Too many foreclosures and too little time.
That was the impetus behind the so-called "rocket docket" in Florida, where judges could blow through a thousand cases a day.
And they had to, given a backlog of close to 40,000 foreclosures.
It was an experiment that began at the very end of December of 2008 in Lee County, Florida, the hardest hit county in the state. Retired judges came back to work, and the cases started to move. Then it went into full swing about a year ago in four other counties.
Now with a backlog of "just 8000 cases," Lee County court clerk Charlie Green confirms the money for the program runs out at the end of June. I spoke with Green a few years ago, when the program started, and then again this morning. The desperation I remember in his voice is now gone.
"We are absorbing a lot of the foreclosed properties, and hopefully as the job market improves, that will improve," Green tells me.