News outlets statewide are documenting the installment-plan crisis that is California courts funding, including a recent report by Raul Hernandez in the Ventura County Star. Presiding Judge Brian Back and Michael Planet, the Superior Court’s executive officer, told a lunch gathering in Oxnard that their “rainy day fund” is virtually gone, going from $7 million to around $300,000 while dealing with cuts, the paper said.
Ventura County is noted as the 14th largest court system in the state and eighth in terms of cases filed. It is first in civil cases under $25,000. How dire is it getting? Among the “solutions” being considered, they say, is cutting juries from 12 people to six. And those running the courts make it clear that access to justice is being denied as self-help programs and other access programs are being dismantled.
The Star story is here.
