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California Judiciary Slammed by Deep Budget Cuts

By: Melissa Riess on September 8, 2011

This June, the state legislature cut the budget for California’s judicial system by $350 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1. This budget cut signifies a 6.7 percent reduction in funding for trial courts, a 9.7 percent cut for the courts of appeal and the Supreme Court, and a 12 percent cut for the Judicial Council and the Administrative Office of the Courts – the centralized agency that oversees statewide court operations.

California’s trial courts are feeling the pinch. Los Angeles Superior Court plans to lay off 600 employees by this coming October to manage its reduced budget. Fresno Superior Court was forced to close four facilities, including its juvenile dependency court, and $14 million has been transferred from its budget to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department. San Francisco Superior Court, among the hardest hit, initially anticipated it would have to lay off 40 percent of its staff and close 25 of its 28 civil courtrooms to manage the deficit. After weeks of negotiations with the Judicial Council, however, presiding Judge Katherine Feinstein was able to secure emergency funding sufficient to close the court’s $6.23 million budget deficit. Though the new funding plan will not eliminate the need for austerity measures, it will allow the court to reduce its staff by 15 instead of 40 percent, and close 14 civil courtrooms, rather than 25.

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Besides providing funding, San Francisco Superior Court’s agreement with the Judicial Council came with additional commitments: the court will step up its efforts to collect delinquent fees and fines, and implement cost saving measures. The Judicial Council has committed to increase pressure on the legislature to restore trial court funding and put revenue sources in place (such as additional fees for filings and attorney appearances in complex civil matters) over which the local courts will have spending discretion.

 

We lawyers-to-be who tire of hearing about California’s endless budget troubles should remember that these deficits have meaningful impact right here in our communities. I recently attended a complex civil proceeding in San Francisco, before news of the deficit solution.  At the conclusion of the proceeding, the judge gloomily described what litigation would be like if court leaders did not find a fix. “I’ll have to run my courtroom like Ira Brown,” he said, referring to the legendary courtroom tyrant and brilliant proceduralist of the San Francisco trial court, who allegedly heard 60 to 80 motions on a law and motion calendar, in one morning, making many a young lawyer shake in his boots.