Nearly 22 million dollars – or enough money to employ 220 court clerks. To reopen more than a dozen rural courthouses across the state.
http://www.news10.net/media/cinematic/video/9111851/
This is how much money Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye demands that taxpayers pay on her behalf to have the California Highway Patrol drive her (and other presiding justices and justice council members) to and from work. But that’s not all. They also escort her on trips to Hawaii. On trips to Puerto Rico. On trips anywhere she wants to go. The chief suggests that she is attending to speak at meetings of various legal associations and that somehow, this is official business that taxpayers must pay for.
Yet many of those same associations will pay for and fly in other official speakers at their own expense. Why can’t Cantil-Sakauye, at the very least demand reimbursement from these same legal associations for her expenses that she bills to the California taxpayers?
We continue to believe that the enormous amount of money paid does not match the threat, especially when one considers the almost daily death threats made against 1,600 trial court judges and tens of thousands of court workers who actually deal with a very angry public on a daily basis.
Somehow, they manage to get by without armed chauffeurs.
All an appellate or supreme court justice has to deal with is appellate attorneys and never has angry litigants stand in their courtrooms. Sure, one on the council might argue that this level of protection is required due to threats made against justices for highly controversial decisions but the CHP already investigates all threats against state employees.
Except those employed by the trial courts. For that the responsibility falls to local law enforcement.
Does she provide these same services gratis to former chief justice and multi-millionaire Ronald George? While we have no proof of this submitted to us, the word on the street is that not only does Ronald George enjoy this perk but so does his wife.
Even if we were to buy the theory that these meetings have something to do with official business, why do hotel rooms for both the chief justice and her CHP entourage come in at three to four times the per diem cost she imposes on thousands of other judicial council employees?
The problem as we see it is the special benefits bestowed upon the chief justice by California Vehicle Code 2400 which states
(i) Upon request of the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, the commissioner may provide appropriate protective services to any current or former member of the State Court of Appeal or the California Supreme Court.
If you have spent any time around California law you quickly learn that the word “may” in this state has the actual definition of “shall”. CHP commissioner Joseph Farrow does have the right to invoice the judicial council for reimbursement of the council’s outlandish expenses and routinely does, which is the only way we can find out about these outlandish costs because we know that the AOC would never release any such record to the media and they’re protected by one of those worthless rules of court from doing so.
Enough money in fact to employ 220 court clerks across the state. To reopen more than a dozen rural courthouses in far-flung places like Needles, California.
What we find terribly amusing about all of this is the grey goose double standard that “the old state court system” and the new state court system (which includes the trial courts) lives under. Trial courts can order grey goose but it’s often substituted with mad dog 20/20 whereas anyone in the old state court system can order grey goose and get a whole case when they just ordered a drink.
At least this time around, legislators are now well educated that TOSCS and the AOC act as one and that the trial courts continue to be the regrettable bastard stepchild that no one wishes to support.
We haven’t been posting much but that does not mean we’re not working on other stories. In fact, we have a shocking story about waste and abuse and special perks where public information requests are currently being stalled by the AOC because when legislators find out about it, they will unquestionably body-slam the judicial council’s budget.
We owe credit for these upcoming stories to conscientious AOC employees who continue to be blown away about the waste in their own agency and feel genuinely concerned about the justice system being dismantled to pay for this waste.
They come to us because they know judicial branch whistleblower protection for AOC employees is entirely worthless.
Stay tuned.
Nathaniel Woodhull
May 15, 2014
Maybe Tani should take a ride to Judge Haley Drive in Marin County. I still remember the day that 65 year-old Superior Court Judge had his head taken off with a sawed-off shotgun. It is the trial judges, not appellate justices, who sit face-to-face with the gang bangers and seriously deranged criminals, not to mention their friends and families. Death threats are routine for those of us in the trenches. The nameless, faceless members of the appellate courts are not in the direct firing line. Queen Feckless is married to a now retired Lieutenant from the Sacramento Police Department. If she really needs security I’m sure he is able to provide it since he is eligible for a lifetime concealed carry permit.
Additionally, why does she get to stay at resorts costing $400+ per night, when the slobs on the bus are supposed to make do with $110 a night toward accommodations on the very rare instances in which we qualify to attend any legal training anymore.
I have one word for Queen Feckless….R-E-S-I-G-N!!!!!!!!
🙂
Mark Pulliam
May 15, 2014
Wow. This is how the appellate judges begin to view themselves as royalty.
courtflea
May 15, 2014
ya think Mark? Just ask Justice Ardiaz Presiding Justice based in Fresno.
Wendy Darling
May 16, 2014
He does love his CHP helicopter taxi to and from San Francisco, doesn’t he Flea?!
Long live the ACJ.
Been There
May 16, 2014
I confess. I am probably responsible for J Ardaiz taking those helicopter rides to SF. One memorable day my phone rang, I picked up, and it was none other than J Ardaiz screaming that United Air Lines had bumped him from his flight from Fresno to SF. “Do something!”, he screamed. I promised to call United to confirm that J Ardaiz was a very important person and if he was bumped from his flight he would miss a most important meeting of the California Judicial Council. Long story short: United Air Lines was unmoved. I, a lowly court analyst, had failed miserably. Never again would the Justice trust his travel arrangements to UAL nor to miserable wretches like me.
Wendy Darling
May 15, 2014
Mirror, mirror, on the wall
Who is the biggest hypocrite of them all?
You are, Tani.
You are the biggest hypocrite of them all.
Long live the ACJ.
Wendy Darling
May 15, 2014
” The enormous amount of money paid does not match the threat.”
The only real “threat” that exists regarding Queen Feckless is that she, and her entire branch “leadership” consistently render the California Judicial Branch the laughingstock of state government. She, alone, has made it more than easy for the Governor to say “no more money” for the branch, as she prances all over the state, crying poverty, while being chauffeured around the state and to resort spots by her CHP driver, all paid for at public expense. Even an idiot can see that doesn’t exactly reconcile itself with dire financial need.
I’ll ask again: Can anyone name even one act of leadership by Tani Cantil Sakauye -just one – in the past 4 years that is worthy of following?
[crickets chirping]
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Long live the ACJ.
NewsViews
May 15, 2014
Reblogged this on News and Views Riverside Superior Court and National Family Law Abuse.
Judicial Council Watcher
May 15, 2014
There is a huge witch hunt going on at the AOC. In particular, they wish to know who is supplying us with information and/or writing our articles.
They make it a point to study our articles for grammatical clues. To see if someones’ unique writing style surfaces. And those AOC employees that do communicate with us specifically request that we don’t use their verbatim words or duplicate their sentences or writing style.
To ensure that the dirtbags in aoc management continue to come up empty in their witch hunt information is reduced to bullet points. It is from these bullet points and from amassing bullet point information from other writers of similar articles that we sit down and write an article.
In short, the AOC is and has been expending an inordinate amount of management time tryjng to hold people accountable for the leaks. It is and has always been another colossal waste of public funds.
courtflea
May 15, 2014
You got ’em running JCW. You can smell their fear. Keep dawgin ’em.
unionman575
May 15, 2014
😉
MaxRebo5
May 15, 2014
If the Chief is for CHP security services for appellate justices then shouldn’t she be advocating them for trial court judges too where the risks from disgruntled parties are greatest? She may not get the money for it but following the logiic of the security need to protect the judiciary I would think she should be seeking that right?
The fact that she does not seek CHP officers driving every trial court judge to and from work (let alone on trips) illustrates how such an expensive security detachment at the trial court level is just pure crazy relative to the threat.
That makes the current practice of CHP security at the appellate level, where they are even further removed from disgruntled parties, twice as crazy. Nevertheless, that is the current reality in California. This is pure and simple a perk for the top officials in the branch. It may be done quietly under an obscure traffic law but it is still a bad use of public funds from a pure security threat cost-benefit analysis.
The best solution I can think of is to change the law and put discretion back in the Legislature’s control and not the Chief’s. Otherwise the public will be out hundreds of millions over time on unnecessary security. The Governor wants new ways of doing business. How about this for a way to save some money? Bet the Chief’s Blue Ribbon commission won’t come up with any such cost saving ideas.
Wendy Darling
May 15, 2014
One of those dedicated to this effort is Little Ernie, aka, Sofa Man. Because one of his all time favorite things to do is fire people. Even if he has to set them up to do it.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians. Long live the ACJ.
CB
May 27, 2014
Are there more layoffs?
Alan Ernesto Phillips
June 3, 2014
Bwwaaaaaaaaa-HAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
unionman575
May 15, 2014
Dear Gov:
“The best solution I can think of is to change the law and put discretion back in the Legislature’s control and not the Chief’s. Otherwise the public will be out hundreds of millions over time on unnecessary security. The Governor wants new ways of doing business. How about this for a way to save some money?”
Got it Gov?
😉
The OBT
May 15, 2014
One has to wonder how many Justices make use of this CHP security detail. Who else inside the Crystal Palace gets this perk in the guise of security ? Do Judicial Council members who are also Justices get to be driven around the state in unmarked CHP cars as well? What about Justices that serve on the CJP ? The irony is that Woodhull is right . We in the trial courts deal with stalkers, former defendants, and people who actually make death threats yet no one drives us home or takes us to parties or out of state resorts. Max Rebo is right. This CHP service is a perk from an era that has long passed. In the current environment we are in we can no longer afford providing these types of perks when the public can’t access their courts. The fact that Queen Tani has this perk and uses it when courthouses are closed and court employees laid off tells me she is really out of touch with the reality around her. She needs to resign.
unionman575
May 15, 2014
See part 2 of the report here and scroll down to the SMALL video at the bottom to see Part 2:
http://www.news10.net/story/news/investigations/2014/05/16/judicial-protection-section-chief-justice/9159905/
Yall are welcome. I love throwing mud. It feels GOOD.
😉
Wendy Darling
May 15, 2014
Judge Gilliard and Judge Maino are my heroes.
Long live the ACJ.
wearyant
May 16, 2014
What WendyD said!
Lando
May 16, 2014
I agree Wendy but add yourself to the hero list. Your contributions here are incredible. Your post about the shredders working overtime at 455 Golden Gate remains one of the best ever.
Wendy Darling
May 16, 2014
Thank you, Lando (blushing).
It’s all of us together, or none of us at all.
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
May 16, 2014
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140514/16134927238/california-court-we-wont-issue-subpoena-to-identify-someone-just-to-prove-someone-is-wrong-internet.shtml
California Court: We Won’t Issue A Subpoena To Identify Someone Just To Prove ‘Someone Is Wrong On The Internet’
😉
unionman575
May 16, 2014
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-rall-california-courts-20140514-story.html
Equal justice under the law. That’s the promise American courts make to plaintiffs and defendants alike. But year after year of budget austerity has forced California’s court system to slash services so deeply that it has made a mockery of that sacred pledge..
unionman575
May 16, 2014
http://www.fortmilltimes.com/2014/05/15/3483628/superior-court-of-california-county.html
Superior Court of California, County of Santa Cruz, Selects Tyler Technologies’ Odyssey Court Case Management Solution
unionman575
May 16, 2014
http://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/3017
Overview of the May Revision
The 2014-15 Budget: Overview of the May Revision
May 16, 2014
courtflea
May 17, 2014
Ah Been There and Wendy D, we could write a book! 🙂 J Ardiaz also loved to use the phrase “do you know who I am”! when trying to get eating establishments to open for him after closing time. Asshole. whoops pardon me. it just slipped out.
Lando
May 17, 2014
What a messed up state we have. Thanks to Ronald George we have an unconstitutional self appointed agency running the courts. This agency rewards it’s insiders like Queen Tani who get to be driven all around the state at taxpayer expense. Meantime we have another bloated agency the CJP, imposing discipline on a Judge who made a few sarcastic comments who isn’t even a Judge anymore. How many taxpayer dollars were wasted on that? Meantime courthouses remain closed, court employees keep being fired and the public waits in long lines.
This whole system need s to be reformed.
The OBT
May 17, 2014
J Ardaiz wasn’t he the insider tasked with eliminating court reporters in the George era? Rumor has it he traveled from the valley to 455 Golden Gate via CHP helicopter on occasion. Lol. You Can’t Make This Stuff Up. Really.
wearyant
May 17, 2014
The OBT, check out Been There’s comment above re Ardaiz. It says from Fresno, which is considerably further than the valley, if you mean the San Fernando Valley. What a beautiful ride it must have been, and the added bonus of avoiding all the Great Unwashed. If Ardaiz was tasked with getting rid of the court reporters, I hate him/her/it already, sight unseen!
I read that the Queen said in January the courts would run out of money in 2015. Why did she continue to give raises to her cheerleaders then? How will the top 30 thugs’ 100% financed-by-the-taxpayers’ pensions be paid? Out of the General Fund? Does she consider the AOC something other than the admin to the judges? If so, what?
Let redo the whole mess, starting with democratizing the JC after fundamentally transforming it. It obviously isn’t working as it’s set up now … 🙂
And that definitely means new, different people as leaders. Long live the ACJ.
courtflea
May 17, 2014
I don’t know about court reporters but J Ardiaz was the chair of the Trial Court Employees task force that dealt with county court employees becoming court employees during the transition from county to state funding. The union task force memebers loved him. Not!
unionman575
May 19, 2014
Not!
😉
The OBT
May 17, 2014
We need to send this out to Tani after her abuse of taxpayer dollars for CHP rides all over the state. ” You’ve Blown It All Sky High By Telling Me a Lie ” Jigsaw Sky High 1975.
sharonkramer
May 18, 2014
If a bear shites in the forrent, does that mean fallen trees are not heard?
C’mon people. A lot of sweat equity has gone into restoring ethics to California’s judicial branch.
Show a little respect. One can’t half fight breach of ethics in the judicial branch and expect to get anywhere.
http://katysexposure.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/abc-10news-uncovers-more-cal-court-ethics-problems-elitist-perks-or-chauffeured-protection/
wearyant
May 19, 2014
Thinking of Justice Hull this fine day and the pony express. Go California Chrome! Here’s a way to deal with Hull’s insistence on United States Mail Service delivery when dealing with his fellow jurists, rebel and non-rebel, rogue and non-rogue. The method isn’t Mac-exclusive; it also includes Window$.
http://best-mac-tips.com/2014/05/15/send-mail-letters-internet/
sunshine
May 19, 2014
“J Ardaiz wasn’t he the insider tasked with eliminating court reporters in the George era?”
YES, he was.
The OBT
May 20, 2014
Will someone please request the records of how many times a month Queen Tani is driven back and forth from Sacramento to the Crystal Palace at 455 Golden Gate? Since that drive poses no security problem doesn’t that just prove it’s a perk and a big one?
unionman575
May 20, 2014
Me and My Chauffeur Blues
wearyant
May 20, 2014
Oh, m’gawd, Unionman, where do you find these? This is SO PERFECT! What I would give to get this song to the chauffeur of the day CHP to listen to …. 😀
MaxRebo5
May 20, 2014
I’m not a fan of the Chief being chauffeured around by CHP’s either but maybe it gives her time to work on her speech/duties instead of driving. One CHP assigned to the acting Chief Justice is not the real problem it’s extending it to other appellate court justices or retired justices who clearly don’t need that level of protection.
Changing topics, since the branch appears to be getting more money this year I think an effort should be made by CA Courts at the trial court and the AOC level to do what is done in the Executive Branch which is to give priority to laid off workers whenever hiring is done. For example, this language is taken from job listing the Department of General Services is doing for a staff services manager:
SELECTION CRITERIA – The selection criteria will be in the following order:
• SROA/Surplus employees are encouraged to apply and will be considered prior to other recruitment methods.
• Transfers, reinstatements, or recruitment from the employment list may be considered.
My view is if the courts receive additional funding this year then the 2,500 employees laid off due to the budget cuts should receive priority (behind veterans) for any hirings done by courts. These workers were laid off not because of poor performance but due to budget cuts to the branch 100% beyond their control.
If the Chief is all about being fair, as she claims, I would think she would want to encourage the rehiring of these workers ASAP and give them priority as vacancies occur. That would be treating CA Court employees as fair as the other branches treat their workers hurt by the recession.
Currently laid off CA Court workers receive no preference or priority in hirings and I don’t believe rehire lists are even being maintained by HR departments to help them. This should change since the branch is now state funded. CA Courts should follow statewide HR practices for it’s workers and the unions should push for this basic fair treatment for court employees. The Democratically controlled Legislature should make this rehire priority a part of any trailer bill language so the Chief has to remember to first attempt to help the 2,500 laid off court employees and their families get back to work before going out and hiring new workers.
Nathaniel Woodhull
May 22, 2014
It was really sad to read about how Lani Hancock and other members of the Senate are considering handing an additional $281 Million to Tani. Have they learned nothing? The additional monies include $100 Million to which the Judicial Council will have oversight with the “expectation” that the money will be used to restore trial court services.
I see more hiring in the future of the Crystal Palace. More Grey Goose and caviar is on the way boys and girls! When are these people going to realize that they simply must bypass the Judicial Council and AOC and directly fund the trial courts?
CCMSII, the Anti-Christ, must be on its way….Let’s waste another Half Billion Dollars, shall we?
MaxRebo5
May 22, 2014
NPR just did a great national story on court fees. Here is the link to the article or the audio report if you prefer.
http://www.npr.org/2014/05/19/312158516/increasing-court-fees-punish-the-poor
As the Chief Justice likes to point out, in CA court fees and fines are used to pay for all of the new courthouses around the state. The AOC even tried to raise fees on the press to review files to get more money (they love fees).
Something has to give. Branch spending has to go down or fee revenues have to go up to fund it all. Oh, wait something did give here in California just this fiscal year alone. The fees were short like $60 million dollars from what was projected by the AOC. The Legislature is now giving CA courts the millions needed to offset these fee shortfalls. Plan on taxpayers doing lots more of this backfilling from the general fund in future years too. It’s the lets hope the stock market booms forever plan and it isn’t sustainable.
Nathaniel Woodhull
May 22, 2014
The fees are always going to be short. With $40 Court Operations Assessment (COA) and $30-35 Convictions fees attached to everything, let alone all the other fees and surcharges, the folks at the bottom end of the economic ladder simply cannot pay them. A $35 traffic fine suddenly becomes $236 with all the assessments.
What is a judge supposed to do when faced with an unemployed defendant on public assistance who is convicted of being drunk-in-public or some other low level offense. Over 20 years ago we figured it cost the County about $80 to collect every $1 in outstanding fines and fees. I’m sure that with inflation that number is much higher. For that reason many judges will simply waive the fines and fees. If not, this is what you can expect.
Example: $236 fine is assessed against “John” and “John” doesn’t pay. The Clerk’s Office has to take the time to process an affidavit of probation violation (PV). Judge and staff review, sign and file warrant. Warrant is put into computer system for LE to serve (which costs money). Defendant is arrested, and if not cited out, booked into jail. Costs associated with booking and housing of prisoner. Lawyer is appointed to represent the indigent defendant. Denial to PV is entered. Hearing held on status of PV. Defense attorney says defendant is on public assistance, no home, no assets. Inability to pay = get out of jail free; free for the defendant that is. How much did it cost the taxpayers to get to this point???? Plenty.
unionman575
May 22, 2014
unionman575
May 22, 2014
Currently, on the table from the Assembly is to accept the Governor’s $166 May Revise figure, while additionally requiring that the $11 million allocated for Juvenile dependency be subsumed within the $166 million (originally it was to be allocated above the $166 million).
😉
Tani who ya gonna call?
The OBT
May 25, 2014
Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone. This great holiday remembers and recognizes all the courageous soldiers who fought to preserve all of our freedoms including our right to speak freely about our government .Thanks to all here that speak the truth and seek reform.
Lando
May 26, 2014
Thanks OBT. Have a great Memorial Day everyone. I’ve been out to visit all in my family that served this great country and who set the way to protecting all of our freedoms. Without them we couldn’t be seeking positive change here today.
Wendy Darling
May 26, 2014
Members of my family have served in the U.S. Armed Forces since the American Revolution. Sadly, I believe that the America they fought for and defended no longer exists. At least not here in California. Maybe in Illinois, or Vermont. But not here in California.
Here in California, the judicial branch, the very branch of government that is charged with the responsibility, the duty, of defending and protecting the rights, privileges, and freedoms, they fought for and defended, is run by a cadre of liars, hypocrites, thugs, and thieves. Here in California, the judicial branch punishes people for telling the truth, with the full consent and blessing of the Office of the Chief Justice.. Here in California, judicial branch “leadership” has rendered the branch the laughingstock of state government, a morass of bad behavior, if not criminal conduct, marked by an absence of ethics, and are accountable to no one for it.
And no one – not one person – who could do something about it, will.
The America that so many members of my family fought for and defended, since the American Revolution, to 9/11, and after, does not exist. Not here in California.
Long live the ACJ.
katy
May 27, 2014
Sadly, I agree with your evaluation 100%, Wendy.
unionman575
May 27, 2014
Me too Wendy.
wearyant
May 27, 2014
Yes! My best regards to you all, fellow commenters. Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
May 28, 2014
Here comes CCMS II…
http://www.courts.ca.gov/26057.htm
Public Comment Sought on Proposed Plan for Court Technology
FOR RELEASE
Contact: Teresa Ruano, 415-865-7740
May 22, 2014
Public Comment Sought on Proposed Plan for Court Technology
SAN FRANCISCO—The Judicial Council of California’s Technology Planning Task Force posted for public comment the Court Technology Governance and Strategic Plan. The proposal provides a structure and roadmap for technology initiatives and increases the transparency and accountability of how funds are managed for technology projects in the judicial branch.
“As a branch, we need to provide high-level service to a public accustomed to doing business online and at any time,” said Judge James E. Herman, advisory member of the Judicial Council and chair of its Technology Committee. “We also need to assist our courts by keeping the electronic court doors open. Updating our technology plan and governance model provides a roadmap for increased services to the public in an era of decreased court funding and staffing. Task force membership includes courts of all sizes—from one of our smallest, Plumas, to our largest, Los Angeles. This collaborative process underscores the importance of involving the courts and our stakeholders throughout the planning phase.”
The Technology Planning Task Force includes judicial officers, court executive officers, court information technology officers, and other stakeholders representing 19 trial courts, the appellate courts, and the public. Before presenting the proposal to the council in January and posting it for public comment, the task force shared the plan with presiding judges, court executive officers, court information officers, the Legislature, and the Governor’s administration.
The proposal and invitation to comment http://www.courts.ca.gov/policyadmin-invitationstocomment.htm
are posted on the California Courts website. The deadline for comment is June 16, 2014.
unionman575
May 28, 2014
This meeting will be open to the public via teleconference and in-person attendance. The meeting agenda and materials will be posted here when available. The committee will accept verbal and written comments from the public. Both written comments and requests to present comments at the meeting must be submitted by 5pm on Friday, May 30, to Bob Fleshman at bob.fleshman@jud.ca.gov.
😉
unionman575
May 28, 2014
How to fund CCMS II…hmm that is the question for the humps at the Death Star…Gotta get those $$$$ from somewhere…
😉
http://www.courts.ca.gov/16791.htm
Trial Court Budget Advisory Committee
Purpose: to provide input on the trial court budget process for the benefit of all trial courts statewide and to propose recommendations to the Judicial Council on trial court funding consistent with council goals.
Next Meeting
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
AOC Sacramento Office
2860 Gateway Oaks Drive
Suite 400, Veranda Room
wearyant
May 28, 2014
Here ya go, humpety-chumps!
https://twitter.com/HiddenCash
unionman575
May 28, 2014
Ant that is the One!
😉
unionman575
May 28, 2014
Ya know I was thinking about how the Death Star might spend some $$ here at the end of the budget year…yeah that’s the ticket…why not?
😉
http://www.courts.ca.gov/26017.htm
http://www.courts.ca.gov/26047.htm
Lando
May 28, 2014
The Judicial Council’s Technology Planning Task Force headed up by one of CCMS’s biggest supporters. Here we go again . Anybody have another billion or so to waste ?
Wendy Darling
May 28, 2014
You just can’t make this stuff up, Lando. Really.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
The OBT
May 28, 2014
Judge Herman and no doubt Justice Bruiners who claimed CCMS was ready to be deployed are all part of this ” Technology Task Force” . That is certainly comforting. Btw how many of these so called Task Forces exist and what are the taxpayers paying to support them? Oh I forgot now in addition to all this waste we are going to add a new ” Blue Ribbon Commission” to study the future of the courts.With Queen Feckless in charge , one thing is certain. The future of the Courts don’t look too terribly well. You are right Wendy. you can’t make any of this up. Really.
sharonkramer
May 29, 2014
How does this impact what the JC does with funds for CCMS? Or does it? What information could be provided to the auditors to aid to assure that more funds are not wasted?
AUDIT SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES
The audit by the California State Auditor will provide independently developed and verified
information related to the funds administered by the Judicial Council of California (Judicial
Council) and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) and will include, but not be limited
to, the following:
1. Review and evaluate the laws, rules, and regulations significant to the audit objectives.
2. Determine whether the Judicial Council and the AOC have complied with the key reforms
contained in Senate Bill 1021 (Chapter 41, Statutes of 2012).
3. Determine whether the AOC’s methodology for determining its budget for administration
and staffing is consistent with the best practices of one or more comparable-sized
organizations.
4. Determine the size and composition of the AOC’s staff. Analyze whether staffing is
appropriate for the AOC’s mission. Determine whether reductions in trial court funding
over the last three years have made any of the AOC’s functions unnecessary. If so, assess
whether the Judicial Branch of California (Judicial Branch) can re-direct funds for these AOC
functions to trial court operations.
5. Determine whether the Judicial Branch has any reserves, contingency funds, or any other
set-asides that could be made available immediately for trial court operations.
6. Review and assess any other issues that are significant to the audit.
Wendy Darling
May 29, 2014
Published today, Thursday, May 29, 2014, from Courthouse News Service, by Bill Girdner. Girdner travels to San Luis Obisbo, and, in a meeting with officials of the local courthouse, discovers a rare and endangered species: not everyone in the California Judicial Branch has been drinking the Kool-Aid of 455 Golden Gate Avenue.
A Rare Breed
By BILL GIRDNER
We needed to hire a reporter in San Luis Obispo.
I have always liked that beautiful little town. The 200-mile drive from Los Angeles winds up the coast and cuts inland through the transverse Santa Ynez range. This time of year, it is a lovely undulating terrain of green hills, stands of oak and valleys filled with chaparral.
We arrive during the San Luis Obispo farmer’s market, where the produce disappoints but the barbecue amazes. The aroma and smoke of burning meat is all around, with huge chunks of tri-tip, stacks of ribs and strings of sausage.
One of the stands clearly has a rep, as the line waiting for its particularly magical combination of sauce and searing is easily 50 people in length. It turns out to be the stall for McClintock’s Saloon.
But we don’t have the time to wait, so we duck into Mother’s Tavern for a brew.
Our bureau chief is a beer aficionado and orders a Trumer pilsner, brewed in Salzburg and now in Berkeley. It is light, flavorful and strong.
The town is without a doubt influenced by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and the ratio of taverns to boutiques, sandwich shops and coffee houses is high. There is also a prevalence of bicycle riders.
Chris Marshall, our California bureau chief, tells me that he considered graduate studies at Cal Poly. But after acceptance, he visited the English Department which, as he recalls it, was little bigger than a closet.
As he talked with a couple members of the department, he was looking out the window. “The Ag building is this just humongous building and the people in the department were saying how unimportant English was and how important the Ag Department was.”
He wound up deciding to study in Hayward at San Jose State’s East Bay campus.
San Luis Obispo is not far from the coast and a small, out-of-the-way but crowded Japanese restaurant called Goshi provides an excellent sushi meal. On the walk back to the kind of motel the folks in my family’s earlier generation always liked – where you can drive up to the front door of your room – we run across milling bike riders.
They are riding in a circle through a small park and gathering strength as others arrive. It reminds me of a school of fish as they circle at a rapid rate, dressed in carnival clothes, shouting and talking excitedly, before setting off down Higuera Street, the main drag in San Luis Obispo. The event is one of 70 planned for Bike Month.
The region’s longstanding paper, the San Luis Obispo Tribune, reminds me of why I wanted to get into journalism in the first place. There were stories on tragic display of orcas hunting a gray whale’s calf in Morro Bay, a local defense attorney jumping in the DA’s race against two prosecutors, a foal’s birth at Hearst Ranch and a meeting in a packed auditorium where locals are trying to take over a private water company through eminent domain.
In keeping with the overall environment, the bureaucrats at the courthouse are really nice and helpful. The clerk and her deputy have excellent relations with the press and – this I have never experienced – were brainstorming with us and making practical suggestions on how to make press coverage of new civil actions more timely and complete.
The ideas included a grace period after the doors close to the public for review of late-filed actions, opening the drop box at the end of the day, and helping us track major cases by alerting us to each new subsequent filing.
I am so used the spirit-sapping grind of battling with the dug-in court administrators who follow the anti-press line of California’s Administrative Office of the Courts that I walked out of that meeting a little light-headed, in a state of some confusion, with a bit of exhilaration and a sense of wonder, in discovering that such creatures still exist.
The drive back to Pasadena went easily, on a sunny, late-spring day.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/05/29/68268.htm
Long live the ACJ.
wearyant
May 29, 2014
Such a great article again from one of the most enjoyed journalists! Thank for posting, Wendy Darling! Nothing to be added to his fine observations.
Long live the ACJ.
wearyant
May 30, 2014
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/22/6419749/viewpoints-fully-funded-court.html
From the California courts monitor, our friends, the California chamber of commerce via their CEO has comments. Hey, any help is appreciated. Meanwhile, my best wishes to Elaine Howle. May she and her agency endure.
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
May 30, 2014
$$$ dancing in my head…
Information Technology Services Office Division For VMware vSphere 5 Enterprise per
Specifications for IFB-ISD-053014-AA
The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) is seeking firms to provide bids for VMware vSphere 5 Enterprise as detailed in the invitation to Bid # IFB-ISD-053014-AA, for our office location in San Francisco, California.
NOTE: Questions regarding this IFB should be directed to Solicitations@jud.ca.gov by Tuesday June 3, 2014, at 10:00am (PST).
Proposals must be received by Thursday, June 12, 2014 no later than 12:00pm
Hard copy proposals must be delivered to:
Judicial Council of California
Administrative Office of the Courts
Attn: Nadine McFadden, IFB-ISD-053014-AA
455 Golden Gate Avenue, 6th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102-3688
😉
unionman575
May 30, 2014
http://www.courts.ca.gov/26116.htm
Wendy Darling
May 30, 2014
Published today, Friday, May 30, from Courthouse News Service, by Maria Dinzeo:
San Diego Court Signs Up for Odyssey Software
By MARIA DINZEO
(CN) – San Diego Superior Court has joined Tyler Technologies’ burgeoning California court tech empire with Friday’s announcement of a $6.8 million deal for a case management system that will cover criminal, traffic, family and juvenile cases.
The contract breaks down to a one-time license fee of just over $3 million plus $3.7 million for data conversion and training, according to court spokesperson Karen Dalton. The agreement also calls for a yearly maintenance fee of $640,000.
The court has the option to buy additional software to cover civil, small claims and probate cases for $700,000. Those cases are currently handled by software from a now-defunct software program handled by the Administrative Office of the Courts, called the Court Case Management System.
San Diego used the state judiciary’s Master Services Agreement, a pre-negotiated contract for courts looking to buy off-the-shelf software systems. The agreement was developed by a forum of trial court IT staff from Humboldt, Alameda, Mariposa, Riverside, Fresno, Kings, Kern, Merced, Orange, San Diego and San Mateo counties.
The group was formed out of the ashes of the half-billion-dollar CCMS program. The ten-year project to develop one computer system for all 58 trial courts was derided by judges and lawmakers as a fiasco and a boondoggle.
Only a handful of trial courts were using CCMS when it was scrapped in 2012, including San Diego for civil, probate and small claims cases, leaving most of the state’s courts scrambling to find replacements for their increasingly antiquated case management systems.
The forum stepped in and chose three finalists to provide software for the California cours: Tyler Technologies which developed the Odyssey software, LT-Court Tech from Thomson-Reuters, formerly West Publishing, and Justice Systems based in New Mexico as the preferred vendors for California. Tyler has dominated the competition since then with 18 trial courts signing up for the Texas-based company’s software.
The San Diego court is now moving away from CCMS, after becoming one of the first courts to adopt the controversial software in 2006. “The ultimate goal of the San Diego Superior Court is that all case types will eventually fall under Odyssey,” Dalton said.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/05/30/68344.htm
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
May 30, 2014
Two words: “Hot Rod”
😉
wearyant
May 30, 2014
All that greasing the skids by Hot Rod for naught. Too bad, so sad. 😉
Guest
June 1, 2014
San Diego Court sure is entertaining. They should be since their leaders are Yosemite Sam (PJ Danielson) and Howdy Doody (CEO Roddy).
Wendy Darling
June 2, 2014
Published today, Monday, June 2, from the Metropolitan News Enterprise:
Chief Justice Names Six New Members to Judicial Council
Superior Court Judge Buckley, Candidate for APJ, Tapped as Advisory Member
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye Friday named six new members to the Judicial Council of California, including Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel Buckley as an advisory member.
The new members will serve three year terms beginning Sept. 15.
Appointed as voting members were Monterey Superior Court Presiding Judge Marla O. Anderson, Ventura Superior Court Presiding Judge Brian J. Back, and San Luis Obispo Superior Court Assistant Presiding Judge Martin J. Tangeman.
“This is the first time in more than 40 years that voting members have been appointed from Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties,” the Administrative Office of the Courts noted in a press release.
Chosen as non-voting advisory members, besides Buckley—a candidate for assistant presiding judge of the court—were Butte Superior Court Commissioner David E. Gunn and Napa Superior Court Executive Officer Richard D. Feldstein.
Leaving the council at the end of their terms will be Shasta Superior Court Judge Stephen H. Baker, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Teri L. Jackson, Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Mary Ann O’Malley, Alameda Superior Court Commissioner Sue Alexander, and Santa Clara Superior Court Executive Officer David Yamasaki.
The chief justice said in a statement:
“I am grateful that these judicial leaders, all of whom have contributed much to the council’s advisory committees, are willing to take on the tremendous effort involved in providing access to justice. I believe the council is making great strides in moving the judicial branch forward amid many challenges, but much work remains ahead of us. I welcome the energy and talent of our new members and deeply thank our dedicated and talented outgoing members.”
Fourth District Court of Appeal Justice Douglas P. Miller, who chairs the council’s Executive and Planning Committee, which reviews nominations to the council, praised the “diverse viewpoints and deep experience” of the appointees. He noted that they “come from courts of all sizes in our very diverse state.”
Under the state Constitution, the chief justice chairs the Judicial Council and appoints the other 14 voting judicial members—one from the Supreme Court, three from the Court of Appeal, and 10 from the superior courts. The other six voting members are four attorneys appointed by the State Bar Board of Trustees and one members of each house of the Legislature, historically the chairs of their respective Judiciary committees.
The chief justice also appoints, as advisory members, two court administrators “and any other nonvoting members as determined by the voting membership of the council.” The council recently voted to add one advisory member; with these appointments, the council will have 12 advisory members.
Buckley, who heads the local court’s civil departments, informed his colleagues in March that he would seek election as assistant presiding judge in the September balloting, becoming the first candidate to do so. The assistant presiding judge serves a two-year term, and is traditionally elected unopposed as presiding judge for the following two years.
http://www.metnews.com/
Long live the ACJ.
courtflea
June 2, 2014
same ol BS just another day.
So JCW, what’s new out there?
JusticeCalifornia
June 2, 2014
I have been trying to post what is new, courtflea. Could use your brain. I have a new login and maybe that is the problem?
JusticeCalifornia
June 2, 2014
And by that I mean JCW, why won’t my Friday post get through here? I need to know if what is going down is all in a court clerk’s day’s work, or former Judicial Council Member Kim Turner corruption extraordinaire.
JusticeCalifornia
June 2, 2014
Here it is
https://judicialcouncilwatcher.com/2010/11/05/separation-of-powers-vs-checks-and-balances/#comment-38075
Courtflea, when is it ok to enter a minute order with the wrong date, when the date the minute order was entered is a crucial part of the appellate story?
unionman575
June 2, 2014
Hi ho hi ho off to work we go…
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140531/A_NEWS/405310330
The OBT
June 3, 2014
Another overbuilt courthouse, complete with a three story atrium. At least it’s green. What a waste of taxpayer dollars.
Alan Ernesto Phillips
June 3, 2014
In light of all this, my sincere nomination for Tani stands!
When heads roll, may she ever use the elusive “Jack Halpin Award” to pad her CV as did Steve Jahr!!
Wendy Darling
June 3, 2014
Personally, being the recipient of the “Jack Halpin Award” is something to be gravely ashamed of, not something a person should be proud about, much less advertise.
But, as evidenced by the fact that a conference center is named after Bill Vickrey, ostensibly for “excellence” in judicial administration, and many other examples, there is no such thing as shame at 455 Golden Gate Avenue.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
Alan Ernesto Phillips
June 4, 2014
😉
Wendy Darling
June 3, 2014
Published today, Tuesday, June 3, 2014, from Courthouse News Service, by Bill Girdner. As always from Girdner, well worth the read.
As I read Girdner’s article below regarding “the attitude” of judicial branch leaders, I thought of the day I sat in a meeting at 455 Golden Gate Avenue and listened to “leadership” of the California Judicial Branch state how the press could take the First Amendment and go f*ck themselves.
As most everyone here knows, that “attitude” isn’t limited to the First Amendment at 455 Golden Gate Avenue.
The First Amendment and Texas
By BILL GIRDNER
Unlike California, Texas has preserved excellent press access to the courts as it went through a technology transformation. But not without a little help.
Courthouse News filed a First Amendment action against the Houston state court clerk in 2010 over delays in press access to the new actions. The clerk, Loren Jackson, thought e-filing was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
On the website for Harris County District Court, the clerk’s name was set out in a much larger font size than the name of the court itself. Jackson’s slogan was “Get on line, not in line.”
It did not save him from getting trounced in the next election, when Texas turned out nearly every local Democrat.
But that was not before U.S. District Court Judge Melinda Harmon gave Jackson some guidance on the First Amendment, ordering him to provide access to any new action filed from midnight until the court closed for business, on the same day the case was filed.
She rejected the arguments trotted out by Jackson then, and now by some clerks in California, that the volume of filings was overwhelming and the court was short on staff.
Judge Harmon characterized Jackson’s attitude during negotiations over press access as “indifferent, irresponsible and even recalcitrant.”
It is revelatory to read the order after the intervening years and see how fresh and relevant it remains, describing to a “T” the attitude we have run into from the clerks in the CCMS courts, such as Ventura and Orange County.
The judge’s words also fit the leaders of the California Judicial Council’s Technology Committee who proposed e-filing rules that built-in access delays and then summarily waved off objections from the press.
As part of her ruling, Harmon tacked on what the French call “la douleureuse,” the thing that hurts, the bill. She awarded CNS a quarter-million dollars in attorney fees.
The clerk of course obeyed the order. He paid the sum and gave the press same-day access. I have a framed copy of the check hanging on the wall.
In the years since the order, the press has seen very close to 100% of the new actions on the day they were filed, whether they were filed in paper form or e-filed, as is now mandatory in the big Texas jurisdictions. Her order also served as a powerful motivator in the rest of the Texas courts.
The key ingredient to top-notch access, as we have found over the course of these battles, is not the volume of filings, or the staff levels, or the technology. It is the will of the court’s leaders. As Judge Harmon put it, “the attitude.”
Courts that had a good attitude on press access to paper records tend to remain good on press access in the transition to electronic records. Courts with a bad attitude have used technology to roll backwards on access, such as Orange County where California’s pernicious e-filing rules were incubated.
Oddly enough, Orange was once, a long, long time ago, an excellent court for press access. Somewhere along the line, the attitude changed.
There is also a good example in the other direction. Sacramento Superior, an old CCMS court, was long a very bad court on transparency. But it is no longer. The attitude recently improved, quite dramatically.
But the two standard bearers for e-filing in California, Orange and San Diego, continue to delay press access to new actions by an average of two to three calendar days — just as the Houston clerk did.
The effect of Harmon’s ruling was to adjust the attitude of not only the clerk in Houston but those in all the Texas courts. As they moved to mandatory e-filing, the big courts in Austin, Dallas, Houston and Fort Worth all preserved same-day press access to the vast majority of new actions.
“While defendants admit that plaintiff has a right of access to newly filed petitions, they maintain that the new method by which the Clerk’s Office is processing case initiating documents is a reasonable time, place, or manner restriction and, as such, survive First Amendment scrutiny,” wrote Harmon.
“The Court disagrees with defendants’ contention and finds that the 24 to 72 hour delay in access is effectively an access denial and is, therefore, unconstitutional,” she concluded in her preliminary injunction order.
In making the injunction permanent, she wrote, “In the context of defendants’ past stubbornness, their verbal assurances that they have complied with the preliminary injunction and the case is moot are not persuasive, nor are their representations enforceable.”
“Without declaratory and permanent injunctive relief, plaintiff would have no protection from future access delays because they might occur not simply from an outright change in policy, but surreptitiously from a mere relaxation of effort by court personnel and the piling up of newly filed petitions,” wrote Harmon.
Her ruling enforced the First Amendment and has had a powerful and lasting effect throughout Texas.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/06/03/68422.htm
Long live the ACJ. And long live the First Amendment.
The OBT
June 4, 2014
The reality is this whole system has failed. My sources within the walls of the Crystal Palace expect a devastating audit. Given the failed track record of all at 455 Golden Gate who could expect anything less.It is time for Queen Feckless and her minion Jahr to resign. Maybe the Curts could do all all a favor and just get out too.
Wendy Darling
June 4, 2014
And Little Ernie, aka Sofa Man, needs to go with them.
Long live the ACJ.
Lando
June 4, 2014
What a unique concept accepting responsibility. It will never happen, not with this crowd. Continue to expect nothing but glowing reports from Justice Miller and company until the audit results. After the reality of a significantly negative audit, look for J Jahr to become the fall guy . Essentially it will be everyone for themselves at the Crystal Palace.
Lando
June 5, 2014
i hear the audit isn’t going well for the insiders. They can waste thousands of taxpayer $ on trying to find all the leaks but when you run an entirely failed branch of government you should understand the great people in the organization will express their views.Call the next case . The insiders at 455 Golden Gate need to be thanked and excused lol.
Wendy Darling
June 5, 2014
When the audit report is released, expect one, or all, of the following responses from Queen Feckless and 455 Golden Gate Avenue:
1. The audit was only a “snapshot in time” that is in the past; everything is different now.
2. The auditors didn’t understand the information that was provided, and/or misinterpreted the data that was provided.
3. Everything was already corrected before the audit report was released, so there is no further corrective action that needs to be taken.
4. Under the separation of powers, and the status of the judicial branch as a separate and independent branch of state government, the branch is exempt from the ordinary and usual practices, requirements, rules, laws, and regulations applicable to the use, accounting, expenditure, and/or distribution, of public funds; for example, as those practices, requirements, rules, laws, and regulations are applied to the California Executive Branch, of which the Bureau of State Audits is a subsidiary of.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
courtflea
June 5, 2014
Wendy, you forgot the ” we could not give them the information they requested because it is not kept in an easily accessable format” to provide such information would be “burdensome to the already harried and short staffed employees of the AOC” due to budget cuts.
Wendy Darling
June 5, 2014
LOL, Flea!
I live for the day when the laundry list of excuses includes the following: “We cannot provide the information requested on the grounds it would incriminate us.”
A person can dream . . .
Long live the ACJ.
Lando
June 5, 2014
or Wendy we can’t provide any responses as we are all in federal prison in the cellblock with Leyland Yee.
The OBT
June 5, 2014
You can’t make any of this up. If we had an Attorney General that cared about the public rather than self promotion maybe insiders at 455 Golden Gate would be held accountable. As they said in Watergate, follow the money.
courtflea
June 6, 2014
yup…loved that full page Vanity Fair photo op!
Wendy Darling
June 6, 2014
How appropriate — “Vanity Fair”; the operative word being “vanity.”
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
wearyant
June 6, 2014
http://www.dilbert.com/
Today’s strip features the AOC management as Dilbert’s pointy-haired boss and Dilbert is the very harried trial court line workers. Nice of the cartoonist to be thinking of us.
The OBT
June 6, 2014
Vanity indeed. Doesn’t that just define our Queen? So I have to ask. The audit is going to be devastating. Other than throwing Jahr under the bus is anyone actually going to be held accountable? Hull. Miller, HRH-2? Anyone?
Wendy Darling
June 6, 2014
“Anyone?”
I subscribe to the belief that past behavior is a good predictor of future conduct. So my answer to this question of “Anyone?” is no. In all probability, no. No one will be held accountable.
I say this while looking at my personal copy of the letter from the California Attorney General’s office, where they were given evidence of the embezzlement in the AOC’s HR Division, including evidence of the involvement of the AOC’s HR Director, along with a volume of other documentation of unlawful activities at the AOC, and the AG’s office responded, in writing, that their office had “no jurisdiction” over unlawful activities in the Administrative Office of the Courts and the matter should be reported to: the AOC’s HR Director and the AOC’s Executive Director.
So, no; no one will be held accountable. Not going to happen.
But a conference center, or some such thing, will probably get named after someone. You know, because they’re doing such a great job there at 455 Golden Gate Avenue.
Long live the ACJ.
Lando
June 6, 2014
Actually OBT all of the above should resign. Let Governor Brown reform it all. And please disband the CJP the FPPC and all other agency’s that work to end the constitutional right to free speech.
unionman575
June 7, 2014
Actually all of the above should be in jail.
the OBT
June 6, 2014
Oh come on Lando. You know how bad a sarcastic comment or two can be in a courtroom! That is what we pay millions for the CJP to come down on. They have become the thought police dedicated to making all in the trial courts miserable.
Lando
June 7, 2014
Of course Wendy. Ms Harris wouldn’t want to do something that takes some courage. Btw isn’t it great we name almost everything in and around 455 Golden Gate after everyone.Hmm maybe we can name the 14th floor, the penthouse
in honor of Judy McConnell who represents all that is arbitrary and wrong in the California judiciary.
Wendy Darling
June 7, 2014
Speaking of naming things at 455 Golden Gate Avenue, the men’s and women’s bathrooms on the 5th floor of the AOC should be named after William Kasley and Mary “The Lizard” Roberts, respectively.
Long live the ACJ.
wearyant
June 7, 2014
“Take a wizz on behalf of Mary the Lizz.” No, wait. “Have a wizz on Mary the Lizz.” No. I’ll get it, gimme a chance here. “On the behest of Mary the Lizz, here’s where you wizz.” Oh, dear, I’ll have to re-think this …
Wendy Darling
June 7, 2014
Don’t forget “Kasley’s Krapper”, Ant.
Long live the ACJ.
wearyant
June 7, 2014
You’re the best, Wendy D! How about Kasley Krapper and Lizard Wizz awards instead of the current ones we have now? If not, a good compromise would be to get rid of all awards from this time on. May the cleanup begin, no pun intended.
The OBT
June 7, 2014
Anyone ever dragged to the 14th floor to be subjected to the tyranny of McConnell knows exactly what Lando speaks of. How many years did we all face that? Honestly we have a pretty tough job day in and day out just trying to do the right thing. Who else in any part of government needs to answer to such a petty and arbitrary group that McConnell defined for almost 10 years? And all thanks to Ronald George,who was never held accountable for anything.
Lando
June 8, 2014
yes we need to thank Ronald George every day. And Judy McConnell and Harry Hull and Richard Huffman and Douglas Miller and of course J Bruiners and Mr Rosenblab. . I also know the Lizard and Kalsey. Just never met their minion that got to telecommute from Europe. Probably because he was in Europe. How did we ever let all of the above take over our branch of government and run it into the ground ?
Peppermint Pattie
June 10, 2014
JCW: You have hush mail.
Retired
June 10, 2014
I m very familiar with the appellate court’s travel expense. Yes, many justices make outrageous claims and expect to be reimbursed for all travel
expenses. The rules are more guidelines for them. When the state cracked down on taxis, they switched to hitching rides with the CHP. But a few were very cognizant of the need to save the state money, especially after the financial crisis hit. One of my favorite justices stayed at a dirt cheap place in Monterey when his colleagues stayed at the Monterey Plaza Hotel at the state’s expense. Kudos to the justices who have common sense.