Anna Blackburne-Rigsby is the chief judge of the D.C. Court of Appeals. Milton Lee Jr. is the chief judge of the D.C. Superior Court.
When two U.S. Supreme Court justices took the unusual step of appearing before Congress in July, they made it clear that threats against judges and court employees have become more frequent, more serious and more resource-intensive to fight. That reality extends beyond the federal judiciary. The D.C. court system — consisting of the D.C. Superior Court and D.C. Court of Appeals — faces the same increasingly complex security environment while also confronting a dramatic increase in caseloads. After four consecutive years of roughly flat appropriations, the D.C. courts have reached a fiscal breaking point. Without increased funding, the courts will lack the operational capacity needed to administer justice.
In fiscal 2025, the U.S. Marshals Service recorded more than 500 threats against federal judges. D.C. courtrooms need more security officers for volatile hearings, but current security staffing cannot meet demand. Protecting judges is not an optional expense. It is a national security obligation.
Cybersecurity threats also continue to escalate. D.C. courts block an average of 65,000 cyberattacks per day, approximately 20 percent more than in 2025, according to internal statistics. These attacks threaten the confidentiality of sealed juvenile, adoption and mental health records, as well as the safety and privacy of judges, court employees, litigants, victims and witnesses. In today’s justice system, cybersecurity is essential to protecting both public safety and public trust.
Against the backdrop of these heightened security risks, the D.C. Superior Court is seeing a surge in caseloads. Since fiscal 2023 — the last year Congress meaningfully increased the budget for D.C. courts — criminal cases have nearly tripled, growing from 6,993 cases to 18,214, according to internal court data. This increase has created more than $56 million in workload costs, per calculations using a National Center for State Courts tool, but the courts have not received additional funding.
Domestic violence misdemeanors are up 37 percent since fiscal 2023, according to internal court data, placing additional demands on judicial officers, courtroom staff, security personnel and victim services. During this same timeframe, the cost of court-appointed defender services has increased by approximately $9.8 million.
The D.C. Court of Appeals is also facing a larger caseload. Court data shows criminal appeals increasing 65 percent and motions increasing 30 percent since fiscal 2023. That burdens both the judiciary and appointed counsel.
Federal prosecutors are moving forward with more cases rather than declining them, pushing additional workload onto an already stressed system. Every filing requires personnel: courtroom staff, case processors, interpreters, court reporters, juvenile probation officers, IT specialists and security officers. Without these roles, cases simply cannot be heard.
The effects of these pressures are already visible. The criminal case clearance rate dropped from 108 percent in fiscal 2023 to just 60 percent in fiscal 2025, according to court data, demonstrating that filings are outpacing the court’s capacity to resolve cases. Overall D.C. Superior Court caseloads climbed 33 percent, from 50,371 to 66,961, over the same two years. Appeals increased 15 percent, from 1,091 to 1,252.
These numbers are more than statistics. They represent victims waiting for closure, defendants awaiting trial or appeal, families seeking resolution, businesses waiting for disputes to be resolved and communities depending on a justice system that operates fairly and without unnecessary delay.
No court system in the country — state or federal — could absorb these pressures while holding its budget flat. The D.C. court system has done everything possible to manage the workload, relying on existing personnel and increasing operational efficiency. But those solutions have been fully exhausted. The operations of the D.C. courts are now stretched beyond capacity.
Congress has helped address the strain on the D.C. court system by taking steps to fill long-standing judicial vacancies. Those efforts are welcome. But adding judges without providing the workforce and infrastructure to support them limits the efficacy of that investment. Justice depends on an entire system working together.
The D.C. court system meets different needs than state courts do. Funded through federal appropriations, it serves not only D.C. residents but also federal employees, members of Congress, businesses and 27 million annual visitors. Congress alone carries the responsibility — and the obligation — to ensure that this system can function at the level the country requires.
An investment in the D.C. courts is an investment in public safety, constitutional rights, efficient government and equal access to justice. It is an investment in ensuring that every victim, defendant, family, business and resident or visitor who turns to D.C. courts can have confidence that justice will be delivered fairly, securely and without unnecessary delay. That is not simply a local responsibility. It is a national one.
The post D.C. courts are at their breaking point appeared first on Washington Post.
