Winners, Losers Likely As State Revises Court Funding
Worried About Costs, Imperial County Wants In On Court Cuts Discussions
The lack of public comment into the ongoing Los Angeles County Superior Court reorganization has been one ongoing complaint about the changes, and now the Imperial County Board of Supervisors is “demanding” to be in on discussions, according to the Inland Empire Press. Along with other worries, the supervisors argue that some cuts might save the courts money but end up costing the county additional money for transportation and other services.
Report: Even Litigation Settlement Department Getting Cut
Court funding: Politics large and small
Article from CCM’s Special Report – CIVIL COURTS: RATIONING JUSTICE IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY
A few weeks after a big downtown rally against Los Angeles Superior Court reorganization, a middle-aged man who had attended the protest walked into a Starbucks next to the Stanley Mosk Courthouse and ordered an elaborate latte concoction.
“It would be different,” he mused as they prepared the drink, “if the judges were elected.”
He must have been thinking of federal court, because the Superior Court judges held up as out-of-touch 1 percenters at the protest ARE elected, albeit in the most unheralded races anyone might imagine. That near-total lack of political interest is a key reason that this “special report” is a long-form accounting of what amounts to simple political Darwinism.
Looking for ‘literature,’ finding civic revolt
By Sara Warner, from CCM Special Report
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. After some time Back East, I was moving back to California where I’ve lived nearly all of the past 17 years. When talk turned to a courts website last year, our pretensions were mostly literary: we wanted www.californiacourtsmonitor.com to celebrate “the writing” about justice, like that you get from Associated Press Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch or maybe even less known voices like James Preston Allen, the publisher of San Pedro’s “Random LengthNews.” (Not, by the way, that Mr. Allen is likely to care all that much.)
It seemed logical enough. It was a good project that meshed nicely with my day job as development director for a non-profit legal foundation. Also, I grew up with the Law (capital “L” in our house). My grandfather was a famous lawyer and my grand uncle was a Federal Court judge. Who knew we would find a civil courts system in what amounts to full-on revolt?
CCM issues first ‘special print report’
Report: Services Slashed, Trials Delayed As Court Cutbacks Take Hold
The story offers some highlights: In San Francisco, paying a traffic ticket can now take up to four hours, and filing a lawsuit can consume nearly three hours, the report said. In Sacramento, window services have been slashed by more than 75%, prompting fights in lines, according to the committee. Getting a trial in a traffic matter in San Diego requires at least a five-month wait, the survey found, and court closures have forced some San Bernardino residents to drive up to 175 miles one way to attend to a legal matter. Record-filing has slowed across many counties and created backlogs, the report said.
Read the latest here.
Ethics Committee Says Judges Can Ask Attorneys to Lobby
One more bit of history for the courts funding crisis: It’s helped prompt the first decision from a California ethics committee, which has decided judges can ask attorneys to lobby for more courts funding. That means asking them to write opinion pieces and lobby both the community and state lawmakers. The requests, however, can’t be “coercive,” and by that we guess they mean no more than is inherent when a judge asks something of folks appearing in their court.
The 12-member ethics committee is reportedly the idea of former Chief Justice Ronald M. George and was actually selected years ago by the California Supreme Court. It acts independently of all agencies and its advisory opinions are published at JudicialEthicsOpinions.ca.gov.
More on the “Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions” can be found in a Maura Dolan story in The Los Angeles Times here.
Barstow Gets Limited Court From ‘Couch-Cushion’ Money
The newspaper says the court in Barstow will hear traffic, landlord-tenant, small claims and domestic violence cases while civil, family law and criminal cases will still have to be heard elsewhere. Those who get their cases heard in Barstow will be spared a 32-highway-mile, one-way drive to the nearest fulltime court in Victorville. Needles residents whose cases fit the limited Barstow docket will get 30 miles cut from their 174-mile, one-way drive to Victorville.
More Pushback On Judicial Spending, Lawmaker Sends Strong Warning
Read the Miller blog here.