January 28, 2012
Dear Members and Others,
By now, most of you should be aware that the Administrative Office of the Courts entered in to a “Private Public Partnership” for the building and maintenance of one courthouse in Long Beach that will cost roughly $61 million dollars a year for the next 35 years. Branch leaders have maintained that they expected the State’s General Fund to pick up that tab. Many, including the respected Legislative Analyst’s Office, cautioned against that premise. That is one of the reasons why little to no building or needed maintenance on existing courthouses will occur for the foreseeable future.
In yet another troubling development, San Diego’s ABC affiliate has uncovered that the AOC entered in to a 10 year lease for the 4th District Court of Appeal in the upscale Symphony Towers that will cost the taxpayers more than $23 million dollars. At this price, the report notes, this lease will cost more than 38% of the average leasing rates. Click here for the print and video link to that story. http://www.10news.com/news/investigations/team-10-state-court-rents-high-end-offices-in-san-diego-at-taxpayer-expense01232013
Equally disturbing was the decision to bar the press from access to the 4th District’s offices. In a prepared statement a “court spokesman” explained this decision by stating, “There’s nothing in it for the courts.” We have been informed that at least one Justice objected to this decision.
The Alliance believes that, absent some very compelling reasons, the media and the public should be granted reasonable access to their courthouses, other than those which have been closed due to the misplaced priorities of branch leadership.
We attach also for your review an excellent opinion piece by retired Sacramento Superior Court Judge Loren McMaster which responds to a recent Sacramento Bee editorial encouraging judges to “get on the same page” as our branch leaders. The Alliance agrees with Judge McMaster’s conclusion that a democratized Judicial Council is the only way for meaningful reform to occur. Click on this link for the article. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/27/5141876/dissidents-in-court-debate-are.html
We also wish to inform you that last Friday night retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge and former ACJ director Charles Horan was awarded one of the prestigious Persons of the Year awards given by The Los Angeles Metropolitan News-Enterprise Legal Newspaper for his courage in taking on, among other issues, the wasteful CCMS debacle. Also honored at this year’s ceremony were Retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lawrence Crispo and California State Bar President Patrick Kelly.
Last year our Chief Justice and former Governor George Deukmejian were the award recipients. At this year’s event Governor Deukmejian and his wife Gloria were in attendance, as well as a large number of judges and other dignitaries including Los Angeles Superior Court Presiding Judge Dave Wesley, incoming Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacy, Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca, and Los Angeles Supervisor Michael Antonovich.
Finally, we are glad to report that prior to the Metropolitan News event, the ACJ hosted a reception to honor former Assembly Majority Leader Charles Calderon for his tireless efforts in getting significant portions of AB 1208 signed in to law via a trailer bill to last year’s budget. The Alliance presented Mr. Calderon with our Legislator of the Year award which he gracefully accepted. Also honored by the Alliance were outgoing President Judge David Lampe and one of our founding Directors Judge Maryanne Gilliard.
The Alliance continues to move forward on a number of fronts. Of course we have our first educational conference the weekend of March 1st through the 3rd. If you have not yet signed up to attend you can do so by clicking on this link. We invited the Chief Justice to attend and provide remarks but she politely declined. We are also continuing on with the success of last year’s trailer bill in contacting legislators and building upon our continuing relationships with the Governor’s Office, the Speaker’s Office, the Senate Pro Tem’s Office as well as the Legislative Analyst’s Office and the State Auditor.
Thank you for your continued support.
Directors, Alliance of California Judges
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Another View: ‘Dissidents’ in Court Debate are the Heroes (link)
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Additional Information regarding San Diego’s 4th district division one and other courts of appeals from Michael Paul who worked on this and most other projects
The entire 4th district court of appeals, including Divisions One, Two and Three all occupy opulent office space with those in Riverside and Santa Ana being owned courthouses. The San Diego Opera towers lease has been in effect for years before it was renewed. When it was renewed, it added another floor and thousands of additional square feet to an already existing lease. To get an idea of the cards that the old state court system dealt themselves in court unification and construction funding, one only needs to tour the spare-no-expense appellate courts in the third, fourth and fifth district courts of appeals which were all at the front of the line. There is a very good reason these courts indicate that there is nothing in it for them to permit the press to tour these build outs and that reason is that it’s obvious that no expense was spared in these spaces. You’ll also find that most of the judicial branch ‘leadership’ were the self-dealing benefactors in these build outs and god forbid those facts come to light.
The court that is the most scandalous by a long shot is the Third District Court of Appeals in Sacramento, where a whole floor in the U.S. Bank building was rented and built out as if the courts would occupy it forever in a brand new high-rise. (Press Release) What makes this build-out scandalous is the expense incurred for a temporary couple of year period while the original 3rd district court of appeals building (link) undergoes a complete remodeling by the Department of General Services.
The so-called swing space project could have been completed for less than half of what was spent given that they are only temporary offices that should be vacated this year. We used to joke around about some well-connected law firm already being pre-positioned to pick up that space for a song after the 3rd district leaves that building and that this build out was benefiting some later private entity to occupy it. All of that third district court of appeals opulence that will sooner or later end up in a private law firms hands was funded entirely by the California taxpayer. Sacramento actually outdid San Diego given that the space will only be occupied by the court for a few years but the general interior design architecture is about the same.
Produced in association with Yen Interactive Media – contact Michael.Paul@yeninteractivemedia.com
Related articles
- Kern Legal Highlights Los Angeles Superior Court Consolidation and Reorganization (prweb.com)
- Judicial Council Approves Delaying Four More Courthouse Construction Projects – Including Nevada City Courthouse (yubanet.com)
- Another View: ‘Dissidents’ in court debate are the heroes (sacbee.com)
- Judges say courts under siege from budget cuts (ocregister.com)
- California at Twilight (pjmedia.com)
*Please note that the link to the conference sign-up has been corrected.
Judicial Council Watcher 
unionman575
January 29, 2013
More fine work JCW!
😉
NewsViews
January 29, 2013
Reblogged this on News and Views Riverside Superior Court and National Family Law Abuse.
MaxRebo5
January 29, 2013
“There’s nothing in it for the courts.” Nice answer jackass! I suspect the AOC will be saying that alot as there are scandals after scandal here in CA courts they don’t want to discuss it. Such a line designed to hide what is going on from the press and the CA public and that can’t be good for taxpayer’s. Let the press in and take your lumps (another scandal). The public paid for your new digs they have a right to know. Am I the only one who finds this response to be outrageous?
Have any of you gone out to the AOC news page recently? There is almost no news to report in their news section. Also for the research papers done by the AOC they are all from 2010 or older. They have 800+ employees! Start producing a report to show you all are indeed working on stuff of value to the CA taxpayer.
I think they don’t put anything out because they know “There’s nothing in it for the courts.” It would be more fuel for us critics as we pounce on the messed up priorities of the Chief and Judicial Council in spending money on the AOC when operations are being cut/closed around the state. The AOC produces very little for the money but silence and hiding doesn’t change that fact or solve the problem. Show your work on taxpayer dollars and face the press, the public, and the other branches of government’s criticism. That’s checks and balances. The courts cannot and should not try to dodge it.
At this point the AOC is reduced to posting photos of the Chief attending Governor Brown’s speech. How about showing real leadership and implementing the SEC Report? How about a cost benefit analysis on the AOC in SF versus closing it and moving it to less expensive real estate in Sacramento? How about listing the pay of AOC staff in one column and the publications produced in the other so the cost per document could be evaluated? The answer back from the AOC is “Theres nothing in it for the courts” in their opinion and their opinion is the only one that counts. Throw out Team George at the AOC and lets get CA Courts back on track.
R. Campomadera
January 29, 2013
No, MaxRebo5, you are not the only one who finds the response outrageous.
It is, however, completely consistent with a branch of government that is totally out of touch with the people it is supposed to serve. People who are struggling through the worst period of economic contraction since the Great Depression.
It has no qualms about laying off thousands of honest, hardworking court employees to finance Taj Mahal courthouses. Or padding the executive offices of the AOC with overpaid, useless bureaucrats who contribute nothing to the actual administration of justice. Or absorbing appropriations that should be going to the trial courts to pay for failed automation and building projects.
It has concluded that it is above such proletarian concerns as only spending enough of the taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars as necessary to optimally carry out its mission. It has concluded that it is entitled to its imperial ways and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.
Don’t like it? Tough. There’s nothing you can do about it.
Wendy Darling
January 29, 2013
“The San Diego Opera towers lease has been in effect for years before it was renewed. When it was renewed, it added another floor and thousands of additional square feet to an already existing lease.”
Not surprising, given the fact that Justice Huffman likes his “space” and the more extravagant, the better.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
Wendy Darling
January 29, 2013
“Equally disturbing was the decision to bar the press from access to the 4th District’s offices. In a prepared statement a “court spokesman” explained this decision by stating, “There’s nothing in it for the courts.”
Tani, Huffman, Hull, & Company et al really need to stop pretending that current branch administration practices anything even remotely close to “transparency.” Tani, Huffman, Hull & Company et al hide as much as they possibly can, and that is especially true when it comes to the truth.
Those with nothing to hide, hide nothing. Again, the hypocrisy is just astonishing.
Long live the ACJ.
Wendy Darling
January 29, 2013
Published today, Tuesday, January 29, from the Metropolitan News Enterprise:
‘Person of the Year’ Dinner Marked by Plaudits, Jazz, Kidding
By a MetNews Staff Writer
State Bar President Patrick M. Kelly and retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Lawrence Crispo and Charles Horan were showered with praise Friday night as honorees at the Metropolitan News Enterprise’s 25th annual “Persons of the Year” dinner.
The black-tie event at the California Club, which drew about 220 persons, was kicked off with a mini-concert by “Gary Greene, Esq. and His Band of Barristers,” with former Gov. George Deukmejian assuming the role of conductor as 17 legal professionals played the 1934 jazz tune, “Stompin’ at the Savoy.”
Kelly, a one-time professional musician, demonstrated his prowess as a guitarist in a performance of the 1963 Surfaris hit, “Wipe Out.”
Los Angeles County Bar Assn. President Richard Burdge noted that when he wed now-Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lee Edmon 20 years ago, Kelly borrowed a guitar from a member of the orchestra and played that song.
Contributions to Bar
Burdge, one of several presenters of scrolls to the honorees, said of Kelly, whose prior leadership roles include serving as LACBA president:
“I don’t know anybody who’s given more to the bar than Pat.”
Burdge pointed to Crispo’s advocacy of “civility” in the courts, commenting:
“He preached it as a judge—but he really lived it. He knew you could be tough, and you could be firm, and you could represent your clients, but you didn’t have to be nasty. You could be a good person.
“And he was a real model for all of us.”
Burdge also had praise for Horan, a founder of the Alliance of California Judges which has opposed centralization of court administrative powers at the state level and was the primary force causing cessation last year of the $1.9 billion Court Case Management System project.
“He is a true warrior on behalf of the courts who spoke his mind at a time when many people were being silent,” the LACBA president said of Horan.
Burdge also mentioned:
“He is, by all accounts, a legend in the criminal justice system. He has an absolute encyclopedic memory.
“He is a wonderful mentor to other judges in the system.”
Wesley Comments
Los Angeles Superior Court Presiding Judge David Wesley confirmed that mentoring role. He hailed Horan as “very smart” and a “master of the criminal law” and said that the other judges “knew that, and all of us used his skills and his prowess to learn from him.”
In recent years, he noted, Horan has become “a prolific and amazing writer” who has been “tenacious” in his efforts as a “champion” of local courts “and judicial branch reform.”
With respect to Crispo—who frequently breaks into song—Wesley remarked:
“You don’t have to ask Larry to sing twice—in fact, you don’t have to ask Larry once.”
He told the retired judge that when was on the bench, he displayed “wisdom, energy, and your charismatic charm”
The presiding judge said Kelly has the gratitude of the Superior Court, declaring:
“We thank him for his unswerving support for full funding of the courts.”
He pinpointed Kelly’s “most important attribute,” saying:
“He’s a nice guy. He’s just a nice guy.”
Lacey Hails Honorees
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey echoed that thought, terming Kelly “a good-natured kind of a guy.”
Lacey disclosed that back when Horan was a deputy district attorney (prior to his 1988 appointment to the Glendale Municipal Court), women in the office referred to him as “that good-looking, Mick Jagger-looking guy.”
She told him:
“I haven’t seen you in many years, but, you’re looking good.”
Lacey added, with reference to his stances against the Administrative Office of the Courts:
“You just have the most courage.”
She said she has not spent much “quality time” with Crispo, but related:
“Every single person I asked about you said what a good man you are.”
Philibosian Quips
Kelly presented a scroll on behalf of the State Bar to Horan and Crispo; State Bar Treasurer Gretchen Nelson gave a scroll to Kelly. Emcee Robert H. Philibosian, a former district attorney, said it reminded him of a New Yorker cartoon in which a group of Russian generals were pinning medals on each other.
Philibosian, now of counsel to Sheppard Mullin, emceed the dinner for the 19th time.
Sheriff Lee Baca, after presenting scrolls, joked: “You can turn them in for a gun permit.”
County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich offered congratulations to the awardees, and also had these words for Deukmejian:
“We wish you were back there today [as governor] because you believed in the judicial system. You kept the courts open.”
‘Workaholic,’ ‘Incomparable’
Kelly was handed his “Person of the Year” award by MetNews Editor/Co-Publisher Roger M. Grace, who termed him a “workaholic” who was “indefatigable,” said that as a bar leader he was “incomparable,” and in a courtroom, was reportedly “virtually invincible.”
The State Bar chief spoke of the need for full funding of the courts, telling fellow lawyers:
“We have to support our judiciary in this fight.”
MetNews Co-Publisher Jo-Ann W. Grace gave Crispo his award, after kidding about his singing. She said:
“He’s a kind man. And you may not realize it, but indeed, he performed a kindness for this audience tonight. Gary Greene offered him the opportunity to sing a solo earlier, at the start of the program, and he declined.”
The audience cheered. There were whistles and shouts of “Bravo!”
Crispo introduced members of his family and former law partners and drew attention to a table with members of the Italian American Lawyers Association (of which he is a past president).
CCMS Critic
Roger Grace recalled Horan being an early critic of the Court Case Management System—a “voice in the wilderness”—and said:
“Credit for ending unrestrained spending on a luxury, to the detriment of justice, does not go to Charles Horan, alone….But no one was more vocal, more dogged, more committed to bringing out the facts and reforming the system, than he.”
Though not mentioning by name Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye—with whom the Alliance of California Judges has a strained relationship—Horan said, in jest:
“I thank you for honoring me tonight, even at the considerable risk that one of last year’s honorees would return her award to you.”
Past Honorees
Past “persons of the year” in attendance were Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Norman Epstein, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czuleger, retired U.S. District Judge George Schiavelli, lawyer and civic leader Lee Kanon Alpert, Superior Court Judge Charles “Tim” McCoy, immediate past District Attorney Steve Cooley, Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, and bar leader Jack Denove, as well as Antonovich, Baca, Deukmejian, Nelson and Philibosian.
Recent honoree Lee Edmon, the immediate past Superior Court presiding judge, had been planning to be there but was snowed-in in Utah where she had been attending a conference.
Candidates in the March City of Los Angeles primary election who were present, in addition to Trutanich, who is seeking reelection, were a rival of his, attorney Greg Smith, and Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine, campaigning for the post of city controller.
Jo-Ann Grace made note during the program that the first honoree, in 1983, five years before the annual dinners came to be staged, was Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Mildred L. Lillie, since deceased.
“Today would have been her 98th birthday,” she related.
http://www.metnews.com/
Long live Judge Horan. And long live the ACJ.
wearyant
January 29, 2013
Ahh, a nice “upper,” the letter from the Alliance and Wendy D’s link above. Good reading! Some hope that there are more good guys than bad guys! Here’s a short article on the status of sleepy Central California:
http://www.keyt.com/news/local/County-Waiting-For-Courthouse-Approval-188767371.html
disgusted
January 29, 2013
Here’s a short article on the status of sleepy Central California:
http://www.keyt.com/news/local/County-Waiting-For-Courthouse-Approval-188767371.html
“The construction fund that comes from penalty assessments being collected since 2008, will pay for the proposed $51 million building.”
And no worries there, Santa Barbara and Dept. of Finance, if those funds happen to get swept by the state or redirected by the AOC, with the money saved from the June 2012 line worker layoffs and the upcoming layoffs, BUILD AWAY!
The OBT
January 29, 2013
I am sorry but are these figures real ? 163,000 a month for rent for the San Diego Court of Appeal ? Rent that will go up to 220,000 a month ? Rent that will in the course of the lease cost 23 million dollars ? The last time I looked there were 8 or 9 Justices on the San Diego Appellate Court. Many of them are among the best Justices in the state. However nothing can justify spending that amount of money for their facilities. Honestly how can these Justices explain this incredible expenditure of public funds when trial courts are laying off employees and closing courthouses? I work in a courtroom that barely has heat but I accept that given our current economic position. Equally troubling how can this same Court of Appeal refuse to allow the media access to their facilities? The public has a right to know just how their taxpayer money is spent. Someone needs to further investigate who made the decision to cut off legitimate public access to these overpriced facilities. Sadly we are yet again witnessing the arrogance of those that live in a tower whether it is located at 455 Golden Gate or in downtown San Diego.
Wendy Darling
January 30, 2013
“Honestly how can these Justices explain this incredible expenditure of public funds when trial courts are laying off employees and closing courthouses?”
Answer: Justice Huffman sits on the San Diego Appellate Court. And what Huffman wants, Huffman gets, with no expense spared.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
January 29, 2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joanne-doroshow/the-slow-death-of-justice_b_2553132.html
Joanne Doroshow
Center for Justice and Democracy at New York Law School
The Slow Death of Justice in California
Posted: 01/29/2013 9:55 am
Here’s a little known bit of American history trivia: The American colonists fought the Revolutionary War in significant part over England’s repeated attempts to restrict jury trials. Not only that, the U.S. Constitution was nearly defeated over its failure to guarantee the right to civil jury trial. (The Seventh Amendment eventually resolved the problem.) The right to jury trial has been secured not only by the U.S. Constitution, but by every state as well.
Unfortunately today, the civil jury is an embattled and vulnerable institution in the United States. Beginning in the 1980s and ever since, we have seen a non-stop barrage of legislative and, in some cases, judicial attempts to significantly weaken the civil justice system with laws that corporate America calls “tort reform.” And now, the question as to whether this constitutionally protected institution deserves to function at all has been reduced to budgetary and fiscal squabbling.
North Dakota in 1989, and Vermont in 1990, each reacted to state budget squeezes by suspending civil jury trials (although North Dakota’s 18 month moratorium was later declared unconstitutional by the North Dakota Supreme Court). Between November 1991 and February 1992, civil jury trials in New York came to a halt when budget cuts left the state judiciary without staff to handle them. And today, there’s California.
You may have heard about California Governor Jerry Brown’s new-found budget surplus. So excited was he about the state’s budget situation that in his State of the State address, he spoke starry-eyed about ideas that suddenly seemed possible, like a new high-speed rail. He quoted from The Little Engine That Could: “I think I can, I think I can. And over the mountain the little engine went. We’re going to get over that mountain.”
Gee, hope so. But in the meantime, he is neglecting critical institutions that have been decimated over the past five years and that need their funding restored. Yes, educational institutions are part of that. But what many people do not know is that to achieve this surplus, the Governor has decimated the state’s civil justice system. He needs to stop this inexplicably anti-democratic attitude towards people’s constitutional rights and put some of that money back.
Let’s break it down. Courthouse after courthouse is closing in California. In Los Angeles County, all courtrooms in 10 regional courthouses are closing. As explained by Judge Michael L. Stern of the Los Angeles Superior Court, “Although there will be some closures and adjustments to criminal courts, constitutional and public safety imperatives dictate that criminal prosecutions will not be much impacted by the reorganization.” In other words, the civil justice system principally will take the hit. Expenses will go up dramatically for litigants, who will have to travel far distances to courtrooms and pay for their own court reporters, obviously hitting hardest the economically disadvantaged.
According to Brian Kabateck, President of the Consumer Attorneys of California, the courts are in crisis after five years of budget cuts in the range of $1.1 billion, and the Governor’s 2013-14 budget slashes another $200 million in court construction money:
Whole courthouses are being shut down to make ends meet, lines are growing for even the most basic services like paying a traffic ticket, trial dates are being delayed amid shrinking resources. The fallout hits big and small – from large businesses that need timely resolution of legal issues to keep commerce churning to individual consumers seeking a level playing field in disputes. Particularly hard hit are some of the state’s most vulnerable citizens – women and children caught in violent domestic disputes, elderly people abused in nursing homes, the poor or disabled have trouble getting to court because of the closure of local branches.
Kabateck noted,
The present day is grim, and the future is even grimmer. The public has had to absorb big fee increase, longer lines, longer waits to access justice. If things don’t change, it’ll get far, far worse for our courts. This needs to stop. Our justice system is a cornerstone of this state. We need to step up, do the right thing and keep it from crumbling.
And as Judge Stern put it,
If there were ever a time to pay attention to the quality of justice that we have come to expect and deserve from our judicial system, it is now. The public should not be content with the dislocation and delays in resolving civil disputes caused by court funding shortages. Equal access to justice under the law demands more. It requires action by everyone to make the elected officials responsible for funding our courts aware that the words “equal justice under the law” cannot become just another hollow slogan.
The societal harm caused by judicial budget slashing to crisis levels obviously stretches far beyond the damage caused to parties in individual cases. It undermines our democratic system. No governor or legislature — let alone one with Democratic supermajorities in both houses like in California — should stand for it, let alone instruct it. We can’t remain silent over such an abrogation of constitutional rights.
Now’s the time to speak up. Some day, a bullet train might be good for California, my former home. But justice must come first.
Lando
January 30, 2013
This San Diego story is fascinating. If I denied the media total access to the trial court I work in , I believe I would be the subject of a CJP investigation within a matter of hours. I am guessing the person in authority who may have denied the media complete access to the appellate court in San Diego would be the chief Administrative Presiding Justice and longtime CJP Chair, J . McConnell. How ironic is that ? In any event whether J McConnell is responsible or not , the legislature needs to intervene and investigate how public access to the courts all Californians pay for was cut off.
Wendy Darling
January 30, 2013
“the legislature needs to intervene and investigate how public access to the courts all Californians pay for was cut off.”
Yeah, Lando, the Legislature does need to do that. Based on their failure to do so to this point, however, pigs will fly first, and hell will freeze over, at the same time.
Long live the ACJ.
Lando
January 30, 2013
Sadly Wendy you are right but I like to make that request hoping someone in Sacramento will piece all this together one day. As J McConnell has relished in tormenting judges over the most minor alleged ethical lapses including legal error, I wonder if anyone in the state will ask her to explain as the presiding administrative judge of the San Diego Court of Appeal how she can justify the waste of such incredible taxpayer funds for 9 judicial officers? Over 200,000 a month rent for nine people? And it isn’t exactly like thousands use the high end San Diego tower to appear on the Appellate calendar. Honestly you really can’t make any of this stuff up. .
Wendy Darling
January 30, 2013
I wonder if anyone in the state will ask her to explain as the presiding administrative judge of the San Diego Court of Appeal how she can justify denying entry to the offices of the court that is paid for with taxpayer funds.
Hiding the truth is not an attribute one wants in an appellate court justice, especially when the truth being hidden involves public money.
And you’re right, Lando. You just can’t make this stuff up. Really.
Long live the ACJ.
The OBT
January 30, 2013
As they used to say in Watergate, “Just follow the money”. It is absolutely amazing to me that some spokesperson from J McConnell’s court gets to say to the press there is nothing in this for the court so you the press can’t have access to our publicly paid for facilities. I work in a courthouse where we would never take such a position as we understand that what we ask to spend for our facilities must be reasonable as we are spending taxpayer money. The refusal to allow the press in to see how public funds are spent just raises more questions about what is early going on in both “towers” , the crystal palace and the one which no one gets to see in downtown San Diego.
The OBT
January 30, 2013
Sorry about that . I guess it is too early here . I meant to say it raises more questions about what is really going on in both “towers” .
courtflea
January 30, 2013
J Huffman and Co. need to fall far and hard
JusticeCalifornia
January 30, 2013
Bottom line: the public is getting screwed.
Millions/Billions have been wasted by Team George. Lots more would have been wasted if not for the ACJ and others stepping in to put a screeching halt to the CCMS black hole, and court construction/maintenance debacles. How can we forget a $25 million one-courtroom courthouse planned for Markleeville? Or the fact that the budget for the planned San Diego courthouse was ostensibly cut by half after a ruckus arose about construction costs? And the total expected costs for that courthouse still remain a mystery notwithstanding requests by San Diego judges for information?
Yes, lots and lots of money has been thrown away by Team George. Meanwhile, Team George “leadership” is apparently fully staffed and funded, thank you very much, while nothing about the court system appears to be making any financial sense whatsoever.
How about the fact that in doling out $26 million a year for the assigned judges program, “top leadership” doesn’t even require written requests for assigned judges services? What kind of management is that? Someone can be a decades-long assigned retired judge, getting a hefty double-dipping income (retirement plus 92% of a regular judges salary) without a paper trail documenting the necessity for assigned judges services?
Nice way to hand out undocumented, off-record bribes, deals, and payoffs, if one were so inclined to do so.
It is irresponsible to throw good money after bad.
My broken record prediction: the financial woes of the branch will not change until the branch makes service to the public the top priority, and the bench officers in this state demand a change in leadership.
The branch is having a leadership crisis. No one trusts current Team George “leadership” and therefore current “leadership” is patently ineffective in its dealings with all three branches. This is especially problematic when the branch is facing inevitable changes. Positive, productive change requires trust and cooperation between the working parts of the branch, but that is impossible when those who created the mess remain in charge of the mess; the changes demanded effectively tax the public without representation via increased fines, penalties and fees while cutting key public services essential to the effective administration of justice; and Team George “leadership” does not have respect for, or the respect of, members of the judicial branch, the public, or key members of the legislative and executive branches.
It is so very, very obvious what must happen.
There must be a clean sweep. Sakauye could have done it but refused. To the contrary, two long years after Ron George was forced out, Team George remains firmly ensconced in branch “leadership” positions. Team George is not attempting to “lead”, rather, it is attempting to rule; and people are sick to death of Team George and what it has done to the branch.
Clean sweep. Think how different things would be if the branch had experienced, ethical, qualified leadership whose members were respected and trusted by all three branches.
Wendy Darling
January 30, 2013
Can anyone identify even one act of real “leadership” in the last two years from the Office of the Chief Justice and 455 Golden Gate Avenue that is worthy of following? Just one?
[Crickets chirping.]
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
MaxRebo5
January 30, 2013
Amen Justice California. Though I think Ron George left on his own accord (not saying I am a fan). It was Bill Vickrey who the legislature was specifically demanding resign over CCMS. Most regrettably Justice Cantil-Sakauye was angry with the legislature when they wrote a letter demanding Vickrey resign because of CCMS. She said:
“I have received the letter. I consider this letter a serious attempt to interfere with judicial branch governance and my ability to evaluate the AOC’s management team.”
Source: From Maria Dinzeo and Courthouse News, published today, February 24, 2011
The Chief and her hand picked Judicial Council then created an award for excellence in Judicial Administration named after Bill Vickrey. Sort of a middle finger to the Legislature by creating an award in that name. Then they also named the AOC conference center after Bill Vickrey for added “screw you to other branches telling us what to do” effect. The Judicial Council just gave out the Bill Vickrey Award for some strange idea of excellence to Jody Patel (what a shocker a Team George member). It’s a complete joke and more proof that there is no cultural change at the AOC as the SEC report called for(the Chief’s own committee no less!).
In 5th grade terms, Vickrey was forced to resign, the Chief is angry about it, and now is defiantly following his same failed vision to the end. She is now doubling down on that vision by not making real changes at the AOC.
For laymen, Vickrey’s vision was a top down, AOC run, centralized courts, with a puppet Judicial Council selected by the Chief, the AOC having 100% control of IT so they could control business practices, 100% control of the budget, and if they had their way everything else too. As Curt Soderlund (a Team George leftover) said, “The judges can control their courtrooms and we will control everything else (I’m recalling that quote from prior posts here at JCW).
Remember Team George wanted to end the power of the PJ’s and actually tried to make that power grab happen before they were caught. They then tried to blame it on the Dept of Finance (nice). These arrogant, narcisistic, power hungry, bullies from Team George have run the CA courts into the ground and are still running the show at the AOC!
This uprising must continue until the Chief learns that not all the ideas come from the top, that the trial courts are the experts on many things, that local control of money is less wasteful, and that admin is there to support operations not the other way around. Admin gets cut before operations because that is putting access to justice in effect in the real world not just paying lip service to it in speeches.
I believe the current Governor is on to them in SF and they have no hope of more money until they dump Team George, implement the SEC Report, and start walking the walk to regain some credibility.
Been There
January 30, 2013
My spies report that Vickrey the Despised is now living in The Boulders, or something like that, Resort Community in Scottsdale, which boasts luxury, obscene membership fees, and a Golden Door Spa. Nice to know the First Officer commandeered a well appointed life boat and left the passengers and crew to drown.
Wendy Darling
January 30, 2013
There’s also probably an endless supply of Grey Goose martinis, caviar, and lobster dinners in Scottsdale, Been There. Always an important consideration for Vickrey, and his dog Spot.
Long live the ACJ.
Nathaniel Woodhull
January 30, 2013
JCW,
I applaud your continued and tireless efforts; mounting a charge to awaken the Legislature, Governor and members of the public to the ongoing tyranny being evidenced by the Judicial Council, AOC management and their related sycophants. How many years has it been? Seems like a decade ago there were only a few of our voices in the wilderness, now few those numbers continue to mass.
Thanks to all of you who have been long-time insightful contributors to this site, along with the newer members who have added much positive information to these discussions. Everyone concerned about the court system in California and all of our citizens in general should appreciate the time, effort and real sacrifices made by many of those responsible for and contributing to this site.
Little has truly changed since HRH-1 (Ronald George) and Bill Vickrey started plotting and planning to “re-engineer” and “re-design” the California Courts in the 1990’s. Their vision started from the premise that so many, many things were wrong with the way those of us at a local level were providing services to the public and it was their job (JC/AOC) to “fix” everything. Starting from their flawed premise (the system was broken), HRH-1, Vickrey and their henchmen embarked on their power-play and expansion efforts. Their vision was based and operated upon some of the following tenents:
1) “We” are in charge;
2) We are “right”;
3) Dissent, let alone real discussion, will not be tolerated;
4) Those few who dare to even question what we say will be dealt with swiftly and painfully;
5) The beatings will continue until morale improves;
6) Never, ever, stop to think how the public’s money is being spent. Years ago, I and others were told by “administrators” within the HRH-1 regime that it was wrong to question how money was being spent; and any analogies about viewing spending as if it was our own money should never be voiced or considered;
7) Once in power, the public or those electing you to those positions be damned (unless that person was HRH-1 – per Terry B. Friedman);
8) When in doubt, form another committee/subcommittee, or hire a “consultant”;
9) Never answer a question directly;
10) If any actions are criticized or called into question by the Legislature, Governor, press or members of the public, simply re-arrange the deck chairs and say everything is now “new and improved” and any prior problems have been solved;
11) Repeat from #1.
Nothing has changed under the administration of HRH-2 (Tani Cantil-Sakauye), except that the level and abilities at political adeptness are at a much lower level than those of HRH-1.
Ever notice how those who strive to be “in-charge” within the JC or AOC are the worst offenders. J. McConnell wants to be in-charge of the CJP so she can pull the wings off flies and tell judges to do as I say, not as I do. As Administrative Presiding Judge, J. McConnell will not allow anyone from the public or press to step on to the floors of her palace grounds? Why is she so concerned? Will it be revealed that in addition to “rent” at 1.38 times market rate they are renting/paying for opulent furniture and furnishings and accessories? Is there a margarita machine or something in the break room? Most justices I have known rarely even go into their buildings. Since the advent of personal computers, they can work from anywhere. Some lived outside of California, but maintained their “residences” in State.
Since we are supposed to have all taken an oath to support and defend the Constitutions of the United States and California, how is it that those sitting upon the thrones at the Judicial Council are so vehemently opposed to democratization of the very Council upon which they are sitting? Since when is democracy, or at least a representative democracy, such a bad thing????
Well, the sun seems to be setting again on Wallabout Bay, so it’s time for me to sign off. God save us all…
Wendy Darling
January 30, 2013
“Their vision started from the premise that so many, many things were wrong with the way those of us at a local level were providing services to the public and it was their job (JC/AOC) to “fix” everything.” Note to HRH I, Vickrey, the current Chief Justice, and current branch “leadership”: don’t “fix” what isn’t broken.
As always General Woodhull, it’s good to hear from you.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
Wendy Darling
January 30, 2013
Published late today, Wednesday, January 30, from Courthouse News Service, by Bill Girdner:
Different Tune
By BILL GIRDNER
Our reporter in Fort Wayne, Indiana called me last week to say that intake clerks in the federal courthouse had taken away the organizer used by journalists to check on new matters, and politely directed her to use the internet.
There are many, many ways that federal courts provide journalists with access to the court’s work and just as many ways that they have adapted to the changing technology of the times.
But within those permutations of change, the principle that the federal courts are open to the press has not changed. It has remained constant.
In Fort Wayne, for example, cover sheets were placed on the intake counter in an upright file organizer. It had been that way for as long as we have been reporting on the court, roughly a decade.
News reporters checked the cover sheets and asked clerks at the counter for the new cases they wanted to see. It is not unlike a fisherman checking his lines.
The result was that the press corps sees the new cases on the day they are filed in the Northern District, where the great majority of cases are filed in paper form.
But an intake clerk told our reporter over the holidays that the record “is not official until it’s on PACER,” the online system of the federal courts. Therefore the cover sheets on the intake counter, and the ability to the see the paper file, were being taken away.
The intake clerk’s secondary argument for removing the organizer was that other divisions in the Northern District did not have the same procedure for press access, and therefore Forth Wayne was inconsistent.
I wrote to the chief judge and the clerk, arguing that we disagreed fundamentally with the notion that a new case could not be reviewed until it was docketed, scanned and posted on the internet, a process that takes time, days in some courts, weeks in others.
A public filing is public when it crosses the counter, in our view, and federal courts have consistently reflected that view in their policies towards the press.
As a secondary point, I noted that consistency would just as strongly favor putting the Fort Wayne system for press access into effect in South Bend and the other divisions of the district court.
Three days after the letter was mailed, the court clerk replied, saying the system for press access in Fort Wayne was being reinstated and extended to the other divisions of the court.
I stared at that email and thought, OK, this makes too much sense. But there was no catch. Press access was being restored and extended.
The contrast between that response and the response from California’s central court administrators is the contrast between day and night.
California administrators that pushed the boondoggle of the Court Case Management System also take the view that journalists can’t see anything until the new cases are stamped, docketed, scanned and posted online.
They take the position that is the same as the position only briefly adopted, and quickly overturned, in federal court in Fort Wayne: that a new filing is not official until it’s processed into the electronic system.
But, in contrast to the efficient and favorable response from federal court officials when that position was challenged, the response from California’s central administrators, and those clerks who have demonstrated fealty to them, has ranged from a general run-around, to, on one occasion, profanity, to silence, to a pat list of excuses, to meetings that lead nowhere, and, on occasion, to misstatements of fact (a polite way to put it).
It is funny, as one would say that with a rueful expression, to compare the banging away we have done on those CCMS-enamored and now efiling-enamored administrators in California, and the effect that has had — funny to compare that with a simple letter to a federal court judge, and the effect that had.
It is also a relief to know that a request from the press corps for better access to public information can be met quickly and sensibly, and not necessarily require hitting one’s head against a bureaucratic wall.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/01/30/54422.htm
Long live the ACJ.
The OBT
January 31, 2013
Thanks Woodhull for the outstanding historical perspective. I think a book will ultimately be in order , something like ” The Arrogance of Power ” or ” The Tyranny of Un-Elected Government” . I spoke to a number of people at work yesterday and all were totally shocked and astounded that 9 Appellate Justices would spend 163,000 a month on rental space in a luxury downtown tower. I guess the employees that still work with us have considerably more modest expectations.I have always believed that since we are spending the taxpayers money that we should be prudent in the way we spend their dollars. Somehow that way of thinking was never shared by those that took over the branch after the arrival of Ron George and Bill Vickrey. CCMS, Long Beach, the creation of the crystal palace and now the San Diego tower fiasco will always represent what went wrong with our branch of government and why we need to start all over again.
JusticeCalifornia
January 31, 2013
mais bien sur!
Seulement le meilleur!
Let the peasants eat cake!
Only the best for the most longtime loyal (wannabe royals) Team George faithfuls, Judith McConnell and Richard Huffman. After all, in their world, isn’t justice really all about the quid pro quo?
After all I have seen in the last 14 years, “top leadership” of the judicial branch seems strikingly similar to a netflix series I am watching about the Borgias.
JusticeCalifornia
January 31, 2013
Wannabe royal (so Borgia like!) Huffman, the proof:
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2005/aug/11/his-eyes-were-red-and-glassy/
Nope, we cannot make this stuff up.
JusticeCalifornia
January 31, 2013
Tip of the iceberg.
Wendy Darling
January 31, 2013
Setting aside the fact that the Huffman name is infamous in San Diego, and especially in the law enforcement community, does anyone really believe for even a nano-second that Richard Huffman II didn’t invoke the name and position of his father after being arrested for DUI by the CHP?
And is anyone really surprised that the DA’s office declined to prosecute Richard Huffman II? As has been repeatedly demonstrated by 455 Golden Gate Avenue, the law doesn’t apply to those in priviledged positions (or their children) in or connected to the California judicial branch. After all, what’s a little law-breaking and influence peddling among judges, state attorneys, or judicial branch leadership? The law only applies to those stupid and deluded enough to believe that it’s supposed to be fair and impartial.
And as for any conflict of interest, Justice Huffman has made it clear for quite some time that avoiding the appearance of impropriety, or actual impropriety for that matter, doesn’t really concern him.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
Judicial Council Watcher
January 31, 2013
This decision is reckless but it is a pattern of government protecting their own. Think about how much money might have been paid back from the courts for thousands of wrongful convictions and the county gets a big piece of that pie. This is another reason to fund the courts with DMV fees so Huffman isn’t worried about how much the proper decision might cost the courts.
Of course his coworker was leading the CJP at the time. Do you think Justice McConnell would have permitted him to come up on any CJP action for picking up his son from 5-0 when he was likely still drunk? Not on your life. He didn’t need to say who he is. In the San Diego legal system the name Richard Huffman carries as much notoriety as Elvis Presley.
Judicial Council Watcher
January 31, 2013
In October this online publication will have stood as a sentinel over an oligarchy for three years.
While the ranks of dissenters, our subscribers and our readership has grown, we’re sad to report that little has changed among most of the silver spoon fed we dis-affectionately refer to as muppets of the judicial council.
Even less has changed in their administrative offices. After eliminating scores of paper positions and offering early retirement and even golden pension parachutes to some who should be doing hard time, they’ve done little more than rearrange the deck chairs while demonstrating their commitment to access and diversity by closing the courts and laying off most of their African American workforce.
Overtly or covertly, Ron George and his henchmen still rules this branch and Tainted Tani dances on her little marionette strings as the ostensible leader. One has to wonder if she was a call girl in her past life as to so not be her own person and to remain a puppet on a string.
Our chief justice lacks the credentials and leadership skills to rescue this virtually submerged titanic that we call California’s judicial branch. At least there will be pretty shells to a branch that once stood proud and independent. Some will get new courthouses but as we sit here and do the math, some won’t be able to afford to move in to those pretty but hollow shells. There will be increased pushback from the counties to staff these new security details at their cost without the offset of shutting down other facilities.
Those hollow shells are a hollow tribute to the loss of the independence and fairness of a once proud judicial system. Misguided by the belief that a central authority that is accountable to no one was somehow a good idea, we have seen scandal after scandal generated by this central authority by people who have other motives. Motives to derive financial benefits from this epic mismanagement that our legislature has exempted from accountability. That exemption from that lawful accountability to the people is the vehicle under which they declare accountability, for accountability exists only in their circumscribed, back-padding, award issuing backscratching circle, with the occasional token bones thrown to the outsiders so that they can declare wide-scale participation.
In Tani and George before her, the people elected an Oligarchy and the legislature has been complacent, even participatory in permitting it to happen. There are a flood of readers that write us regularly that are in and part of the court system as well as attorneys who must rely upon this system to make a living that are all in horrified disbelief over these same uninterrupted patterns that spell public corruption on a grand scale.
These issues must be overcome should be able to rely upon an independent judiciary to sort the mess out. Wait, that avenue is closed because seeking redress from the government through the California courts is a civil matter.
So we must then look toward Sacramento and hope that all of those campaign funds being lavished upon legislators by minions of the Ministry of Truth and Public Enlightenment at the AOC aren’t going to carry the day and that righteous attorneys, judges and justices come forward and paint the big picture for our elected officials.
This painting of the big picture is something we’ve worked hard to accomplish. Many items posted here were backup articles by other media from across the country and even across the globe highlighting the same issues. There is no doubt that the top of the branch continues to have very serious credibility issues among the non-print press that has been covering this story longer than we have.
They smell another Bell, California – but bigger. Much, much bigger.
And they lack both the tools and resources to dig so they need you – and us – to draw them a map instead of pointing them in the general direction.
The internet did this to them.
No, we don’t have much influence over newspapers, mostly legal publications and publications that post legal notices. Those journalists that are looking to preserve their access to what they perceive as the movers and shakers of the branch – that ostensible leadership. Their publishers wish to retain the rights to publish legal notices without fighting for the right in a AOC-owned court. So for the most part, print media cowtows to the almighty dollar. With the advent of the internet, there are few of those publisher dollars left.
Legal aid associations don’t get their grant money from the state legislature like they probably should, they get a large chunk of their funding from the AOC and that money might have been reflective of the support and unswerving backing that these non-profits gave them the previous year.
County courts are in the same predicament. As an official court body, the AOC can do little wrong as the AOC funds the courts. It is when you get past the official body that isn’t financially reliant that you hear independent voices of dissent. The state bar. Most of those are appointees of the supreme court. Local county bars tend to go with upper echelon state bar leadership so they don’t educate their members about the issues like they should be doing instead of the drone message “fund the branch, ignore the problems”.
Things just don’t add up all over. And as long as they don’t add up all over we intend to serve as a sentinel over the Oligarchy in San Francisco. That is, until a democratically elected judicial council asks us to go away – politely. 🙂
Nathaniel Woodhull
February 1, 2013
Keep up the good work JCW! 🙂
I was reading the current issue of Courts Today, which contains an article about the 2012 AIA Justice Design Awards. The new North Butte County Courthouse received the “Citation” award. The five (5) courtrooms cost the taxpayers: $44,080,000 @ $479 per sq.ft. The Long Beach Court Building design received the “Merit” award. This thirty-one (31) courtroom edifice is supposed to cost: $340,000,000 @ $623 per sq.ft.
Meanwhile, the article describes facilities in Arizona at a cost of $180 per sq.ft; Maryland at $353 per sq.ft; Pennsylvania at $232 per sq.ft.; Massachussetts at $339 per sq.ft.and Montana at $379 sq.ft for a federal courthouse.
Hmmm, notice a pattern.
Wendy Darling
February 1, 2013
Yeah, more than a few of us have noticed that “pattern”, General Woodhull.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
Judicial Council Watcher
February 2, 2013
Things just don’t add up all over, General. That’s a pattern. The question is: When is someone with some authority going to start asking the same questions? Are they afraid of the answers?
Here is a link to the AIA awards Woodhull was referencing. http://www.aia.org/aiaucmp/groups/ek_members/documents/pdf/aiab096697.pdf (takes awhile to download this 6+mb pdf document.)
Michael Paul
February 2, 2013
If Long Beach is supposed to cost 340,000,000 for 31 courtrooms, then why did the judicial council cancel 781 million dollars in court construction projects?
Why can’t we get the real numbers?
DouhearwhatIhear
February 7, 2013
I heard Santa Clara County is putting showers in their new courthouse. Is that really necessary?
wearyant
February 1, 2013
Excellent post, JCW. Wise words indeed. Truthful words, nonfiction words. Why does “wise” oftentimes have to be so sad? What Delilah said, 100 likes and thumbs up!!
Delilah
January 31, 2013
One hundred “likes” and thumbs-up!!
Delilah
January 31, 2013
I
unionman575
January 31, 2013
http://www.beverlyhillschamber.com/nlarchive2.asp?nlid=4427#8
Courtrooms to Close at Beverly Hills Courthouse
Los Angeles Superior County Court officials have announced that there will be a strong decrease in the legal services available at the Beverly Hills Courthouse due to $56 million dollars in cuts the court must absorb. The Chamber has been in communication with LA Superior Court and has been told that the Courthouse will most likely be “repurposed” as a result of budget cuts and only remain open to hear settlement cases. The courtrooms will not be functioning but the courthouse will stay open. While the fate of the 42 current employees working in at the Courthouse has yet to be determined, one news outlet reported that the services previously available will be consolidated at the Santa Monica Courthouse. More details are expected early next year.
With over 250,000 visitors and 70,000 filings annually, the loss of the Beverly Hills Courthouse will have a negative impact upon the local business community which relies upon the spillover effect of all these visitors on neighboring restaurants and businesses. The Chamber is very concerned over the economic impact of the closure and will be submitting a letter of concern to court and elected officials about the proposed cuts.
For more information, please contact Mary Hearns, Public Information Officer for the LA Superior Court at Mhearn@lasuperiorcourt.org or 213-974-5227.
wearyant
February 1, 2013
“The Chamber is very concerned over the economic impact of the closure and will be submitting a letter of concern to court and elected officials about the proposed cuts.”
Well, better late than never. Some action would have been more helpful much earlier, maybe a year or two ago at least. But, thanks, Chamber, for any efforts taken. Please “carbon copy” everyone who cares here at JCW. 😀
unionman575
February 1, 2013
http://menlopark-atherton.patch.com/articles/budget-cuts-may-close-courtrooms
Budget Cuts May Close Courtrooms
January 31, 2013
25 jobs could be eliminated.
Ongoing state budget cuts to trial courts are to blame for San Mateo County having to cut as many as 25 positions and close five courtrooms in its South San Francisco and San Mateo branches, the Superior Court of San Mateo County announced.
The reductions include the elimination of five court commissioner positions, as many as 21 staff positions, the closure of five courtrooms and suspending the majority of court services in the South San Francisco and San Mateo branches, according to Court Executive Officer John Fitton. Should trial court funding not be restored the elimination of the court commissioners could happen in July and the remaining workforce reductions are slated for September.
The latest round of cuts is just another blow to an already tightened trial court budget in San Mateo County. The county has so far reduced its workforce by more than 30 percent and made several reductions in many areas including clerk hours, traffic and small claims, family court and complex litigation court in Redwood City.
“This is unprecedented, and we’ve been saying this since 2008 and it continues to get worse,” Fitton said. Trial courts throughout the state have suffered state budget cuts of more than $1 billion over the past five years. Courts throughout the state are being forced to severely cut costs, in some cases shut down entire courthouses, not just courtrooms. Presiding Judge Robert D. Foiles said it is “extremely disappointing” that the governor’s January budget fails to restore vital funding to the trial courts.
Fitton says his office has been planning prudently and responsibly for the cuts and plans to make every attempt at influencing the governor and state legislators to halt cuts to the state’s judicial branch, which makes up about 2 percent of the state budget.
“Why it’s gotten hit so disproportionately, I can’t speak to,” Fitton said. The San Mateo County Superior Court has eliminated 120 positions since 2008 and now consists of 265 employees, not counting judges.
Of those 120 positions, only 27 were through layoffs three years ago, Fitton said. Trial courts protect the public — public rights, public freedom and public safety,” Fitton said.
“We don’t want to lose our valuable staff and the public is not well served by this — we protect public safety, we protect the law.” Commissioners and court employees have been made aware of the forecast and in the meantime, Fitton plans to work collaboratively with other justice partners to encourage state legislators to protect court funding. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” he said.
unionman575
February 1, 2013
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/01/5156979/state-courts-must-enter-the-electronic.html
Editorial: State courts must enter the electronic age
By the Editorial Board
Published: Friday, Feb. 1, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 16A
Last Modified: Friday, Feb. 1, 2013 – 12:08 am
unionman575
February 1, 2013
And now a report from Steve Nash San Bernardino CEO…
You better have a helicopter to get to Court in San Bernardino..
😉
http://www.pe.com/local-news/politics/imran-ghori-headlines/20130131-san-bernardino-county-supervisors-discuss-court-closures.ece
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY: Supervisors discuss court closures
S.B. County supervisors want residents to be able to get to proceedings now that 6 of 11 courts are shut
BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
Published: January 31, 2013; 06:18 PM
San Bernardino County Supervisors James Ramos and Robert Lovingood met with court officials Thursday, Jan. 31, to discuss possible ways to assist residents who will have to travel farther to get to the closest courthouse.
Earlier this month, the state announced that the Big Bear Lake, Barstow and Needles courts will close in May because of budget cuts.
Courts in Chino, Redlands and Twin Peaks already have closed, leaving only courts in San Bernardino, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Victorville and Joshua Tree available to San Bernardino County residents.
For many in remote areas of the 20,000-square-mile county, that means they will have to travel long distances to already-crowded courts if they want to dispute a traffic ticket or small-claims case or respond to a jury service summons.
Ramos and Lovingood, who represent districts where the closures will take place, agreed that as a short-term solution, residents should be provided with adequate and affordable transportation, Ramos said.
“It is imperative for all citizens to have easy accessibility to our judicial system and that is a primary responsibility of government to provide,” he said.
Ramos said he and Lovingood hope to discuss options that the county’s various public transit systems can provide.
The county also hopes to lobby the state to get funding proportionate to the county’s caseload and population, an issue that Ramos raised during a discussion of the county’s state lobbying platform at a supervisors meeting Tuesday, Jan. 29.
Josh Candelaria, the county’s director of governmental and legislative affairs, said Tuesday that the county’s share of funding is less than it should be based on those factors.
The state Administrative Office of Courts, which oversees California’s judicial system, is expected to issue a report in April looking at funding and resources provided to courts.
Ramos said the full county board will hold a study session on ways to deal with the court closures Feb. 19.
Follow Imran Ghori on Twitter: @ImranGhori1
MaxRebo5
February 1, 2013
“Why it’s gotten hit so disproportionately, I can’t speak to,” Fitton said. The San Mateo County Superior Court has eliminated 120 positions since 2008 and now consists of 265 employees, not counting judges.
I’ll speak to it Mr Fitton for I have already been laid off and can now talk freely about what is going on in CA Judicial Administration. I used to work in your court many years ago as a clerk (wonderful court and employees there). The reason CA Courts are being hit so disproportionately ahrd is because the other two branches of government despise Team George and want the Chief to throw them out. Many judges within CA Courts, some of your employees, and many outsiders like me (who have already been laid off) expect those heads at the AOC to roll because of their part in those scandals (CCMS, LB Courthouse, Raises at AOC, SEC Management issues, AOC staff telecommuting from Switzerland, man the mistakes go on and on).
Team George has to go for the branch to recover. It is that simple. New leadership at the AOC making real reforms to admin is expected but the Chief won’t do it so your court and every other court is going to get cut until she gives in. It’s hardball for the branch. She is letting all of her pawns (the trial courts) get wiped out rather than get rid of her few bishops at the AOC. Insane logic and bad chess playing.
The Democrats control the Legislature. There are lots of union folks there who see what is happening to court workers and don’t like the smell of it at all. The Governor too is on to them for their efforts to blame the Department of Finance with that language to cut out the PJ’s.
The Chief would like folks to believe it is just the economy and the poor courts are being hit unfairly. That does not sit with Judge Feinstein’s comments before retiring that the AOC leaders had a role to play in it or the audits showing the AOC leadership was at fault. The branch is being cut for standing by those leaders to this day.
Perhaps it is time for you and other court execs to start actually “speaking to” the problem publicly or privately for the sake of your remaining staff. I think many court execs know it is in the interest of the branch interest to have new leadership at the AOC. Put pressure on the Chief to thow them out.
Best of luck to all of the little folks hurt in the crossfire of this fight.
unionman575
February 1, 2013
http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/02/01/54513.htm
Friday, February 01, 2013Last Update: 5:15 PM PT
California’s Improving Economy Comes Too Late for L.A. Courts
By MARIA DINZEO
Although Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed budget spared further cuts to California’s courts, it gave them no relief either. Los Angeles Superior Court, the biggest court in the nation, is going ahead with its plans to darken ten courthouses in California’a most populous region.
“We are witnessing the dismantling of the Los Angeles justice system,” said Los Angeles Presiding Judge David Wesley. “The sustained decline in state support for the California trial courts evidenced in the Governor’s budget proposal will prove crippling to our ability to provide adequate access to justice.”
Despite an improving economy, the court faces an $85 million budget shortfall. The vast court system in Los Angeles County, stretching from Norwalk to Long Beach and from Santa Monica to Pomona, has cut 800 jobs over the past three years and must now go ahead with courthouse closures.
The court has dipped into its dwindling reserve fund to stave off further job cuts and closures, but those funds will run out in June.
The courthouses scheduled to be closed are all regional courts: Pomona North, Whittier, Huntington Park, Catalina, San Pedro, Beacon Street, Malibu, West Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Kenyon Juvenile. They are expected to close by June but there is no specific schedule for the closures.
The cases heard at those courts will be shunted to other courthouses already burdened with heavy caseloads. The effect is limited access to the courts for the most disenfranchised, said Los Angeles Judge Robert Dukes, who currently hears cases in Pomona.
“We have significant cases around the county that are currently being handled in our branch courts involving guardianships and conservatorships, people whose parents are incapacitated or people whose parents are incarcerated. And these people are impoverished and now have to go to downtown Los Angeles. Many of these people are self-represented litigants so they are substantially being denied the access to the courts that they deserve,” Dukes said.
Another proposed consolidation scheme is to take all the personal injury cases heard in courthouses throughout Los Angeles County and move them to two courtrooms in downtown Los Angeles, where two judges will handle a caseload of 8,000 personal injury cases each. “So people who have been injured in various manners, like auto accidents, that now have cases pending anywhere from Lancaster to Pomona to Santa Monica and all points in between now have to travel to downtown Los Angeles,” Dukes said. “And so that means that the ability to try those cases should will be severely compromised. Many of these people depend on public transit and it becomes all but impossible to get from here to there.”
Litigants in landlord-tenant disputes may also have to travel to six hub courts to have their cases heard. Traffic cases once heard in Pomona have been transferred to a court ten miles away, forcing local law enforcement to abandon their posts to make court appearances.
Mary Hearn, a spokesperson for Los Angeles Superior Court, said the regional courts were chosen for closure because the downtown courthouses have the capacity to handle larger caseloads, noting that all the regional courthouses being closed only have one to six courtrooms. “The plan to regionalize the district locations and the creation of the ‘hub’ locations is an effort to mitigate the impact of these closures,” she said.
But Dukes said the loss of local courthouses will harm the poorest and most underserved communities in Los Angeles. “When I was presiding judge we touted ourselves as being the largest neighborhood court in the nation. We were proud we could give access to people throughout our county. We’re being forced by the budget problem to reconfigure our court in a way that goes against every grain in my body about what courts should be doing,” he said.
Michael Paul
February 1, 2013
These closures will both back up dockets and backfire against the judicial branch.
Needles, California. It is a city that will be 3 hours away from the nearest courthouse. When you get a traffic ticket there, you automatically contest it via mail. When the needles police officer fails to show up because the department wouldn’t give him a day off to fight the ticket, the perp wins and the county, court and justice loses.
It is at this point that Mr. Paul contemplates the purchase of another adrenaline-junkie superbike and dreams of frequent high-speed (150+ mph thru the desert) trips to Lake Havasu… though in his old age, he no longer feels invincible…and notices that the law no longer permits him to plead to an FTA and quash the underlying mover….
Michael Paul
February 1, 2013
Off topic: It could be worse.
2012 Annual Darwin Awards
Nominee No. 1:[ San Jose Mercury News]:
An unidentified man, using a shotgun like a club to break a former girlfriend’s windshield, accidentally shot himself to death when the gun discharged, blowing a hole in his gut.
Nominee No. 2:[ Kalamazoo Gazette]:
James Burns, 34, (a mechanic) of Alamo MI, was killed in March as he was trying to repair what police describe as a “farm-type truck.” Burns got a friend to drive the truck on a highway while Burns hung underneath so that he could ascertain the source of a troubling noise. Burns’ clothes caught on something, however, and the other man found Burns “wrapped in the drive shaft.”
Nominee No. 3:[ Hickory Daily Record]:
Ken Charles Barger, 47, accidentally shot himself to death in December in Newton NC. Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson 38 Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear.
Nominee No. 4:[UPI, Toronto ]:
Police said a lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a downtown Toronto skyscraper crashed through a pane with his shoulder and plunged 24 floors to his death. A police spokesman said Garry Hoy, 39, fell into the courtyard of the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower early Friday evening as he was explaining the strength of the buildings windows to visiting law students. Hoy previously has conducted demonstrations of window strength according to police reports. Peter Lawson, managing partner of the firm Holden Day Wilson, told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was “one of the best and brightest” members of the 200-man association. A person has to wonder what the dimmer members of this law firm are like.
Nominee No. 5:[The News of the Weird]:
Michael Anderson Godwin made News of the Weird posthumously. He had spent several years awaiting South Carolina’s electric chair on a murder conviction before having his sentence reduced to life in prison. While sitting on a metal toilet in his cell attempting to fix his small TV set, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted.
Nominee No. 6:[The Indianapolis Star]:
A cigarette lighter may have triggered a fatal explosion in Dunkirk IN. A Jay County man, using a cigarette lighter to check the barrel of a muzzleloader, was killed Monday night when the weapon discharged in his face, sheriff’s investigators said. Gregory David Pryor, 19, died in his parents’ rural Dunkirk home at about 11:30 PM. Investigators said Pryor was cleaning a 54-caliber muzzle-loader that had not been firing properly. He was using the lighter to look into the barrel when the gunpowder ignited.
Nominee No. 7:[Reuters, Mississauga , Ontario ]:
A man cleaning a bird feeder on the balcony of his condominium apartment in this Toronto suburb slipped and fell 23 stories to his death. “Stefan Macko, 55, was standing on a wheelchair when the accident occurred,” said Inspector Darcy Honer of the Peel Regional Police. “It appears that the chair moved, and he went over the balcony,” Honer said.
Finally, THE WINNER!!!:[ Arkansas Democrat Gazette]:
Two local men were injured when their pickup truck left the road and struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday. Woodruff County deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after midnight Monday. Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock, were returning to Des Arc after a frog-catching trip. On an overcast Sunday night, Poole’s pickup truck headlights malfunctioned.
The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older-model truck had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed that the .22 caliber bullets from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering-wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet the headlights again began to operate properly, and the two men proceeded on eastbound toward the White River Bridge .
After traveling approximately 20 miles, and just before crossing the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged and struck Poole in the testicles. The vehicle swerved sharply right, exited the pavement, and struck a tree. Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident but will require extensive surgery to repair the damage to his testicles, which will never operate as intended.
Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released. “Thank God we weren’t on that bridge when Thurston shot his balls off, or we might be dead,” stated Wallis
“I’ve been a trooper for 10 years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me. I can’t believe that those two would admit how this accident happened,” said Snyder.
Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia (Poole ‘s wife) asked how many frogs the boys had caught and did anyone get them from the truck? Though Poole and Wallis did not die as a result of their misadventure as normally required by Darwin Award Official Rules, it can be argued that Poole did in fact effectively remove himself from the gene pool.
Wendy Darling
February 1, 2013
Surely some of these people are immediate relatives of current judicial branch “leadership.”
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
Wendy Darling
February 1, 2013
And “access to justice” continues to disappear before our very eyes. Published today, Friday, February 1, from The Recorder, the on-line publication of CalLaw, by Cynthia Foster:
San Mateo to Shutter Courtrooms, Lay Off Commissioners
By Cynthia Foster
SAN FRANCISCO — San Mateo County Superior Court officials announced Thursday that a $4.5 million budget shortfall in the upcoming fiscal year will require the court to close five courtrooms, eliminate five commissioner positions, and reduce staff by 6 to 8 percent.
Full article requires subscription access: http://www.law.com/jsp/ca/PubArticleCA.jsp?id=1202586779914&San_Mateo_to_Shutter_Courtrooms_Lay_Off_Commissioners
Long live the ACJ.
Maxrebo5
February 1, 2013
Fpund this in the Sac Bee editorial section:
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/01/5156979/state-courts-must-enter-the-electronic.html
Court reporters of CA Courts. I wish you luck. The AOC is desperate to cut operations over their own necks. Do all you can with the legislature to stop them.
The public and attorneys deserve electronic filings like the Federal Courts have for filing cases. The AOC botched that up with CCMS being royally screwed up. So now it’s the court repoorters who are the problem? You gotta be kidding me…
Court employees, all unions, know your enemy…it is Team George. Curt Soderlund (a Team George member told me once “the unions will say %&%# you in negotiations just to say %&$% you. Never trust them.” I was stunned wondering where is this coming from? They are all about themselves and their six figure salaries to the detriment of hard working employees.
The best defense against these jerks is to get your judges to recognize the value of their courtroom family. Their clerk, bailiff, and courtreporter the judges know are working hard. Judges, clerks, court reporters, bailiffs, support clerks, and all union staff have to take a stand together against court admin at the AOC. Heads should roll at the AOC before operations. That’s real word “access to justice” my friends.
Fight on!
Maxrebo5
February 1, 2013
Sorry about the spelling. I got the sentiment right though.
The OBT
February 2, 2013
Maxrebo5 makes a number of compelling points. The Governor and legislature are not at fault here. They didn’t waste half a billion on CCMS. They didn’t waste millions on overpriced new courthouses including Long Beach. They didn’t authorize the San Diego Court of Appeal to pay 163,000 a month rent and they certainly didn’t allow AOC management and lawyers to pay nothing into their retirement or to telecommute from half way around the world. The JC/AOC can spin it any way they want, but they are responsible for the mess we find ourselves in.
unionman575
February 2, 2013
http://recalltani.wordpress.com/
Recall Tani Organizing Committee (RTOC)
A Judicial Council Watcher public accountability project
unionman575
February 2, 2013
You just have to love the Death Star…
😉
>>> Lucila Thielen 1/28/2013 8:17 AM >>>
Good Morning Everyone,
This is to inform you that we are experiencing cold temperatures throughout the building and the AOC is working on correcting the problem. Normal temperatures should resume in approximately one hour.
Lucila Thielen, Facilities Administrator
Los Angeles Superior Court
Facilities Services & Capital Projects
111 N. Hill Street, Rm. 623
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 974-0792
unionman575
February 2, 2013
VENTURA SUPERIOR COURT…
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/feb/01/budget-cuts-have-crippled-court-system-group/
BUDGET CUTS HAVE CRIPPLED COURT SYSTEM, GROUP TOLD
Raul Hernandez
The Ventura County Superior Court is in a fragile state.
There is more demand on court services but resources are limited, the technology is weak and the financial rainy-day reserve is nearly empty compared to five years ago.
That’s what newly elected Presiding Judge Brian Back and Michael Planet, the Superior Court’s executive officer, told the audience at a “State of the Court” luncheon Friday in Oxnard. The Ventura County Mexican American Bar Association sponsored the luncheon.
Planet said state budget cuts that stretched five years slashed courthouse staff, a self-help legal clinic in Oxnard and hours. They also wiped out the court’s financial reserve — dwindling it down to a pittance of what it was, Planet said.
“It’s still very early in the budget process to know whether or not we’ll need to make further reductions in programs and staff next year,” Planet said.
But the ability to keep local courthouse financial reserves for emergencies is gone, Planet said.
“We had to run through about $7 million in reserves, the rainy-day fund, that we had set aside,” Planet said. “So we are virtually down to less than 1 percent, which is not a reasonable reserve for any public entity to have.”
The 1 percent equates to $300,000 in the reserve fund, he told the audience.
“That’s not a reserve. That’s postage,” he said. “What it means is that we don’t have the ability to deal with emergencies.”
For example, he said, the family law case management system is frail and a power surge could result in the manual handling of cases.
“We have a family law case system that is being held together by duct tape,” he said. “It is literally a failing system that we need to replace and we worry about every time there is a power surge.”
One in five staffing positions in the court is vacant, Planet said.
“The message here is not that the court has problems but that people are being denied access to our courts,” he said.
Back noted that Ventura County is the 14th largest court system in California and ranks eighth in cases filed. He said Alameda County has 80 judicial posts; Santa Clara County, 88; Kern County, 42; and Ventura County, 33.
“We have the fourth most jury trials of all the counties in the state,” Back said. “We rank seventh in terms of felony trials. Fourth in terms of misdemeanor trials.”
In civil cases where damages are limited to $25,000 or less, Ventura County ranks third in trials. It ranks eighth in unlimited civil case trials, Back said.
Statewide, judges are looking for solutions, including proposed reforms to the jury system that would reduce peremptory challenges by lawyers and whittle the number of people in the jury box from 12 to six, Back said.
He said these might be considered “radical ideas” but they already have been tested at the federal level and in many other states.
“If there is a time to test jury reform, this is really the time to do it,” Back told the crowd.
Commercial IT
February 2, 2013
Does anyone here know any of the details of the current family law system?
Maxrebo5
February 2, 2013
Yeah lets end jury trials with 12 jurors. Great idea from Ventura County. To me that’s crazy talk.
Ventura is the birthplace of CCMS as a debacle, Sheila Gonzales was their CEO and the main champion of that failed system followed by Michael Planet who was always singing it’s praises to the rest of the state’s courts. That woman had no business developing a case management system and I think Mr. Planet should just remain quiet because he championed CCMS to all of the courts and it was a huge bust.
I have an alternative way to get money for the trial courts. Close the AOC in SF and move it to Sacramento. Reduce the AOC staff by 50%, take the salary savings, the savings on rent, all the overpaid attorneys, and the savings on all the committees and give it to the local courts to pay for court reporters, jurors, and the clerks who make justice happen. The public will barely notice the change. The Judicial Council does not need 800 staff to make policy for the branch. To me that’s smart talk.
unionman575
February 2, 2013
“I have an alternative way to get money for the trial courts. Close the AOC in SF and move it to Sacramento. Reduce the AOC staff by 50%, take the salary savings, the savings on rent, all the overpaid attorneys, and the savings on all the committees and give it to the local courts to pay for court reporters, jurors, and the clerks who make justice happen. The public will barely notice the change. The Judicial Council does not need 800 staff to make policy for the branch. To me that’s smart talk.””
So stipulated.
😉
R. Campomadera
February 2, 2013
Right thought, unionman575, but why stop at a 50% reduction? Half of what they’ve got is still way too much. I can’t imagine why the AOC needs more than 100 FTE’s…anything over that should be fully justified on a single criterion…the position directly enhances the core mission of the trial courts, that positive impact can be quantified with a cost/benefit analysis, AND, a majority of the presiding judges must vote to approve such positions. Finally, any such positions must be subjected to an annual review to ensure they continue to meet the criterion.
unionman575
February 2, 2013
http://www.courts.ca.gov/20778.htm
Fact Check: Judicial Branch Budget and Proposals for Fiscal Year 2013-2014
unionman575
February 2, 2013
And now another word from Steve Nash our illustrious San Bernardino CEO…
http://www.sb-court.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=8hCxFlJ1RlQ%3d&tabid=40&mid=395
Superior Court of California
County of San Bernardino
PUBLIC NOTICE
January 31, 2013
Notice of Fee Increase
Effective March 25, 2013, the fee for e-Delivery of filings through the TurboCourt software will increase. Small Claims e-Delivery will increase to $19.99; Landlord/Tenant e-Delivery will increase to $39.99; and Family Law e-Delivery will become a new offering at $49.99.
This notice has been posted on the Court’s website at http://www.sb-court.org.
All public comments concerning the proposed fee increase must be sent via email to: notice_comments@sb-court.org
Comments must be received by March 17, 2013.
# # #
R. Campomadera
February 2, 2013
Contrast this e-filing fee increase to the Federal Court system, where e-filing is free, in order to encourage litigants and their counsel to e-file, instead of file paper documents, which nowadays serve only to clog up the courts and delay processing. Real smart…
unionman575
February 2, 2013
Click to access 013113.pdf
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SANMATEO
400 County Center
Redwood City, CA 94063
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: January 31, 2013
CONTACT: John C. Fitton, Court Executive Officer, 650-599-1763
Court Announces Further Cuts in Services
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – The Superior Court of San Mateo County today announced further reduction in staff and court services due to the ongoing State budget cuts to the trial courts. These reductions include: eliminating five court commissioner positions and 16 to 21 staff positions, closure of five courtrooms and suspending the majority of court services in the South San Francisco and San Mateo branches. Two Judges will remain at the South San Francisco branch to conduct preliminary hearings.
Absent State restoration of essential trial court funding, the reduction of commissioners and related consolidation efforts will likely occur as soon as July 2013. Remaining workforce reductions will likely occur in September 2013. Presiding Judge Robert D Foiles and Court Executive Officer John Fitton have shared this information personally with their commissioners and court employees in recent weeks.
Trial courts throughout California have suffered unprecedented State budget cuts of more than $1 billion over the past five years. The San Mateo Superior Court has seen a dramatic reduction in its budget as a result of these State cuts to the judicial branch and unfunded cost increases. Going forward, the court must absorb additional budget cuts that will have a significant impact for years to come.
“None of these reductions are actions that our court wants to take. In fact, Judge Freeman (the prior Presiding Judge), John Fitton and I have worked successfully with our employees to delay them as long as possible” said Judge Foiles.
In September 2012, court officials publicly announced the likelihood of these actions if the Governor and State Leaders failed to eliminate the latest court cuts. “We have purposefully shared this information well in advance and worked with our justice partners, legislators and community leaders to seek restoration of court funding and minimize these actions, if at all possible,” said Judge Foiles.
Cuts to the trial courts by the Legislature and Governor have already resulted in significant court service reductions. To date, the San Mateo Superior Court has reduced its workforce by more than 30 percent, reduced clerk’s office and phone hours, consolidated traffic and small claims clerk’s offices, traffic arraignments, family law hearings and the complex litigation court to Redwood City. In February, the court will further reduce its public counter and phone hours.
Judge Foiles said it is “extremely disappointing” that the Governor’s January proposed budget fails to restore vital funding to the trial courts. “We must plan now to effectively prioritize the most essential court services to protect the public while also living within our means. We regret that this will mean further delays in many other areas” he added.
Court officials say they remain committed to prioritizing public safety, fully utilizing technology and creating efficiencies to provide the best trial court services possible for San Mateo residents within the limits of their severely reduced funding. The vast majority of judiciary, staff and court resources will be consolidated in Redwood City to respond to the most essential court services.
“Trial courts throughout the State have already been cut disproportionately. We believe these cuts do not serve Californians or our communities well. They are wrong,” said Mr. Fitton. “Trial courts protect the public – public rights, public freedom and public safety. We have seen many other courts already forced to close courtrooms and branches and severely limit their services. We have successfully delayed these severe actions as long as possible, sustaining important court services for our community – but we will not be able to avoid these added actions absent immediate restoration of essential court funding.”
Judge Foiles added, “We are working collaboratively with our justice partners and telling State leaders that the protection of the public’s rights, freedom and safety should not be at risk – we need essential court funding restored.”
###
unionman575
February 2, 2013
Click to access Exec_Comm_Public_Meeting_02-01-13.pdf
MEMORANDUM
TO: Superior Court Executive Committee
FROM: Gary M. Blair, Executive Officer
DATE: January 29, 2012
RE: Request to Grant Critically Needed Exception to 180-Day “Sit-out” Rule Pursuant to AB 340 for Sustain eCourt Project Manager
RECOMMENDATION:
Certify that the extra help appointment of Superior Court’s Sustain eCourt Project Manager, Tom Ward, is a critically needed position necessary to fill prior to the passage of 180 days after his retirement on February 1, 2013. After certification of this critical need, forward the certification to Mr. Alan Blakeboro, counsel for the Santa Barbara County Employees Retirement System (SBCERS).
…..
unionman575
February 2, 2013
Click to access PressRelease012313.pdf
Superior Court Chief Executive Officer Gary M. Blair has announced the appointment
of Darrel Parker, assistant Chief Executive Officer, to the new position of Chief
Deputy Executive Officer for countywide operations. Mr. Parker previously served as
the Superior Court’s Assistant Executive Officer for North County operations from 1997
to the present.
The Court is seizing the opportunity to evaluate its organizational structure to determine
if there is a better way to provide Court services which will result in savings. One Chief
Deputy Executive Officer (CDEO) with responsibility for countywide operations will
have the responsibility and authority to review and evaluate the current workload,
reporting structure, job responsibilities and use of resources to meet core court service
objectives. The goal is to identify possible efficiencies in the organization which will
save the Court money in light of multiple and continuing years of state funding cutbacks
to all trial courts.
—————————————————————-
This won’t save any money for line operations folks.
We need to reduce court MANAGEMENT, not increase it or give promotions and pay raises.
😉
R. Campomadera
February 2, 2013
Yeah, God forbid we rely on the workers, who know their jobs best, to “…identify possible efficiencies in the organization which will save the Court money…”. Instead, let’s increase administrative overhead in the Court by hiring another highly paid executive to go around and ask the workers for their ideas (thereby allowing the Court Executive to claim he’s creating a “participative environment”. What a crock…this is symptomatic of what’s wrong with American enterprise, which believes only “Hero Managers” can solve the problems of organizations.
Dumb
February 7, 2013
And let Santa Clara County management spend the day writing up employees that don’t finish their 8 hours in continuing education. Nevermind the sky high vacancy rates and number of workman’s comp claims. Oh and what do you do when you ask for a class and the supervisor says “no” due to staffing?
No warning just a letter of reprimand in your “permanent personnel record.” Yes, this is how Santa Clara rolls. Thanks David! They could have sent those HR people to a window to process filings. It’s more important to be the police than administer justice.
unionman575
February 2, 2013
Teflon Jack is back in business in Shasta…
23 cases and counting pending for his Majesty…
http://www.shastacourts.com/Cal/rpt_cal_01.php
Wendy Darling
February 2, 2013
Teflon Jack continues to sit on the bench and hold “court” in open defiance of an order of the Chief Justice “removing” him from the bench.
Which tells you at least three things: (1) an order of the Chief Justice isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on; (2) judges can break the law with impunity, and (3) no one in any position of authority or responsibility that can do something about it, will (yes, that’s you, Attorney General Harris and Governor Brown.)
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
Alan Ernesto Phillips
February 4, 2013
Some of us don’t need the thought of that Post Traumatic Stress!
Where did you see, JACK “the Family-Ripper” HALPIN was RE-ASSIGNED to the bench?
If that’s true, YIKES!!
Last month the Blind Bulldog Blog reported that the “Assigned Judges” calendar for Shasta Superior Court shows an “HA” indicator which signifies Juvenile Hall ‘HA’ cases. Hopefully you’re not citing that, and know something we do not…
If you can show us some specific indicators we do not see, the victims of the north state need to know right away! and would thank you for your learned report and civil warning of that scoundrel truly coming back! please advise…
[Today is DAY 696 since Jack Halpin, et al’s, ongoing damaging assault on my family…]
Alan Ernesto Phillips
February 5, 2013
.
Perhaps we have missed something, U575…
Where is your frightening claim supported in the comment and link you posted?
Many up here need to know…
.
wearyant
February 2, 2013
A court reporter’s excellent reply to a recent SacBee editorial:
CCRA’s Vice Present Pam Katros responded to the editorial:
“The statement “State courts must enter the electronic age” is obviously coming from an uninformed opinion. The courts are in the electronic age with live court reporters daily providing instantaneous real time translation to the bench officers and attorneys. Real time enables the judge the ability to work more efficiently. When readback to a jury is required, the court reporter is able to search for specific areas of testimony the jury is requesting in a matter of minutes. This service is invaluable to the citizens of California, our jury pool, as it enables them to complete their jury service sooner than with electronic recording where they would either not have access to the testimony requested or they would have to listen to the whole testimony again.
Court reporters are highly trained, licensed professionals whose sole job is making the record. Without that impartial person in the courtroom, no one is concerned about the record. The attorneys and judges are doing their jobs presenting their case and ruling on objections. Court reporters control the proceedings and ensure the accuracy of the record for the litigants involved. That is the court reporter’s job, ensuring access to justice for all litigants.
A court reporter buys and funds all equipment necessary for their job as a stenographer – including the electronic stenograph machine, computer, software, printer and paper necessary to produce transcripts. Their time away from the courtroom – and their families — is spent preparing and binding the transcripts so the necessary appellate review is possible.
Court reporters have the technology. We utilize it daily. Not one professional working in California’s judicial system advocates replacing trained court reporters with electronic recording devices.
Yes, there is a crisis in the California court system due to budget cuts. Year after year, the California Court Reporter Association sponsors legislation to help fund court reporters so the integrity of the court’s written record is preserved.”
wearyant
February 2, 2013
And it should be clarified, the Guv and Legislature are not the whole blame for the funding crisis the third branch is experiencing. It’s the JC/AOC/CJ that are squarely to blame. The Guv and Legislature have seen the boondoggles that continue to go down in the administration of the third branch and simply aren’t inclined to throw more good money after bad. Duh. Very bad politically. These highly (obscenely) paid AOC bureaucrats, one of which earns — well, I’ll say “commands” more income than the Guv — continue to monkey around with public funds provided for the services of court reporters and court interpreters also, which is just a part of the mess these odious, pointy-headed pencil pushers have created. Now apparently the pointy heads find that our constitutional rights are just so bothersome, you know, like the right to confront and cross-examine our accusers and the right to a 12-person jury trial! No worries. The pointy heads see the solution as hiring yet MORE pointy heads and create MORE positions, e.g., deputy pointy head, assistant pointy head, assistant to the assistant pointy head …
God help us all.
Nathaniel Woodhull
February 3, 2013
Having experimented “electronic recording”, all I can say is that the technology is no where close to being there. Are we going to send the tapes to India for transcription? How much time will it take judges to “certify” and correct the record, months or years after a hearing or trial?
This is such a typical push by those at the the AOC who have never seen the inside of the courtroom and the pointy heads on the JC who seemingly never are in the courtroom.
The OBT
February 4, 2013
Oh Woodhull you are so right. ” The hits just keep on coming ” Electronic recording will be the next JC/AOC failure. Someone needs to put it to them squarely : Why can’t the JC be democratized? Since we live in a representative democratically elected government why should the largest court in the world be an oligarchy ? An oligarchy run by the likes of the CJ , J Hull and J Rosenberg. Sadly that just speaks for itself.
Judicial Council Watcher
February 7, 2013
The broken link to the conference sign-up that a half-dozen people have clicked on in the primary post has been corrected.
Additionally, you may skip looking for the link in the primary post above and sign up here. You have our apologies regarding the broken link. Links tend to break when they are cross-posted from hushmail. In this case, the email with the proper link was deleted to save room in our mailbox prior to verifying that all of the links worked. Again, our apologies.
https://www.cvent.com/events/mason-judicial-education-program-conference-on-environmental-economics-law-litigation-march-2013-/registration-c057e182a40d4fedb7cf252b18ec2f5b.aspx