Johnson v. United States
Johnson v. United States
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
On consideration of appellant’s petition for rehearing en banc, the opposition thereto,
ORDERED that the petition for rehearing en banc is denied.
Statement of Associate Judge FARRELL, with whom Chief Judge WAGNER and Associate Judges FERREN, TERRY, STEADMAN, SCHWELB, KING and SULLIVAN join, in voting to deny rehearing en banc.
Appellant contends that for years this court has been violating D.C.Code § 11-946 (1989) by granting requests from the Superior Court for a stay of the effective date of promulgated changes in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. (At issue in this case are a bundle of changes of both sets of federal rules, including changes to Fed.R.Crim.P. 26.2(g) and 46(i) that might potentially have affected appellant’s pretrial detention). If indeed the court were acting ultra vires in granting these stays, the practice would unmistakably present an issue of exceptional and recurring importance necessitating en banc consideration. D.C.App.R. 40(e)(2) (1993). But appellant’s argument rests upon an unduly restrictive interpretation of § 11-946.
At the same time, it would indeed be contrary to the statute if this court were routinely, without adequate justification, to grant stays of the duration (one year) requested in this case. Appellant makes a persuasive argument that an important right of augmented discovery at pretrial detention hearings is “on hold” and unavailable to Superior Court defendants (unlike their federal counterparts) without any indication that the right has emerged as problematical for the Superior Court rulemakers. It may therefore be that this court should supervise more closely the progress of review of rule changes by the trial court (and its advisory committee), requiring more particularized stay requests tied to consideration of individual rules.
. § 11-946 provides:
The Superior Court shall conduct its business according to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (except as otherwise provided in title 23) unless it prescribes or adopts rules which modify those Rules. Rules which modify the Federal Rules shall be submitted for the approval of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and they shall not take effect until approved by that court. The Superior Court may adopt and enforce other rules as it may deem necessary without the approval of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals if such rules do not modify the Federal Rules. The Superior Court may appoint a committee of lawyers to advise it in the performance of its duties under the section.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Edgar JOHNSON, Jr. v. UNITED STATES
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published