New twist on a recurring problem

In this PE article on new presiding judge Thomas Cahraman there is a useful discussion on an issue which may be adding to the congestion of our civil courts.

There are 76 judges and commissioners. They "face 43 death penalty cases that are making their way to trial. San Diego County, with a 2.9 million population, has seven pending death penalty cases, Cahraman said."

"Each death penalty case occupies a judge for about 10 weeks ... many of our judges are assigned death penalty cases in addition to their regular workload. " There is no question that this many death penalty cases adds substantially to the backlog.