N.D. Ohio Chief Judge Solomon Oliver and 86 other federal district court chief judges have signed and sent a joint letter to Congress requesting financial assistance. Analogizing themselves to "the boots on the ground in our nation's federal trial courts," the judges claim that reduced funding and sequestration have forced them to "slash ... operations to the bone." The judges fear that their "constitutional duties, public safety, and the quality of the justice system will be profoundly compromised by any further cuts."