{"id":5135,"date":"2026-07-17T18:04:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5135"},"modified":"2026-07-17T18:04:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:04:02","slug":"judges-ask-congress-for-power-to-fix-crumbling-courthouses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5135","title":{"rendered":"Judges ask Congress for power to fix crumbling courthouses"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>For years, the chief judge overseeing the federal courts in Chicago had been trying to fix the water inside the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. A study had found that the water flowing to the building\u2019s showers, sinks and drinking fountains most likely contained elevated levels of Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires\u2019 disease.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5133\">Trump\u2019s envoy faces protests in Venice on latest stop of super yacht diplomacy tour<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>But in an interview, Chief Judge Virginia M. Kendall said the General Services Administration, which manages hundreds of federal courthouses around the country on behalf of the executive branch, rejected multiple requests over months to install a disinfection system that would clean the water.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That step had been recommended by a water treatment expert hired by the court, who found in a 2024 report that colonies of Legionella had most likely established themselves in the pipes of the 62-year-old courthouse.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>\u201cThe water is just one of many issues in our building,\u201d Kendall said. \u201cWe cannot do our jobs with this level of disruption, chaos and delay.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Starting Point<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>Judges across the country have been complaining that their courthouses are in a dire state of disrepair and that the GSA is not doing enough to respond. The extent of the problem was highlighted in interviews with chief judges of district courts as well as in a list of maintenance issues compiled by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which coordinates operations across the judiciary.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><span>In the Middle District of Florida, the GSA has been slow to respond to repeated leaks in Jacksonville and has taken more than two years to fully repair a fence that secures a parking lot for judges in Ocala, Chief Judge Marcia Morales Howard said in an interview. She criticized the agency for failing to take into account the impact of courthouse shutdowns on jurors, litigants and the rule of law. \u201cGSA gets paid their rent no matter what,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we can\u2019t move. So there\u2019s just no urgency in getting the repairs done.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The problems with the nation\u2019s courthouses are one facet of a crisis over the federal government\u2019s long-standing inability to maintain its own buildings. Edward C. Forst, the GSA\u2019s administrator, has blamed a requirement that the agency get congressional approval in advance of major projects. As for courthouses, he has argued that the $1.3 billion the judiciary pays each year in rent is a bargain compared with the cost of repairs. He has also cited a report from the Government Accountability Office that found the judiciary\u2019s own guidelines for the design of its courthouses will lead to higher costs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But for judges the problem is especially frustrating because they must rely on the GSA, part of the executive branch, to persuade Congress to address their needs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>GSA control of courthouse repairs is inconsistent with the nation\u2019s tradition of separation of powers, said Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr., the director of the Administrative Office.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5131\">Darline Graham weighs running for full Senate term as funeral scheduled for Lindsey Graham<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe ought to be responsible for our own buildings. We ought not to be reliant upon an agency of the executive branch to manage our buildings,\u201d Conrad said in an interview. \u201cJudicial independence, conceptually, is more important today than it has ever been.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>After years of frustration, Conrad said the judiciary is now asking Congress to give it control of courthouses in 10 of the country\u2019s 94 judicial districts &#8212; a pilot that could eventually lead to a more substantial handover. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., mentioned the possibility of legislation that would transfer control of some courthouses to the judiciary in a hearing Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In a statement, a spokesperson for the GSA defended the agency\u2019s record and characterized the effort to transfer control of courthouses to the judiciary as misguided. The GSA \u201cremains the most qualified entity to oversee the judiciary\u2019s real estate portfolio,\u201d said Michael Tammero, the spokesperson. Major repairs to several courthouses, including Dirksen, are part of the agency\u2019s proposals to Congress for the next fiscal year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Conrad acknowledged the role that Congress has played in delaying needed repairs but said the courts should not have to go through the GSA, which he said has failed to make a strong case on their behalf. \u201cGSA wouldn\u2019t prioritize the judiciary\u2019s needs the way we would,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re conflicted because of their need to advocate for executive branch projects.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the most recent fiscal year, Conrad noted, the GSA succeeded in persuading Congress to appropriate $239 million so the agency could renovate its own headquarters in downtown Washington. Meanwhile, Congress failed to approve the GSA\u2019s funding request for hundreds of millions of dollars in major courthouse repairs. \u201cWhen they do get money, they spend it on themselves,\u201d Conrad said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>At Dirksen, Kendall said, the GSA did not fully address the water issue until after a sitting judge got sick. For years, Judge Robert W. Gettleman used the water from the sink in his chambers to brush his teeth. Then in April, the 83-year-old judge was hospitalized for meningitis and found to have pneumonia as well. Although he was not tested for Legionnaires\u2019 disease, Gettleman said in an interview, a doctor at the hospital said that ailment appeared likely based on his symptoms, and he responded well to a broad-spectrum antibiotic used to treat Legionella and other bacterial infections. (Gettleman\u2019s son is a reporter for The New York Times.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Tammero said the court lacked \u201csubstantiating evidence\u201d that Gettleman\u2019s illness was caused by Dirksen\u2019s water. \u201cThe courts should remain focused on their core mission rather than engage in unsupported medical speculation,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5129\">US strikes bridges in Iran, which targets a water desalination plant in Kuwait<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><span><i>This article originally appeared in <\/i><i>The New York Times<\/i><i>.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Undrinkable water. Leaks. Mold. Federal courthouses need billions of dollars in repairs, and judges say the General Services Administration is a bad landlord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Judges ask Congress for power to fix crumbling courthouses - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5135\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Judges ask Congress for power to fix crumbling courthouses - Boston Relocation Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Undrinkable water. 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