$10 To View Court Documents? 1st Amendment Groups Protesting

March 19, 2013 By
You can add First Amendment groups to those upset by budget-crunching changes to the California justice system. They say a new $10 fee just to view court documents limits access to public information. The Judicial Council, the policy guys for the courts, say it’s just a way to fund the system. Peter Scheer of the San Rafael-based First Amendment Coalition, also complains that the change was deep in Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget bill rather than in sponsored legislation – a way to limit opposition.
 
“This will alter and in this case diminish the scope of a personal right of citizenship,” Scheer told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, which covered the issue this week. “It should not be done by trailer bill in the dark of night.” His voice adds to a growing chorus of discontent as long-promised changes in the court system take effect and as more details of Gov. Brown’s budget come to light.
 
Read the excellent report here. 
Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: , , , , ,

ADA Is Key To Court Re-Org Lawsuit

March 15, 2013 By
The Americans With Disabilities Act, or ADA, appears to be the heart of that complaint filed against state reorganization of its courts. The federal complaint, filed March 13, makes an argument that under the new system “… there will be no unlawful detainer courtrooms in the San Fernando Valley [so] tenants from the Valley will be forced to travel to either Santa Monica or Pasadena – areas to which there is no adequate public transportation route from the Valley.” Unlawful detainer is the term for eviction actions.
CCM staff photo

CCM staff photo

 
The complaint offers an example of a San Fernando Valley resident who now could access a courthouse six miles away but would have to travel some 30 miles to Santa Monica under the new system. The action, filed by a coalition of non-profits including a low-income housing group, notes that state law offers strict timelines for eviction cases and that lack of transportation might favor the landlords.
 
Read about the issue and access a copy of the full complaint here. 
Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Breaking News: Legal Aid Groups Sue L.A. County Over Court Closings

March 14, 2013 By
The lawsuits have begun over Los Angeles County’s plan to close courthouses and switch formerly community-based operations to “hubs.” Now a “coalition of legal aid groups” is suing in Federal Court, saying that shutting down those courthouses will deny access to justice. It will be interesting to see how court officials defend that charge since many have been saying the same thing for months.
 
Specifically, some groups feel that moving time-sensitive eviction cases to hubs also violates the state’s obligation to make courts available to people with disabilities. The hubs plan is set to take effect Monday.
 

Listen to a  L.A. public radio report on the breaking story here.

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: , , , ,

Subtle Warnings As New Court Cuts Loom

March 14, 2013 By
Listen with the right kind of hearing and you detect subtle warnings ahead of the next big wave of state civil court cutbacks. For example, when Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye says, during her State of the Judiciary address no less, that California, “normally a leader in social justice, may now be facing a civil rights crisis,” you can bet somebody is drafting arguments. 
 
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye (Photo: California Courts)

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye (Photo: California Courts)

The “civil rights” issue has always been king of criminal courts, of course, and an array of rulings and legislation govern how much the state can cut in that realm. That’s why most of the court cutback anguish is coming to fee-collecting civil courts. But you see the next argument when the Chief Justice says budget cuts have brought “… unconscionable delays” in getting a court date in civil matters, including divorce, contract disputes and discrimination cases. The first two are one thing, the later is another and hints at the civil rights argument.
 
Many of the real court cuts are due in the April/May window in front of June fiscal deadlines. So you can look for a big-time increase in rhetoric; our guess is the over/under for lawsuits against the civil court cuts is down to 45 days. Read between the lines in the L.A. Times here.
Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget
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