The Strategic Evaluation Committee Report and “The Great Whitewash of 2012”

Posted on June 17, 2012

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It took them over a year to produce this report while getting nothing but resistance, redaction and runaround from the Judicial Council and their administrative offices, the AOC. It is alleged that not only was the SEC report intentionally released after hours proceeding a long holiday weekend but that the E&P Committee and certain other (for now to remain unnamed) committees are working to recast and re-characterize the released report as too much unnecessary change and that the AOC themselves has already charted the proper course.
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Going into this months three day Judicial Council meeting we’re already beginning to see questionable “reports from the acting executive director” that 1) show that the AOC themselves (and by extension, their owned bitches on the judicial council) finds common ground and is implementing about 40% of the report before the AOC ever saw it. 2) That the various AOC departments and divisions provide invaluable services to the small courts and this is why there can be no further cuts to the AOC – due to small court support.

The toadies anointed into power appreciate the final SEC report just about as much as they appreciate AB1208 because they rely on the cover of large groups of persons to provide cover for individual decisions. After all, you can’t simultaneously fire 17 directors for gross mismanagement when all of them share some culpability but if you reduce the 17 directors for three chiefs, then the lines of ownership and accountability become bright lines of ownership and accountability. This is some of the same reasoning that our chief justice wants more people sitting on the council, so she can say she is more inclusive while hiding behind this group with her unilateral decisions.

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Judicial Council Watcher is dismayed by the layoffs of court personnel in Los Angeles and other court locations statewide. One of our objectives in launching Judicial Council Watcher was to call to your attention as well as the attention of many others, that there were curable issues that could have served to stem the loss of jobs and services in the court system statewide.  While we acknowledge our successes in getting out the message, we also must own the failure of not achieving the objective of stopping back door tort reform (courtesy of our ultra-conservative friends at the National Center for State Courts)  through the virtual elimination of the civil justice system.

We pledge to try a little harder and ask that if you haven’t joined the fight, consider doing so now.

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Judicial Council Watcher does not enjoy meddling in the affairs of local courts as that is not our objective. However, when we see something happen that is frankly alarming we feel it necessary to call your attention to it.

JCW wishes to call to your attention the election for presiding judge in San Francisco Superior Court. On one side of this election, we have a viable candidate that has been groomed for the position by being APJ for a few years; a responsible leader that sees the real issues and has been working with the current PJ to solve them.

On the other side of the election exists an AOC stalking horse that wants to blow smoke up everyone’s robe with promises of more city money to run the state courts in San Francisco,

Since an endorsement from JCW is tantamount to a kiss of death according to our readers, JCW heartily endorses Judge Harold Kahn, the AOC’s stalking horse for Presiding Judge for San Francisco Superior Court. 

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Posted in: Administrative Office of the Courts, Judicial Council of California