Whittier Courthouse Closing June 3, A Month Early

May 23, 2013 By
 
Anyone thinking that looming courthouse closings are just budget-deadline brinksmanship might take a look at the L.A. County Superior Court in Whittier, where public access ends on June 3. Whittier Daily News is also citing Whittier City Manager Jeff Collier as saying that the “the city was hopeful until the governor released his revised budget May 14, which failed to push more money to the courts.”
 
Photo: SGVN/Staff photo by Leo Jarzomb as part of Whittier Daily News coverage of Whittier Court closing

Photo credit: SGVN/Staff photo by Leo Jarzomb as part of Whittier Daily News coverage of Whittier Court closing

“That, I think, was the last hope,” the city manager told the paper. That’s chilling news as many courthouse workers and courts supporters press their case for last-minute budget increases before a June 15 budget deadline. Lawmakers frequently miss the deadline, but it is still seen as a key milestone in final budget negotiations. Following the June 3 date, some staff will be at the Whittier courthouse, but the building will not be open for court business, according to Mary Hearn, director of public information for the Los Angeles Superior Court, who was quoted in the newspaper’s story.
 
How complex will it get? The Daily News lists the details: Whittier cases have been or will be transferred to courthouses in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Chatsworth, Norwalk, Bellflower and Downey, depending on the type of case and in some cases, depending on the person’s ZIP code. Traffic tickets issued by Whittier police will be heard in Bellflower. L.A. Sheriff’s Department and CHP tickets will be heard in Downey. Felonies will be heard in Norwalk, but only after the arraignment stage. Felonies filed by Whittier police will be arraigned in Bellflower, with sheriff’s and CHP cases in Downey. After arraignment they will be transferred to Norwalk for preliminary hearing and trial or the Early Disposition Program, or a plea bargain.
 
Simple enough. No way that’s going to confuse anyone’s day. Read the Whittier Daily News story, Final nails in Whittier courthouse’s coffin.
Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: , , ,

Advocates Building Case For Courts Funding Before June Deadlines

May 22, 2013 By

The state’s courts advocates have become increasingly vocal ahead of California’s June 15 budget deadline, and a recent commentary in The Record newspaper in Stockton laid out the most passionate argument: That justice is being denied those in poverty who most need access to the courts. In a commentary, two members of the SEIU local 1021 noted that “… justice is more than blind when those seeking it are invisible.”

 
Sonya Farnsworth, a Stockton courthouse clerk and president of the Local, and Jennifer Whitlock, a court reporter for the San Joanquin court and a member of the Local’s bargaining team, called for supporting state Rep. Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) in efforts to restore court budget cuts. “We must help her to build a public outcry for funding that maintains the integrity of our justice system,” the duo wrote.
 

They list a few of the worst service cuts for Stockton-area citizens: “Small claims cases are no longer heard anywhere in San Joaquin County. You can no longer access court records online for family law, juvenile, guardianship, mental or criminal proceedings.” They are also among organized labor voices statewide starting to increase pressure on the budget process. Read the commentary here.

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

Golden State Sets Negative Example For Small Claims

May 20, 2013 By
 
California is being increasingly seen as a national “leader” in the negative implications of court budget cuts, and a recent NPR story focused on the small claims system. Calling small claims a “workhorse,” NPR explained that they “… were created in the mid-20th century to allow people to resolve monetary disputes that are small in the greater scheme of things but huge to people of limited means.
This AP photo is part of the NPR reporting on the court funding crisis.

This AP photo is part of the NPR reporting on the court funding crisis.

 
The network also noted how the courts work: “… they’re unique in how efficient they are. Defendants and plaintiffs don’t need a lawyer and judges usually make their rulings on the spot, often in 30 minutes or less.” But the report focuses on a charter fishing boat owner who has been dealing with a bad check case for months. The problem is that his court, in Stockton, hasn’t set a trial date for ANY small claims cases since September, and it has not target for resuming setting trial dates.
 
The report includes noting the problems in Los Angeles. It’s worth a read, if only to remind ourselves that the Golden State is fast becoming a national leader in negative court news. Read it, or listen to it, here. 
Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

Jury Still Out On Court Funding Increases

May 15, 2013 By
 
It sure looks like the jury is still out for courts funding. The bad news from Gov. Brown’s latest budget draft raises a question: Is that the real number for increasing courts spending, namely “zero,” or just the latest negotiation move? Judging by reaction, it’s most likely the later as we move toward a June 15constitutional deadline for the “final” budget from lawmakers.
 
A math reminder: This year’s spending plan keep the $525 million judicial branch cut, and the lion’s share of that – about $475 million – will be hitting the trial courts. It’s harder to cut the criminal courts, largely because they have more constitutional protections but also because those issues have more political clout. The ongoing budget, to cite The Courthouse News, “… comes after days of preceding speculation that some money would be restored to the state judiciary that has been shuttering courthouses and laying off employees up and down the state.”
 
But Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is reacting as though the budget numbers could change. And Assembly Speaker John Perez, who if from Los Angeles and has strong union ties, is calling for protecting court funding – but it seems unclear exactly what that means. This is all a sure bet to heat up in coming weeks, and here’s an excellent recap from the Courthouse News Service.
Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: , , ,

Newest ‘Good News’ Budget? Not For Justice System

May 14, 2013 By
 
The latest draft of Gov. Brown’s budget, called a “good news” budget by some media because of increased revenues from a statewide tax increase approved last November and the improving economy, is less than good for the state’s justice system. The Associated Press and others are still developing their analysis, but the courts funding seems locked in at previous-year spending.
Governor Brown's latest budget draft may not be 'good news' for judicial system

Governor Brown’s latest budget draft less than ‘good news’ for justice system

 
Says the AP: “[Although]… plagued by downsized staffs, service reductions and darkened courtrooms due to bone-deep budget cuts over recent years, ‘the judiciary is getting the same amount of money they were given the year before,’ Brown said. The courts will have to struggle to contain growing costs without any receiving any new resources, he added.”
 
Here’s a breaking budget story from the San Jose Mercury News. 
Filed Under: Courts Budget, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

Law School Offers ‘Practice’ Courtroom For Holding Court

May 10, 2013 By
Here’s how bad it’s getting for California courts amid the closures and cutbacks: the Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa is offering to lend its new 4,400-square-foot “practice courtroom” to the actual courts, even offering to hold trials there. The courtroom opened last month amid much fanfare, and California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye spoke at opening ceremonies.
 
It’s also an example of walking the talk, because much of the funding for the $2-million facility, according to the Los Angeles Times, came from Whittier graduate Paul Kiesel, who is also co-chairman of the Open Courts Coalition, the bipartisan lawyers group lobbying to reverse California’s years of court budget cuts.
 
“In the last five years,” Kiesel told the Times, “the courts’ budget has been cut by $1 billion.” He said the cuts have resulted in a backlog of 20,000 personal-injury cases in Los Angeles County alone. You can read the LA Times story here.
Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: , , , , ,

State Budget Ideas List Courts Among Lawmaker Concerns

May 9, 2013 By

Exactly on cue, opposition views are starting to emerge in advance of Gov. Brown’s next draft of a state budget, which is expected next week. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that state Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, a Democrat and former union political director from L.A., lists increased courts funding among his concerns. The news brought quick comment from Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, who has called upon lawmakers to invest in the justice system.

“I applaud the speaker’s leadership in articulating the need to begin reinvesting in the courts,” she said in a statement to the Times. “His knowledge and understanding of the equal access to justice issues are a great benefit to all Californians.”

The speaker’s comments are hardly casual. The “ideas” were developed along with his fellow members of the Assembly Democratic Caucus and came during a speech to the Sacramento Press Club. That means it’s another step toward the state budget debate that begins for real when Brown releases the next version of his spending plan.

Read about other issues in the complete LA Times story here.

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

Strange Days Loom As Budget Deadlines Near, Courts Still Face Crisis

May 8, 2013 By
It remains quiet – too quiet! – on the media front as the California courts budget crisis gets eclipsed by high-profile moves to move or release prison inmates and other high-profile issues. As we’ve noted before, one challenge facing civil courts is that nobody knows what they’ve got until its gone, and for many the access to family law and other justice services is going, going…

The public part of the state budget debates is held during the “June gloom” season because the state constitution “requires” the legislature to pass the budget by June 15, a deadline that has been seldom met (we went 23 of 24 years missing it, but passed it on time last year), and never with any real consequence. As a budget expert with Gov. Schwarzenegger famously put it:  “If you do something bad and you never get punished for it, then you don’t see it as being bad anymore.”
[Read more…]

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

Shifting Costs, Releasing Prisoners Helps Balance a Budget

May 7, 2013 By
 
Here are a couple of ways the state of California is reaching that “balanced budget” we hear so much about: cutting courts and shifting prison populations to local jails. The HealthyCal.org website has a well-sourced story out of San Mateo that illustrates how the problems go hand in hand, although typically we’re seeing the civil courts take more cuts than the criminal courts – likely because plenty of constitutional guarantees dominate criminal cases.
 
San Mateo is a microcosm of what is happening throughout the state, San Mateo Presiding Judge Robert Foiles told the website. They also noted a scary fact from that recent survey of trial courts for the state Judicial Council, which administers the courts: 11 of the 48 counties that responded reported they weren’t able to process domestic violence temporary restraining orders on the same day they’re filed.
 
Here’s the background for San Mateo: Over the past five years, trial courts throughout the state have had their budgets slashed by about $1 billion because of the state’s fiscal crisis. Before the cuts San Mateo County had $12 million in reserve. They are now down to $1.2 million. The governor’s proposed budget for this year would mean another $4.5 million budget shortfall. The court has cut more than 30 percent of its workforce. If the Governor’s proposed budget passes, they will have to shutter the central courthouse and reduce the South San Francisco courthouse to two judges – who will only hear the most serious cases.
 
We perhaps treat civil and criminal courts as different worlds, and this report shows the interaction. Read it here.  
Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: , , , , ,

Profile of Court Fees Increases Amid Budget Crisis

May 6, 2013 By
 
Just in time for the increasing discussion of special court fees, like the ones for accessing public documents that is effectively shelved for the time being, a Sacramento Bee story outlines that any “temporary” fees tend to become permanent, and cites a court fee as the oldest example.
 
Jim Sanders, who wrote the Bee report, says that 13 of of 21 “temporary” fees received extensions, cumulatively raising more than $70 million annually for programs ranging from a missing persons database to an effort to fight auto insurance fraud.” He then notes that “… perhaps the oddest Capitol trail left by a single fee involved five bills over the past decade to raise millions for California courts. What is now a $40 court fee tacked onto all criminal convictions, including traffic violations, began as a $20 charge in 2003. It later was raised to $30, then to $40, then expiration dates were eliminated, leaving the charge permanent.”

Allowed uses also shift. That court fee, for example, was initially earmarked for security but can now be used for administration. It will be an important issue in the upcoming crunch-time debates over what funding the legislature actually finds to address the growing courts crisis.

 
Read the full story here.
 
Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: , , , , ,
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