San Diego County Documents Part Of Courts Crisis

June 21, 2013 By
 
The San Diego County Bar Association is pushing its new “State of the Judiciary” report that outlines just how dismal things are becoming despite about $60 million in “reinstated” funding from the just-passed state budget. The San Diego NBC affiliate has a good report citing attorney Jon R. Williams, president-elect of the Association, as saying “… this isn’t just a lawyer issue. This is an issue that affects public safety. It affects businesses, and it affects families. It’s an issue that everybody should be concerned with.”
 
The report notes that Williams was the lead author of a just-released SDCBA study titled “State of the Judiciary in San Diego County” that reaffirms the notion that “justice delayed is justice denied.” It’s worth noting that part of the report discussion echoes concerns about funding sources, and NBC reported it this way: “All the people served by the courts don’t recognize themselves as a constituency, and thus don’t rise up to lobby or protest like other ‘special interests’. And, the judicial branch of government doesn’t have fundraising powers.”
 
The report can be seen as a sort of re-boot as political discussion of the courts shifts from the state budget to longer-term strategies, especially how deal with the anticipated social uproar once the budget cuts result in increased domestic violence, juvenile crime increases and other outcomes. See the NBC report here.
Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: , , , , ,

Iranian TV News Still Covering Court Cuts

June 20, 2013 By
Click here to watch the Press TV report about California courts budget cuts.

Click here to watch the Press TV report about California courts budget cuts.

While most of the state’s TV journalists have adopted the “California budget miracle deal” narrative, at least one international news service has created a fairly detailed report with focus on how continuing cutbacks impact poor and handicapped citizens. The Tehran-based Press TV uses extensive (by TV news standards) video of a street protest at downtown’s Stanley Mosk Courthouse and David Sapp, an ACLU spokesperson, comments on-air.
 
 
Sapp notes that it’s actually illegal not to provide access to justice for the handicapped. The Press TV report is also among the few to predict increases in bench warrants and vehicle seizures because people will not be able to access the court system.
 

You can see the report (it’s in English) here.  

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

‘Hell Week’ Ends With Hundreds Of Friday Firings

June 14, 2013 By
 
One employee at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse called this “hell week” as hundreds of Los Angeles Superior Court workers braced for layoffs. The L.A. Daily News reported that 539 employees will be impacted, and broke the number down: “The move will result in 177 layoffs, 139 workers who will be demoted with pay cuts, 223 who will be transferred to new work locations and some positions that will remain unfilled, a court official said.”
 
Mary Hearn, a court spokesperson, told the newspaper that “… there will be delays in getting hearing dates and there will be much longer lines… we have prided ourselves on being the largest neighborhood court ever in a county the size of Los Angeles County, because no matter where you lived you didn’t have to go far if you had court business to attend to. But with the closure of these court houses … we’ve also had to reorganize the work because now we’re providing service in fewer locations than before.”
 
She also singled out eviction cases and small claims courts as examples of court service cuts. Evictions, called “unlawful detainer cases,” that have been heard in 26 courthouses will be heard in only five. Small claims cases went from 26 sites to two sites.
 
You can read Kevin Smith’s excellent Daily News story here.  
Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Balanced budget? ‘Too little, to late’ for L.A. County court

June 12, 2013 By

 

While the Governor and legislators celebrate their $96.4 billion budget deal, workers at L.A. County court are waiting for their pink slips.

According to an L.A. Times story today: “The Los Angeles County Superior Court plans to eliminate more than 500 jobs by the end of the week in a sweeping cost-cutting plan to close a projected $85-million budget shortfall for the next fiscal year.” The story also includes a breakdown of the layoffs.

Photo credit: Al Seib/L.A. Times as part of the L.A. Times coverage of the L.A. Court layoff story

Photo credit: Al Seib/L.A. Times as part of the L.A. Times coverage of the L.A. County Court layoff story

As part of his deal with legislators, the governor agreed to restore $63 million to the courts in the budget that will take effect July 1– well short of the $100 million the Legislature wanted.

“We are glad that restoration of trial court funding has begun,” said L.A. County Superior Court presiding judge, David Wesley, in a statement. “But it is a shame that it is too little, too late, to stop the awful reductions in access to justice that state funding cuts have brought.”

Read the full story here.

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

Lines Being Drawn As Courts Budget Deadline Nears

May 29, 2013 By
 
That loud grinding sound you hear from the north is the legislature crunching numbers, and it looks like “100 million” is a key figure for the final weeks of California’s budget battles. The legislature is proposing restoring $100 million to the judicial budget, earmarking most of that for trial courts and screaming for increased accountability from the Administrative Office of the Courts.
 
Los Angeles County workers have been stepping up in the controversy, and one Alameda court employee had comments that got quoted around the Internet, including in The Courthouse News budget coverage. The CN reported that “… Cheryl Clark, an Alameda court worker who drew some of loudest cheers, said, “Where has all this money gone? Why do we have to close at 2:30 [p.m.]? I’m with everyone else–accountability for the AOC. But if they’re not going to be accountable, give the money to the trial courts and let us be responsible for us. We can bypass all of that… the money is well needed [and] … if they’re not going to account for the money, it needs to be taken away from them and let the courts take care of it–each court equally.”
 
The Courthouse News offered a summary of the ongoing budget context: “The court workers’ comments were not lost on the lawmakers, who for years have been listening to allegations of misspending and waste, while local trial courts, starved for funds, have been shuttering courthouses and laying off staff.”
 
Read the story here. 
Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: , , , , ,

SDCBA asks San Diego attorneys to write to legislators to protest budget cuts

May 28, 2013 By

In response to the nearly 1.2 billion dollars of funding cuts to the California Judicial Branch over the last five years, San Diego County Bar Association President Marcella McLaughlin has called on San Diego attorneys to write to their legislators to prevent further cuts and restore funding to the courts, according to a report by BLAWGSD on May 24, 2013. A copy of the suggested letter is below and can be found online here:

 

Honorable __________

Member of the California Legislature

State Capitol

Sacramento, CA  95814

Dear Assemblymember/Senator:

As a constituent and an attorney I am gravely concerned about the massive underfunding our judicial system has experienced over the last five years.  While I understand our entire state has been reeling from the impact of the recession, our courts have taken a disproportionate share of the budget cuts.  The result has been a deconstruction of our justice system impacting access to justice for our citizens.

Courts throughout the state have closed their doors.  From Fresno to San Bernardino whole courthouses have been shuttered requiring litigants to travel, in some cases, well over an hour, to pay a simple traffic ticket.  More significantly public safety is at great risk as staff layoffs have occurred, hours of service have been reduced and thousands of cases are placed into fewer courts

The time is now to reinvest in courts.  Democracy stands in the balance.

 

 

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: , , , ,

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: , , , , ,
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