According to a Jan. 21 article in the New York Law Journal, Karen Redmond, a spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, released a written statement that the judiciary is “pleased” with the appropriations bill recently passed by Congress. The bill provides the federal courts an increase of $316 million in discretionary spending for the 2014 fiscal year. In March, as part of sequestration, the judiciary funding was cut $350 million, a move which lead to layoffs and furloughs and “threatened the judiciary’s ability to pay court-appointed private counsel in criminal cases,” according to the article.
The executive committee of the U.S. Judicial Conference will meet in February to determine how the appropriated funds will be used, Redmond said.
