Freund Committee to Propose New National Appeals Court

A committee chared in Paul A. Freund '32. Loeb University Professor, will soon submit a report to Chief Justice Warren F.--Burger calling on Congress to create a new "national court of appeals." The New York Times reported Wednesday.

Freund yesterday termed the Times' story "premature," but did not dispute the substance of the account. The committee's proposal could reduce the Supreme Court's heavy case load by ending the right of appeal to the High Court and sending all petitions for review to the new court of appeals.

"The problem is that the case load of the Supreme Court has doubled in the past ten years and tripled in the last 20 to 25." Freund said yesterday.

The proposed seven-member court would handle the petitions for review which now go directly to the Supreme Court. The new court would have three options in disposing a case to dens its hearing: to hear and decide it or to send it to the Supreme Court.

Congressional adoption of the reported proposals would represent the first change in the Court's jurisdiction since 1925, and would significantly alter the Supreme Court's role by no longer giving every individual the right to petition it. However, the Supreme Court would retain the authority to hear any case at its discretion.

Freund's committee was appointed a year ago by Burger in his role as head of the Federal Judicial Center. The committee's members interviewed each of the nine Supreme Court Justices in preparation for its findings.