Justice's wheels slowed as shutdown hits courts
The government shutdown is slowing the wheels of justice in federal courts by delaying civil cases, forcing prosecutors to operate with skeleton staffs and raising uncertainty about the system’s immediate future if the stalemate continues past Thursday.
That’s when federal courts officials expect the reserve funds they have been using since the shutdown began Oct. 1 to run out.
Money to run Vermont’s three federal courthouses — in Brattleboro, Burlington and Rutland — will be gone as of Thursday, U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy said Monday.
Leahy, a Democrat and Vermont’s senior senator, said he learned from the state’s chief U.S. district judge, Christina Reiss, that the absence of money will leave the court “unable to monitor and test those awaiting trial for serious drug trafficking offenses.”
