The appellate system, in some states, has taken steps in order to combat the caseload that seems to be ever growing. They have added more judgeships, added more appellate courts, they have assigned some judges from lower courts or retired judges, temporarily. They have started to expedite hearings, limit oral arguments and set time limits on those arguments, as well. Although this may help with their caseload, it does seem to violate some constitutional rights (Allen, Latessa, Ponder, 2015). There seems to be an issue when it comes to adding retired or lower courts judges, they have very little if any appellate court experience and are less likely to provide appellate decisions. One way the appellate system may be more effective is to hire staff aides, they are cheaper than judges and do not require a large office. They could add a “Special Court of Appeals” like they did from 1848 to 1928 in Virginia, it was made of of trial judges and took care of the backlogged cases (Marvell, 1982). The judge may even decide, where the law allows, to give an oral decision rather than a written one and give no reason for their decision (Marvell, 1982).
