Our court has previously endorsed AB1208. It is being reintroduced in the Assembly this week, I believe.
The ACJ sent to its members the e-mail copied below regarding actions by Yolo County judge Rosenberg, chair of the Judicial Council’s Presiding Judges Advisory Committee. In it Judge Rosenberg asks that all PJs in the state sign a form letter to be sent to the Assembly opposing AB 1208. In turn, the ACJ asks that individual judges who support AB 1208 contact their own Assembly members to indicate support. I am not a director of the ACJ, but as a member and public supporter of AB 1208 I concur in their efforts and their suggestion.
Further, Judge Rosenberg gives his personal concerns about the proposed legislation. Below, I give my personal views about those concerns.
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(Response to judge Rosenberg’s concerns in italics. )
From Judge Rosenberg: “AB 1208. This bill makes significant changes in the governance of the Judicial Branch. ”
No it does not. It leaves the Judicial Council with all the authority it is granted under the Constitution, Art. VI, sec. 6. The governance of the branch through the adoption of statewide rules and the setting of priorities remains. The role of the Council to advise and report to the legislature remains. The mandate that the Judicial Council (and its committees) survey and make recommendations to the trial courts remains.The ability of a Chief Justice to unilaterally appoint most members of the Council, without regard to representation of any court, remains. What it does do is give to the local courts the ability to work cooperatively with the Judicial Council in making fiscal decisions which continue what our core value should be — the preserving of trial courts. It gives the local trial courts a meaningful say in the hard financial decisions of the branch which directly affect them. It gives the trial courts a seat at the budget decision table. It caries out the intent of the legislature which passed the state court funding legislation when they acknowledged the need for strong and independent local court financial management.
From Judge Rosenberg: “Wow! As you can see, a small number of the largest courts (even as few as 2 or 3) could have a veto power over these expenditures, simply by not giving “written approval”. And the passage raises a myriad number of questions. For example, who provides the written approval of the trial court – is it the PJ, the Executive Committee, a vote of all the Judges, or what?”
Wow! Finally a majority of judges in courts representing a majority of the public in the state and a majority of the cases pending in the trial courts will have veto power over the historically misguided expenditure decisions of the heretofore non-responsive bureaucracy known as the AOC which are detrimentally affecting all the public and users of the courts. No longer will the majority of elected judges in this state with direct responsibility to their local constituents be forced into fiscally inappropriate goals by unelected staff and a governance body which is unresponsive to their local needs. We may be able to give our local public access to justice and may not need to lay off employees and close courtrooms because others choose to pursue a misguided computer system or build when it is time to save. The original intent of the legislature which passed state trial court funding will finally be achieved — preserve a “strong and independent local court financial management.” (By the way, it is approval of the court, not the judges. The PJ speaks for the court. The judges elect the PJ. The Executive Committee — elected by the judges of the court — sets policy for the PJ. This is democracy — something alien to the Judicial Council).
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From Judge Rosenberg: “For me, personally, however, the biggest single problem with AB 1208 is the timing. We have a new Chief Justice, in office only one year, who is beginning the process of actively addressing Judicial Branch issues of concern to all of us (even in these difficult financial times). And, as a result, changes in the governance of this Branch are being made. I strongly believe we need to give our new CJ a fair opportunity to address these issues within the Branch. I have grave concerns about the Legislature intervening in Judicial Branch governance.”
This is nothing personal about our Chief Justice. The economy and the budget proposals from the Governor dictate we cannot wait further. The governor is not restoring the majority of the cuts from last year. The Governor proposes trigger cuts which will cause massive closures (equal to 6 weeks a year according to the Governor) if his tax initiatives are not passed. Since the inception of this funding system over a decade ago, our court now 1000 less employees dictated by the budget recommendations of the AOC. We struggle with 40 less courtrooms than we had in 2002! We are again facing massive layoffs and courtroom closures, while the Judicial Council and the AOC have continued with courthouse construction and almost the same employees as a year ago.
They continue to pursue spending on a computer system discredited by most IT persons outside of their own contractors and staff and excoriated by the independent state auditor. This is money which the legislature said could be diverted to our trial courts last year, but the AOC and the Judicial Council chose to spend the majority of it on the AOC’s construction and computer projects.
Because of the budget decisions made during the past decade, the AOC has grown by almost the same number of employees we have lost. Importantly, a year ago, at the invitation of the new Chief, Judges across this state overwhelmingly stated their concerns about the broken governance system which fails to oversee the AOC management’s voracious spending appetite and its refusal to help the local trial courts in any meaningful manner.
A year is more than enough time to make meaningful change. None of the so called change thus far has in any way been addresses these budget concerns. There is no indication that any change is imminent. Underfunded courts are still underfunded by the AOC. PJs are made to beg and grovel for what should be their own court’s operations money before members of the Council, the very people who put them in their predicament. Rather than divert funds to the trial courts last year, they chose to continue with the same misguided spending priorities and decisions. The bleeding of the trial courts around the state must stop. The trial courts need to be given the ability to have meaningful input to these spending decisions. After a decade of failure, the elected trial court judges of this state deserve the ability to make these fiscal decisions for their court now. AB1208 will give the local courts that ability. Our branches core value should be the operation of our trial courts, not the preserving of the AOC’s projects. AB1208 will allow this value to have meaning.
Related articles
- Judge Rosenberg takes the point and is picked off.. (judicialcouncilwatcher.wordpress.com)
- Tani’s Civics Lesson: The responsibility of the legislature (judicialcouncilwatcher.wordpress.com)
- What the Judicial Council and the AOC is engaged in that they shouldn’t be… (judicialcouncilwatcher.wordpress.com)
- Order in the courts? How about in the Judicial Council and the AOC? (judicialcouncilwatcher.wordpress.com)
antonatrail
January 9, 2012
Thank you, Judge Dukes, for setting it all out clearly.
Wendy Darling
January 9, 2012
The current Chief Justice is not “new”; she sat on the Judicial Council, voted for, and endorsed, the very issues and decisions that have now left the branch in disrepute. Trying to hide behind the excuse of being “new” is beyond deceitful.
A “Trial Court Bill of Financial Rights” was promised by the Judicial Council and the AOC fourteen years ago. Fourteen years is fourteen years too long for a broken promise and intentionally unkept responsibility. The result of that broken promise and unkept responsibility is now plain for all to see. AB 1208 should be passed into law. Otherwise, it will not just be more of the same, but only get worse.
Long live Judge Dukes. And long live the ACJ.
Michael Paul
January 9, 2012
here, here
unionman575
January 9, 2012
I agree 100% with Judge Dukes.
Wendy Darling
January 10, 2012
Published today, Tuesday, January 10, from Courthouse News, by Judge Runston Maino:
Speak With One Voice
By JUDGE RUNSTON MAINO
Our Chief Justice and now Justice Baxter have remarked that we must speak with one voice if we wish to preserve the judicial branch.
The obvious problem with “Speak With One Voice” ( SWOV), when an organization takes that position, is that there are different opinions among the members of the organization. In order to SWOV it means, by necessity, the suppressing of dissident voices.
SWOV is not possible at this time for the judicial branch because it pretends there is “one voice” when everyone knows that there are “numerous voices”.
Read the full article: http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/01/10/42923.htm
Long live Judge Maino. And long live the ACJ.
antonatrail
January 11, 2012
Thank God Judge Maino hasn’t been assimilated by The Borg …
courtflea
January 16, 2012
To quote Judge D: No longer will the majority of elected judges in this state with direct responsibility to their local constituents be forced into fiscally inappropriate goals by unelected staff and a governance body which is unresponsive to their local needs.
My question is what happens to Judges that are not the majority of elected judges in the state? what can they do to offer the same to THEIR local constituents?
Interested observer
January 17, 2012
Courtflea: To answer you question about what the minority of courts should do if they want to get more than their fair share of the funds the legislature distributes to the trial courts:
1. They could help support the effort to downsize the AOC and stop their massive salaries, freeing up more funds for everyone rather than be bought off by the AOC..
2. They could stop blindly supporting misguided massive expenditures on CCMS and courthouse construction which presently massively dilute all money available for all trial court operations during these economically stressful times.
3. They can sit at the table with the majority of judges around the state and make the case why they deserve more than their pro-rata share of these funds and help find solutions for the courts from which they want to take. They can become part of the solution,
4. They can stop being subservient to the AOC and collaborate with other trial courts, rather than with the AOC staff.
sharonkramer
January 17, 2012
Very wise words by Judge Maino. “We are loyal to the laws of the United States and to the laws of California and to the public. Our oath of office is not to an individual or to a judicial organization. The failure to understand this basic concept has caused much mischief.”