SAN FRANCISCO—Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye has named experienced legislative staffer, Cory Jasperson, to lead the judicial branch’s legislative and executive advocacy efforts as the new director of the Office of Governmental Affairs for the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).
Jasperson was recommended by a Judicial Council search committee led by Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvin R. Baxter.
Jasperson currently serves as Chief of Staff to Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) and will begin his new role on December 3. He replaces Curt Child, who became the AOC’s Chief Operating Officer on October 1. He will report directly to the Administrative Director of the Courts Judge Steven Jahr (Ret.)
As the chief advocate for the Judicial Council, Jasperson will be based in Sacramento and will represent the judicial branch on legislative, policy, and budget matters. His office will support the implementation of the Judicial Council’s legislative agenda as well as monitor and review legislation affecting the California court system.
“The search committee was very impressed with Cory Jasperson’s personal attributes, professional experience, and outstanding reputation he has earned in the Capitol,” said Justice Baxter, a member of the Judicial Council of California and chair of its Policy Coordination and Liaison Committee. “We are confident that he will lead the Office of Governmental Affairs with great distinction.”
Judge Jahr said he was looking forward to working with Jasperson. “Cory is well-respected in the Capitol. He is a quick study and has an open, collaborative approach to problem solving that I believe will benefit the judicial branch, now in its fourth year of budget cuts.”
Jasperson has worked in the Capitol for the last 12 years in both the Assembly and Senate. He was responsible for managing and coordinating legislative agendas, including service as Chief of Staff to the Assembly Speaker pro Tempore and Chief of Staff to the Chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. He was instrumental in the drafting and passage of well-known legislation to increase California’s minimum wage, make human trafficking a crime, limit the use of ‘gay panic’ strategies by criminal defendants, equalize revenue limit funding for school districts, establish the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority, and change the kindergarten entry-age, which created a new, transitional kindergarten grade-level—the state’s first new grade-level since 1891.
I’m eager to begin work on behalf of the judicial branch,” said Jasperson. “I strongly believe that our democracy requires a vibrant and independent judiciary to provide access to justice for all Californians. At the same time, I am acutely aware of the challenges faced by all three branches because of the state’s fiscal crisis.”
Before joining the Legislature in 2000, Jasperson worked at the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, Stanford University, and the Greenlining Institute, a statewide multi-ethnic public policy and advocacy center. He has a BA in International Relations from the University of California, Davis.
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The usual disclaimer unfit for public consumption:
The Judicial Council is the policymaking body of the California courts, the largest court system in the nation. Under the leadership of the Chief Justice and in accordance with the California Constitution, the council is responsible for ensuring the consistent, independent, impartial, and accessible administration of justice. The Administrative Office of the Courts carries out the official actions of the council and promotes leadership and excellence in court administration.
That last line seems a little new. The AOC promotes leadership and excellence in court administration? Since when?
Judicial Council Watcher 
wearyant
November 14, 2012
Thank you, JCW, for noting that that usual remark (advertisement, propaganda, white-wash, whatever) is truly unfit for public consumption Where’s my bucket?
And — “The Administrative Office of the Courts carries out the official actions of the council and promotes leadership and excellence in court administration.” Ugh. From one slop bucket into another barf bucket. Must have been thought up by the usual suspects after a perusal of the SEC report, said report having since disappeared from public consumption. Censorship, alive and well, in the AOC’s JC and the CJ’s Office.
Wendy Darling
November 14, 2012
Holding the AOC out as the judicial branch example of “leadership and excellence in court administration” is like holding Bernie Madoff up as a stellar example of fiduciary responsibility and a prudent investment manager.
Really? This is the example judicial branch leadership wants to hold up to the trial courts, and the other two branches of State government, as the example to follow? The AOC the benchmark of “excellence in court administration”?
You just can’t make this stuff up. Really.
Serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
Wendy Darling
November 14, 2012
Published today, Wednesday, November 14, from Courthouse News Service, by Maria Dinzeo:
California Courts Name New Lobbyist
By MARIA DINZEO
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – California’s Judicial Council announced Wednesday its pick of legislative staffer Cory Jasperson to lead the courts’ lobbying team in perilous.
“I think the role the courts and the judiciary plays is really important,” said Jasperson, currently chief of staff for Palo Alto’s state senator. “It’s something we take for granted, that we all have access to justice.”
Jasperson replaces lobbyist Curt Child, who was recently promoted to chief operating officer of the Administrative Office under Judge Steven Jahr.
The Judicial Council’s search committee, headed by Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvin R. Baxter, began looking for a successor to Child in late September. Jasperson is currently chief of staff to Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) and has worked in the legislature for the last 12 years.
“One of the exciting things about term limits is every few years our bosses are termed out of office and it gives us time to pursue other opportunities,” Jasperson said in an interview.
Jasperson worked for the Santa Clara Board of Supervisors before 2000, where he got a front row seat to the switch from county funded to state funded trial courts in the late 90s. “I gained a lot of good experience,” he said.
Jasperson’s new role will put him at the forefront of the judiciary’s fight for funding, a problem he said is not unique to the judicial branch. “All the branches face really big challenges especially with the state’s fiscal situation,” he said.
In a statement, AOC director Judge Steven Jahr said, “Cory is well-respected in the Capitol. He is a quick study and has an open, collaborative approach to problem solving that I believe will benefit the judicial branch, now in its fourth year of budget cuts.”
A press release from the AOC notes that Jasperson helped draft civil rights, labor and education legislation, including increasing the minimum wage and criminalizing human trafficking.
Jasperson will start his new position December 3.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/11/14/52267.htm
Long live the ACJ,
Wendy Darling
November 14, 2012
Published today, Wednesday, November 14, from The Recorder, the on-line publication of CalLaw, by Cheryl Miller:
To Make Budget, L.A. Superior Will Shut Down Slew of Courthouses
By Cheryl Miller
SACRAMENTO — Los Angeles County Superior Court will stop hearing cases in 10 courthouses, shutter a dozen criminal courtrooms and cram many personal injury cases on to just two calendars, court leaders told a select gathering of lawyers in a meeting Wednesday.
Presiding Judge Lee Smalley Edmon confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the court is launching a major restructuring in the coming months to prepare for a 2013-14 deficit that could reach $80 million.
The targeted courthouses are in Huntington Park, Whittier, Pomona North, Malibu, West Los Angeles, South Los Angeles (Kenyon Juvenile), Beverly Hills, San Pedro (the main courthouse and Beacon Street annex) and Catalina. Edmon said the courthouses may stay open for limited functions, like court filings or settlement meetings. But trials and hearings once held in those locations will be moved elsewhere, she said.
“The difficulty I have with all of this is our court system was designed to be a neighborhood court system,” Edmon said. “Unfortunately our budget has been cut so much that we’re not going to be able to continue that level of service.”
The closures and consolidating will lead to “a large number of additional layoffs,” she said, although the exact figure and timing of those job losses hasn’t been determined yet.
The large-scale closures come in response to four straight years of steep budget cuts and to Governor Jerry Brown’s directive that trial courts spend down almost all of their local reserves starting in 2013-14. Los Angeles County Superior Court has lost 875 positions over the past four years due to layoffs, attrition and elimination of vacant jobs, Edmon said.
As part of the court’s redesign, many personal injury cases will be sent to just two master calendar courtrooms in a single location to sort out all pretrial or settlement matters. Each of those judges is expected to have as many as 8,000 cases under his or her jurisdiction at any one time.
“If you have a matter that has to be heard … there’s just not going to be the resources to quickly and adequately handle these matters,” said Consumer Attorneys of California President-elect Brian Kabateck, who attended the Wednesday morning briefing.
Court leaders and lawyers are still discussing ways to send complex or catastrophic civil cases to so-called independent courts that set their own calendars. No one is sure how those cases will be identified, however.
Lawyers “think all of our cases are catastrophic,” Kabateck said.
Plans also call for shrinking the number of courthouses that hear specific types of cases. Small claims cases, now heard in 26 courtrooms, will be handled in just six court facilities across the county.
Courthouses that handle landlord-tenant disputes will drop from 26 to five. The 24 courthouses that hear collections cases will shrink to just two. The court will also eliminate any remaining reporters in civil cases and reduce the number of courtroom assistants, Edmon said.
The planned closures and consolidations will affect 37 judicial officers and 279 court employees who handled 429,085 filings in the last fiscal year, according to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Reassigned judges will be given work that they can do without courtroom staff, Edmon said.
http://www.law.com/jsp/ca/PubArticleCA.jsp?id=1202578414787&To_Make_Budget_LA_Superior_Will_Shut_Down_Slew_of_Courthouses&slreturn=20121014211310
Long live the ACJ.
disgusted
November 14, 2012
“Presiding Judge Lee Smalley Edmon confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the court is launching a major restructuring in the coming months to prepare for a 2013-14 deficit that could reach $80 million.”
Hmmm, 500 million to 2.3 billion new Long Beach courthouse.
Hmmm, $16 billion Bullet Train.
We really know where our priorities are.
courtflea
November 14, 2012
I believe that any judge who is ” put out of work” by having their courtroom closed but will still be receiving their salary of course, should volunteer to work for the assigned judges program for “free” in light of the fiscal crisis.
Wendy Darling
November 14, 2012
Hey, Flea, maybe Jack “I’m Back” Halpin should volunteer to work for the assigned judges program for free.
Long live the ACJ.
JusticeCalifornia
November 14, 2012
INDEED.
JusticeCalifornia
November 14, 2012
My “indeed” was to courtflea.
Halpin is done, over, the worst example ever of abuse of the assigned judge’s program. After only two years (1962-1964) as an appointed (never elected ) judge, he “retired”, and somehow got an orchestrated golden parachute via the judge’s retirement and assigned judge’s programs. What happened with him is going to hurt all those associated with the assigned judge’s and judge’s retirement programs.
If you don’t speak out about abuse of programs, you will be tainted by abuse of programs.
unionman575
November 14, 2012
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-court-cuts-20121115,0,4405776.story
10 L.A. County courthouses to close
Lando
November 15, 2012
What a sad day for the LA court system. The largest court system in the world the LA courts have always been well run and administered. The many outlaying courts are left over from the Municipal court days when the courts could better serve their local communities. Now that ideal is a thing of the past. As bad as massive reductions of services to the public are, I find most troubling the layoffs of hundreds more court employees. Court reporters, courtroom clerks and line staff that work to support everything in clerks offices are all in peril. Why? Because the Judicial Council and AOC have wasted millions on their own insular needs including now hiring just today another “insider” to lobby the legislature on their behalf. How ironic. The same day LA has to close 10 courthouses and lay off hundreds, the insiders at the crystal palace located at 455 Golden Gate keep adding to their insular management team. Perhaps at the new Presiding Judge conference starting today someone could please ask about this ironic and sad turn of events at the session described as the “New AOC” . You can’t make this stuff up. Really.
The OBT
November 15, 2012
Well we can’t let the truth get in the way of a good story. Your kidding right ? A session for new PJs called the all new AOC? I guess your going to tell me next that the AOC point man who fought the CCMS audit and AB 1608 Curtis Child is leading that seminar. This whole thing is pretty discouraging. ” The more I see the less i know the more I like to let it go” Red Hot Chili Peppers, Hey Oh . I think it is time to finally move to that secure and remote location about as far away from 455 Golden Gate as I can get.
Judicial Council Watcher
November 15, 2012
From the realm of the private message window: Mr. Jasperson was the third person offered the job…..Number one and number two turned it down.
Judicial Council Watcher
November 15, 2012
Apparently, in all of that impressive run-up of Cory Jasperson’s cirriculum vitae they neglected to mention……
Before Cory Jasperson worked for Joe Simitian, he was Chief of Staff for……
Mary Hayashi. And here is just a sample of his handiwork that makes him so qualified.
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/speier-alarmed-hayashi-bill-called-%E2%80%98distressingly-anti-consumer%E2%80%99-advocacy-group
http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2009/07/01/mary-hayashis-friction-filled-week/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PoliticalBlotter+%28Political+Blotter%29
Wendy Darling
November 15, 2012
Having previously worked for a liar and a thief, Mr. Jasperson should feel right at home at 455 Golden Gate Avenue, where there is an abundance of liars and thieves, starting with the Office of the Chief Justice.
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
November 15, 2012
Imagine that.
Edna
November 15, 2012
“You just can’t make this stuff up.” My gawd people. Find a new catch phrase.
Judicial Council Watcher
November 15, 2012
I dunno. Most of this stuff is so in-your-face unbelievable that the phrase still works.
court flea
November 15, 2012
Hey Edna, how about this? You can’t believe this fucking shit up can ya?
Edna
November 16, 2012
Classy as always Court Flea.
Edna
November 16, 2012
Malcolm X once said that people swear because they cannot find the words to express themselves. I think that is well proven here on this site.
JusticeCalifornia
November 16, 2012
I for one am really tired of trolls who come on this site to shake their fingers at posters.
Hey Edna, a whole lot of people think saying “my gawd” is taking the Lord’s name in vain. You just violated one of the ten commandments in front of everyone here. For shame.
Judicial Council Watcher
November 17, 2012
This finger-shaking troll you might know better by another name. lobstahsmaht
Been There
November 17, 2012
I agree with Malcolm. When dealing with liars, thieves, and really awful people who are destroying a court system for personal gain, sometimes words do fail us. Sometimes “F***ing Bastards” just says it all.
Former AOCer
November 17, 2012
People swear because they can’t believe what they are fucking reading. Oh criminy…Edna, adults curse.
court flea
November 16, 2012
Thanks Edna, this flea considers that a compliment! Fleas are not known for their class or taste in those they bite. And you know what? I swear because I damn well CAN in this forum. Not for a lack of ability to express myself. But besides fleas like me, there are many that speak most eliquently on this site. Don’t discard the info on the site because you are politically correct or consider yourself “klassy”. The brain trust here is awesome. Just take it all in and absorb the info and think carefully about what is being said. We have all walked walk and the talk. You may learn something of the reality that is going on in the branch.. If you don’t care for what fleas say, you can squish us but many more will come in my stead. Laters.