一组跨党派参议员正在提议立法，他们表示这将扩大可在两个拥有全国管辖权的强大联邦法院任职的合格法官人选库。
A bipartisan team of senators is proposing legislation that they say will broaden the pool of qualified judges available to serve on two powerful federal courts with nationwide jurisdiction.
特拉华州民主党参议员克里斯·库恩斯和佛罗里达州共和党参议员阿什利·穆迪周二提出了一项法案，该法案将取消联邦索赔法院和联邦巡回上诉法院法官必须居住在华盛顿特区50英里范围内的要求。
Sens. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, and Ashley Moody, R-Florida, introduced a bill on Tuesday that would remove the requirement that judges sitting on the Court of Federal Claims and the Federal Circuit live within 50 miles of Washington, D.C.
这两个法院都拥有全国管辖权，尽管其专业案件类别不同。联邦索赔法院主要处理针对联邦政府的索赔，而联邦巡回上诉法院则审理涉及专利、商标、政府合同及其他领域的上诉案件。
Both courts have nationwide jurisdiction, though their specialized dockets differ. The Court of Federal Claims primarily handles claims against the federal government, while the Federal Circuit hears appeals involving patents, trademarks, government contracts and other areas.
例如，任一法院的裁决都可能影响库恩斯在特拉华州的选民或穆迪在佛罗里达州的选民。索赔法院审理寻求从联邦政府获得金钱或其他救济的实体提出的辩论，而作为大法官“预备役”的巡回法院则审查下级法院和机构与联邦政府相关的裁决。
A decision from either court, for example, could affect Coons’ constituents in Delaware or Moody’s in Florida. The claims court hears arguments from entities seeking money or other relief from the federal government whereas the circuit court, which is a feeder for Supreme Court justices, reviews decisions from lower courts and agencies in relation to the federal government.
迈克·戴维斯：联邦法院针对99岁高龄法官树立危险先例 “美国人理应拥有最优秀、最合格的法官，特别是在知识产权法等专业领域，专业知识是理解复杂案件并公正裁决众多企业家企业未来命运的关键，”库恩斯谈及该立法时表示。“长期以来，我们将承担最棘手的知识产权和联邦合同案件的法官人选局限于那些愿意连根拔起、搬迁至华盛顿特区的人。这种情况将不复存在。这项跨党派法案确保拥有全国管辖权的法院能够从全国范围内的人才库中选拔法官。” 接受福克斯新闻数字版采访的法律学者认为参议员们的提议有其价值。"从全国各地招募顶尖人才搬迁到哥伦比亚特区担任这些法官职位往往很困难,"遗产基金会高级法律研究员扎克·史密斯对福克斯新闻数字版表示,并指出纽约市的国际贸易法院拥有类似广泛的地理管辖权,且对法官没有居住要求。"许多其他联邦上诉巡回法院覆盖多个州,这些法院的法官通常在该法院管辖的各州办公,然后他们经常聚集在特定地点开会、审理案件和听取口头辩论。这种地理分散的安排并不罕见。"自由意志主义倾向的卡托研究所宪法研究中心主任托马斯·贝里基本表示赞同。"前所未有":法官披露特朗普移民案件幕后协调情况 "这些法院的管辖权基于涉及的问题,因此如果这意味着法官不仅可以住在别处,甚至可以在别处听取口头辩论,那么对于某些类型的案件,如果当事人在全国另一端,这可能会更方便,"贝里对福克斯新闻数字版表示。
MIKE DAVIS: FEDERAL COURT SETS DANGEROUS PRECEDENT AGAINST 99-YEAR-OLD JUDGE "Americans deserve the best, most qualified judges, especially in areas like intellectual property law where expertise is key to understanding complex cases and fairly deciding the future of many entrepreneurs’ businesses," Coons said of the legislation. "For too long, we have limited the pool of judges available to take on the toughest IP and federal contract cases to those willing to uproot their lives and move to Washington, D.C. No longer. This bipartisan bill ensures that courts of national jurisdiction can draw from a pool of national talent." Legal scholars who spoke with Fox News Digital saw merit in the senators' proposal. "It's often difficult to recruit top-level talent from across the country to relocate to the District of Columbia for these judgeships," Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Zach Smith told Fox News Digital, noting that the Court of International Trade in New York City has a similarly broad geographic jurisdiction and lacks a residency requirement for judges. "Many other circuit courts of appeal cover multiple states and often the judges on those courts sit throughout the states that that court covers and then they often come together to meet and hear cases and hear oral arguments in a specific location. This type of geographic dispersal it's not an unusual arrangement." Thomas Berry, the director of the libertarian-aligned Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies largely agreed. ‘UNPRECEDENTED’: JUDGES REVEAL BEHIND-THE-SCENES COORDINATION ON TRUMP IMMIGRATION CASES "These courts have jurisdiction based on the issue involved, so potentially if this meant that the judges were able not just to live elsewhere, but even hear oral arguments elsewhere, that could potentially be more convenient for some types of cases if they're, say, involved parties on the opposite side of the country," Berry told Fox News Digital.
批评者可能会辩称,拟议立法可能会因要求法官频繁往返华盛顿特区而增加纳税人的差旅成本。法律专家也可能认为,法官定期面对面会面的机会减少可能导致司法同僚关系的淡化。
Critics may argue that the proposed legislation could increase travel costs to taxpayers by requiring frequent travel for judges to and from D.C. Legal experts may also feel that the ability of judges to regularly meet face to face could lead to a loss of judicial collegiality.
Berry 指出，一些研究表明，在新冠疫情期间，由于法官们面对面交流的时间减少，法院判决中的异议意见有所减少，但他对可能存在的担忧进行了限定，指出：“所有其他联邦巡回上诉法院基本上都在这样的制度下运作了 100 多年，显然这并没有妨碍他们完成本应完成的工作。” 美国最高法院首席大法官点出美国人对其及其同事的误解 两位专家均认为，差旅费用不会成为实施该提案的问题。
Berry noted that some studies show that, during the Coronavirus pandemic, court decisions saw less dissents as judges spent less time in person with one another, but qualified possible concerns by stating that "all of the other regional courts of appeals have been basically working under such a system for over 100 years, and clearly it hasn't gotten in the way from them doing the work that they're meant to do." SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE PINPOINTS WHAT AMERICANS MISUNDERSTAND ABOUT HIM AND HIS COLLEAGUES Neither expert felt that travel costs would be an issue in implementing this proposal.
“对于一个管辖范围覆盖全国的法院，我们提名法官时应当基于才干，考虑来自全美各地的人选——而不是看他们离‘华盛顿泡沫’有多近，”穆迪说道，她本人曾任佛罗里达州巡回法院法官和联邦检察官。“我的《优化法官席位法案》取消了一项过时的居住要求，扩大了合格美国人担任法官的候选人库，并让我们的法院能更好地反映国家整体情况。” 科恩斯和穆迪的办公室在周四接受福克斯新闻数字频道采访时，均未对置评请求作出回应。
"For a court that covers the entire country, we should be considering nominating judges from everywhere in America based on merit — not their proximity to the D.C. bubble," Moody, herself a former Florida circuit judge and federal prosecutor, said of the legislation. "My Better Bench Act removes an outdated residency requirement to expand the pool of qualified Americans who can serve and allows our courts to be a better reflection of the nation as a whole." The offices of Coons and Moody did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Thursday.