Review of Litigation Publishes Piece Critical of Congressional Underfunding of Federal Judiciary

The Review of Litigation has just published an article by Prof. James P. George entitled Jurisdictional Implications In The Reduced Funding Of Lower Federal Courts, 25 Rev. Litig. 1 (Winter 2006) . Here's the abstract:

This article argues two related propositions. First, if Congress were to eliminate all funding for lower federal courts, its constitutional authority to regulate those courts would become as meaningless as the empty courthouses. Second, Congress breaches its duty to furnish a forum at a point short of full defunding, and with that breach, Congress's regulatory power over private civil disputes otherwise litigable in state courts--preempted and removable state law claims--becomes constitutionally invalid. The first fact setting of full defunding is hypothetical; the second has been underway for several years.