequestration funding levels. 

“The real story here is that even if there is a resolution to the government shutdown, there still exists a budget mess resulting from the sequestration," he said. "We've been operating 10 percent below what we need. Meanwhile, all of the attention is being paid to the shutdown.” 

Al Jazeera and Reuters. Amel Ahmed contributed to this report