Federal judge remains excused from new civil cases amid backlog concerns
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A federal judge in Mississippi with a backlog of cases and motions remains barred from handling new civil cases as a result of action by the chief federal judge.
U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate was initially barred from new cases in March, the Clarion-Ledger reports. New action by Chief U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. extends the ban until further order of the court.
Wingate had 24 civil cases pending more than three years, and more than 50 motions pending more than six months, according to the most recent list from the federal courts. The list is six months to a year behind, however.
The judge with the second highest number of pending cases for the three-year period had six of them, and the judge with the next highest number of pending motions for the six-month period had seven of them.
Guirola previously said that Wingate will be assigned new civil cases when he whittles his case backlog to a level that is no higher than that of other judges in the Southern District of Mississippi.
Wingate has blamed delays on high-profile cases and former staffers.
Related articles:
ABAJournal.com: “Federal judge is tossed from two cases for repeated failure to rule on pending motions”
ABAJournal.com: “5th Circuit Footnote Hits a Federal Chief Judge for 6-Year Delay”
