Chief judge proposes closing Fort Lauderdale federal courthouse
By AP
January 13, 2005
South Florida's chief federal judge has proposed closing the U.S. courthouse in Broward County and moving its cases to Miami and West Palm Beach to save money.
Chief U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch made the proposal in a memo to Carolyn Dineen King, chief judge of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Houston and chairwoman of the executive committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States.
The memo said closing the courthouse could save $100 million in the first year and $7.6 million annually from the second year on. (snip)
Zloch proposed distributing 40 percent of the cases to Miami and 60 to West Pam Beach. He also suggested combining new federal courthouses, planned for Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, into one project.
(snip)
"It would be devastating move to the community," said Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors.
"Your average juror or litigant would have to travel an hour and a half to three hours to get their case heard? That concerns me."
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