Previous Story
Schroeder: DC does not understand need to build federal court in CNMI
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Senior Judge Mary M. Schroeder said that people in Washington, D.C., don’t understand the need for the U.S. District Court for the NMI to have its own building on Saipan.
“I think it’s a shame that the judges have to go through each other’s courtrooms and that there isn’t sufficient security,” said Schroeder in an interview Saturday shortly after the completion of the 20th Annual District Conference at Kanoa Resort’s Seaside Hall.
Schroeder said she has long been a fighter for getting decent facilities for the federal court on Saipan.
“There should be a good facility here to house the federal judges, particularly because the issues that they have to handle are quite sensitive,” she said.
Schroeder said that having the facility built is going to be very expensive and that right now it’s hard to get Congress to do anything, much less spend money a long way away.
“It’s another example of people in Washington not understanding. They don’t understand why it’s expensive here. They don’t understand the distances. They don’t understand the need for security,” she said.
Schroeder said she recommended a new facility on Saipan when she was still the Circuit Chief Judge.
The District Court rents spaces at the Horiguchi Building in Garapan.
