Shutdown leads to delays in lawsuits against government

Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va.

During the longest government shutdown, the federal judiciary has remained open, allowing the wheels of justice to keep turning in most criminal cases. But many civil cases have come to a halt because the U.S. Department of Justice doesn’t have enough attorneys working to handle them.

Judges have granted the government delays after the Justice Department explained that without funding, its attorneys are barred from working on cases except in limited circumstances, including “emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property.”

Among the cases that have been put off:

A lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s asylum ban on immigrants who illegally cross the southern border.

A lawsuit aimed at preventing offshore drilling tests in the Atlantic Ocean.

A wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of a man who was shot to death after the 2016 takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.

“It was disappointing to hear that it was being put on hold,” said Jeanette Finicum, the widow of Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, an Arizona rancher killed by police during the armed occupation of the Malheur refuge.

The family’s suit names the United States, the FBI, Oregon State Police and others as defendants, alleging that he was “deliberately executed by a preplanned government ambush.”

The shutdown’s impact on the courts may worsen. So far, federal courts have been able to operate by using revenue from various fees charged to lawyers, defendants and litigants, as well as other nonearmarked funds.

But that money is expected to run out Jan. 25. After that, judges would continue working with pay, but thousands of court employees would likely be furloughed or told to work without pay. Each judicial district would decide which employees are essential.

Criminal cases, because of constitutional requirements for speedy trials, would likely be given priority, potentially causing longer delays for civil cases.

Charles Tiefer, a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, said delays in cases where the government is being sued generally favor the government.

“As the old saying goes, ‘justice delayed is justice denied,”’ Tiefer said.

“During delays, the attention of the witnesses is lost, the progress of the case is arrested, and the case just loses its priority,” he said.

In some cases, judges have pushed back, refusing to grant the government’s request for a “stay,” a temporary halting of a judicial proceeding.