In July 1981, Heflin announced he would introduce legislation calling for creation of a national court of appeals, and that such legislation would relieve the Supreme Court of some of its present burdens while increasing the national appellate capacity. The legislation was intended to also initiate a long-range study of the federal court system and call for major reforms in the American judiciary. Heflin noted that only 289 of the 4,242 petitions for hearings submitted to the Supreme Court in the previous year were granted and that a national appeals court would resolve feuds in the federal circuit courts.