New story on courts budget brings the numbers crisis to life

 

There’s a “tipping point” story out on the brutal California courts budget, written by Linda Deutsch of the Associated Press and being carried all over the state. Deutsch is well-known to the justice community, having covered the state courts for the AP over four decades. Her story has some of the more brutal comments to date and likely represents a new PR offensive against Gov. Brown’s plans.
 
Don’t miss this report, with an L.A. presiding judge, who is helping close 60 courtrooms and 10 courthouses, saying that “… we are witnessing the dismantling of the Los Angeles justice system.” Deutsch leads the story like this: “A famous judge sits in a cold, shuttered courtroom pushing papers while the California Supreme Court chief justice fumes over the state of court funding.”
 
Even Judge Lance Ito, yes the O.J. Simpson judge, laments that he has no staff, no bailiff, no court reporter “… and I have to persuade friendly clerks to enter minute orders… there’s no heat in here and the furniture has been cannibalized.”
 
It is the kind of report that brings the numbers crisis to life. Find it via the Orange County Register here.