This is the contents of an email from the Alliance of California Judges to their members. The first paragraph demonstrates how the AOC misses the mark by about a thousand miles. After all, the AOC burned taxpayer money to stock up on iPads and passed out swag bags with electronic tablets in them to legislators, why wouldn’t they push forth the concept even further of pushing the convenience of mobility in a largely stationary workforce?
Am I missing something here?
Have we gone back to rural circuit courts with judges on horseback visiting far flung towns that actually might need an iPad or did we just shut down the remote courts and force people to drive hundreds of miles for their day in court?
Consider what the fecal touch might be as opposed to the midas touch…
…then ask your legislators to direct judicial branch funding to the trial courts as opposed to that giant out of touch sucking sound in San Francisco.
________________________________________________
You may have received a letter from the Judicial Council trumpeting the launch of the new “Innovation Knowledge Center,” a website which provides information about “efficient and effective court programs that increase access to justice in the trial courts throughout the state.” The letter came with a color cardboard insert in the shape of an iPad. Apparently, the Judicial Council thought this information so important that they sent it to us by overnight courier. The letter notes that a ten-page list of “efficiencies in the judicial branch” has been posted on the Judicial Council public website.
This list is the work of the new Task Force on Trial Court Fiscal Accountability. According to a memo that accompanied an earlier version, the members of this Task Force were chosen last year by the Chief Justice to consider “various nonfunding-related recommendations from the TCFWG [Trial Court Funding Workgroup] and the Funding Methodology Subcommittee.” The Task Force recommended that the Judicial Council “authorize the creation of a Joint Court Efficiencies and Innovations Working Group of the Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee (TCPJAC) and the Court Executives Advisory Committee (CEAC).” This new working group subsumes the activities of the TCPJAC/CEAC Joint Working Group on Trial Court Business Process Reengineering (TCBPR) and the Trial Court Efficiencies Working Group,” and it will be supported by the AOC Trial Court Liaison Office, Trial Court Leadership Services Unit (TCLS).
This tangle of committees, subcommittees, advisory committees, task forces, and working groups, all with overlapping missions, already speaks volumes about the AOC, the Judicial Council, and efficiency.
For our part, we do not share the Task Force’s definition of what constitutes a “branch efficiency.”
For example, the list of “efficiencies” includes “adoption of plain language, easy-to-read court forms.” Coincidentally, just two months ago McGeorge School of Law professor John E.B. Myers wrote an editorial in the Sacramento Bee entitled “In family court, too many incomprehensible forms.” Professor Myers decries “the proliferation of family-law forms by the California Judicial Council.” “The state’s effort to simplify family law by requiring forms has backfired,” he writes, noting that “[t]oday, there are more than 200 family-law forms.” The Task Force includes among its list of “branch efficiencies” one of the clearest examples of how the Judicial Council injected needless complexity into a trial court function.
The list also includes “outreach efforts” such as mock trials and court visits. These are good things, but they don’t save us money or get our work done faster.
The Task Force classifies the entire Center for Judiciary Education and Research as an “efficiency.” We disagree. More than 60 AOC staffers work at CJER as of March 31, even though judges do most of the actual teaching. We’ve noted in the past that the California District Attorneys Association educates more people with just a fraction of the staff.
The most jaw-dropping claims on the Task Force’s list, however, involve technology.
The list-makers include the Judicial Council’s Technology Planning Task Force as an example of a branch efficiency. They must not have seen the TPTF’s convoluted and baffling 210-page technology roadmap, the production of which must have consumed a lot of time and money. The success of the Sacramento Superior Court in developing a case search system without outside money or consultants (see the story here) suggests that a good way for the branch to increase efficiency would be to get the AOC out of the technology business altogether.
Even more curious is the listing for “Case Management System Replacement—shared configuration and codes (pilot program).” This entry refers to the work of a consortium of Northern California courts to develop specifications for an off-the-shelf case management system. The consortium may be doing its work efficiently, but it would not have to exist at all had the AOC not wasted half a billion dollars on a system—CCMS—that didn’t work. “Case Management System Replacement” is a shining example of branch inefficiency.
Very Truly Yours,
Directors, Alliance of California Judges
NewsViews
June 11, 2014
Reblogged this on News and Views Riverside Superior Court and National Family Law Abuse.
Nathaniel Woodhull
June 11, 2014
Since it’s the season… here’s the perfect analogy to their latest drivel. It’s really sad that nothing changes, except the double-talk. Like this….
R. Campomadera
June 11, 2014
One critical difference between the JC/AOC and Abbott and Costello: Abbott and Costello were funny.
Wendy Darling
June 11, 2014
“The Task Force classifies the entire Center for Judiciary Education and Research as an “efficiency.”” Well, of course it does.
My first Laurel and Hardy moment of the day, and bad flashback, all at the same time: recalling the time AOC line staff were directed to “identify rationalizations for the necessity of integrating the Agency’s Center for Judiciary Education and Research into trial court operations” or some similarly worded nonsense. I heard the person next to me mutter under their breath “Wow, we’re living in 1984. Everything is in Orwellian.” (AOC line staff were also tasked to identify similar rationalizations regarding the necessity of integrating the AOC’s HR Division into trial court operations.)
Second Laurel and Hardy moment of the day, and bad flashback, all at the same time: sitting in a “best practices on memo writing” class taught by the AOC’s Education Division, and being “directed” to use multiple-syllable words whenever possible, instead of single syllable words, “for example, words such as “utilize” or “employ” instead of the single-syllable word “use”.” This time I heard the person next to me mutter under their breath “For this my parents paid for me to get a graduate degree from Stanford.”
In a related note, it was rumored in the dark hallways of 455 Golden Gate Avenue not long ago that the Director of the AOC’s Education Division was not happy that the Alliance of California Judges conducted education classes at its recent conference, without the topics and materials having the stamp of approval of the Education Division.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Still waiting for someone, anyone, in a position of authority and responsibility, to do something about it.
Long live the ACJ.
Lando
June 11, 2014
CJER worked just fine, long before it was ” integrated” into the arrogant world of the JC/AOC. In fact the whole CJA ethics program worked at a very high level, before it was also ” integrated ” or taken over by the JC/AOC. They would have “integrating” or taking over every trial court just about now if they could have only snuck their trailer bill through giving them the power to pick all trial court Presiding Judges. Orwellian indeed.
Wendy Darling
June 11, 2014
I just have to laugh long and loud every time I hear about anyone at the AOC “educating” anyone about “ethics”, given the fact that “leadership” at 455 Golden Gate Avenue is infested with liars, thugs, thieves, bullies, and hypocrites, without an ounce of ethics between them, starting with the Office of the Chief Justice.
Long live the ACJ.
Rose Colored Glasses
June 12, 2014
Someone spent a long time preparing this ten page brag fest. Probably an analyst that is highly paid with little purpose otherwise. In reading this list I was thinking why do you need a list? If things were going great, you would find the consumer of its services singing its praises and happy. That is not the case here. Instead we have closed courtrooms, understaffed clerk’s offices, very few official reporters, backlogs and long waiting lines. People were laid off so that this bloated empire can exist. Not to mention the attrition to go along with the trial court staff bulimia.Just who do they think they are fooling? No one is happy. Employees as well as the public are bearing the brunt of bad decisions made by those in charge. They created this list to draw attention away from the fact that nothing is as it should be. If this blog and the Alliance did not exist, who knows what we would be dealing with. We could go line by line and find the inefficiency with each of these bragging items. I’d write more but I need to take my anti-emetic.
Judicial Council Watcher
June 12, 2014
Note that not a single efficiency listed applies to the AOC. They can’t get more efficient – like reducing the 200 family law forms to just 20.
Mind-boggling.
Nathaniel Woodhull
June 12, 2014
When I was assigned to do family law, the same time that dinosaurs roamed the earth,
Family Law Restraining Orders were 4-pages long, easy to read, and easy to understand. The other Family Law forms were equally straight-forward and simple to read.
Now we have 15-page incomprehensible forms that are filled with Jibber-Jabber and are meant to confuse the most skilled family law practitioner. “Don’t bother me with facts, I just deal in generalities.” (Congressman Ron Dellums)
All these forms represent is a self-fulfilling prophecy that more is better. I may be a dinosaur, but I still believe in the KISS method. For those of you not here during WWII, that means Keep It Simple Stupid. That’s why we won WWII and are the greatest Country
in the World.
Sadly, I think my time is behind me and it is time to hang up my robe and let the newer generation take over. My only comment and advise is, those who don’t learn from history are damned to repeat it. You really don’t want to take back the ground that myself and others sacrificed to get us where we are today.
Nathaniel Woodhull
.
Wendy Darling
June 12, 2014
“That’s why we won WWII and are the greatest Country
in the World.”
Both of my parents were of the generation that won WWII. My father served in the Pacific. My mother worked for the War Department for the entire duration of the war, and also served as a Navy Hospital, Red Cross, and USO volunteer. Members on both sides of their families fought, and died, on the beaches of Normandy, in Italy, Holland, France, in almost every theatre of the war. History has called them The Greatest Generation. And they did fight for, and defend, the greatest Country in the World.
But I no longer believe that the America they fought for and defended exists. I no longer believe that this is the greatest country in the world. At least not here in California.
It does not surprise me, and never has, that there is greed, and dishonesty, misappropriation of public funds, embezzlement, hypocrisy, abuse of authority, and an abandonment of ethics, in the California Judicial Branch. Nor does it surprise me, and never has, that there is depravity, fraud and corruption in the California Judicial Branch. These things are always at risk, and have always existed, in those that would seek and hold public office, and the trappings of power and money that come with such office.
The depth, and breadth, of this behavior in the California Judicial Branch at one point surprised me, but even that has faded.
But was does surprise me is that no one, absolutely no one, in any position of authority and responsibility that could do something about any of that, will.
Everyone that needed to be informed, has been informed. Everyone that needed to be notified, has been notified. Everyone that needed documentation and evidence, has been provided documentation and evidence. Both houses of the California State Legislature, the California Attorney General’s Office, the US Department of Justice, the FBI, local law enforcement, administrative enforcement agencies, the list goes on.
I have personally witnesses branch “leadership” openly refer to themselves as “Teflon”, bragging that nothing will stick to them, even as they knew they were breaking the law. Time has proven this to be true.
And no one, not one single person, who could actually do something about any of that, will.
The Greatest Generation has been replaced. With The Generation of Cowards.
Long live the ACJ.
Waiving Goodbye
June 12, 2014
There is a proposal to modify the fee waiver forms. Trying to bypass the hearing requirement by having the party waive the hearing to make payments. I guess some judges must have gotten tired of the rehearings. How are the payments going to be collected? What is the mechanism to collect for non payment? No one has seen any collection for the automatic liens put on judgments. Money uncollected means funds not available for staffing and running trial courts. Just more paperwork for the little people to process with very few staff to do this. Fees get waived all over the place and sometimes people are lying about their ability to pay. Clerks say that they have seen cell phones (smart ones) in the hands of people turning in forms who say they cannot afford filing fees. The whole waiver set up is a mess. Access to justice is a noble concept but it is poorly managed starting with the multiple fee waiver forms created to give access. Someone from the legislature, perhaps the auditor should be looking at this. They would be aghast at what they would find.
R. Campomadera
June 12, 2014
Judge Woodhull, in addition to KISS, there was another WWII acronym that, sadly, pretty much describes the JC/AOC: FUBAR. Thank God the “leaders” of the JC/AOC weren’t in charge of winning WWII. We’d all be speaking German and Japanese.
Wendy Darling
June 12, 2014
You just can’t make this stuff up. Really.
A burglary defendant who won his freedom because of a jury’s mistake lost his life a few hours later when he was stabbed to death in a fight.
Jurors returned a guilty verdict against Pearson’s co-defendant, Terrel Minnieweather and the mistaken not-guilty verdict against Pearson before lunch Wednesday.
Jurors said they were confused by the forms, one of which was for a guilty verdict and the other for a not guilty verdict. One juror said there was no form they could sign to indicate a deadlock.
“It is bizarre,” said Eugene Hyman, who retired from the Santa Clara County Superior Court after serving for 20 years on the bench. “But I can’t find fault with anyone.”
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/california-jurys-mistake-frees-burglary-defendant-24103262
Long live the ACJ.
Lando
June 13, 2014
In all the discussion above I think we have all lost sight of what the AOC is doing now, creating an Innovation and Knowledge Center? What huh? Where exactly will this Center be housed? Next to the William C Vickrey Conference Center? Will it be appointed in fine glass and cherry wood just like where the insiders meet for Judicial Council meetings? Will the new Center have a staff? I am guessing we are going to pay lots for a new staff if we are dispensing things as important as Knowledge and Innovation to the poor trial courts who never knew anything or innovated themselves. My hope is that the new Innovation and Knowledge Center will be headed up by J Bruiners so our poor court can get his expertise in developing a innovative software system …. something like CCMS since that worked out so terribly well. You can’t make any of this up. Really.
unionman575
June 13, 2014
Where exactly will this Center be housed?
It will be housed here…
The OBT
June 13, 2014
What a great comment Wendy and thanks to all of those in your awesome family that protected all of our great freedoms.I too will always be proud of each and every family member that fought in World War 2, Korea and Vietnam to help us live in a society that values the ideals of our Constitution. One thing the Chief Justice, the insiders at 455 Golden Gate and even the CJP can’t take away is the First Amendment. Therefore it is up to all of us here to continue our best to help shine a light on all the wrongs at 455 Golden Gate. Being able to speak about the many abuses that exist in the Crystal Palace insures that our First Amendment lives on thanks to all that fought and protected that great right.
Wendy Darling
June 13, 2014
Ah, yes, the First Amendment. At 455 Golden Gate Avenue, a person’s First Amendment rights are just another commodity to be bought and paid for, vis-à-vis the proverbial confidentiality “agreement”/muzzle clause, with the going price starting at nothing but a person will be “allowed” to resign in exchange for waiving all of their first amendment rights, to a top price of $50,000, with the same waiver requirement. Don’t want to sign? Then be prepared to have your career and your life ruined, courtesy of branch “leadership”.
Because here in California, in the California Judicial Branch, we punish people for telling the truth. So, if you value your First Amendment rights, be prepared to be punished for it. First Amendment rights mean absolutely nothing to the folks flying the airplane at 455 Golden Gate Avenue.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Still waiting for someone, anyone, in a position of authority and responsibility, to actually do something about that.
Long live the ACJ.
courtflea
June 13, 2014
humm, that confidentiality agreement would be very interesting to read JCW!
Wendy Darling
June 13, 2014
It’s a violation of the muzzle clause of the confidentiality “agreement” to disclose the “agreement”, including that the “agreement” is secret, subject to significant financial sanctions if disclosed. So it’s doubtful, Flea, that anyone who has signed one of those “agreements” is going to disclose it.
Long live the ACJ.
Wendy Darling
June 13, 2014
Today’s installment of Tani’s Follies. Apparently Darrell wasn’t able to save her in the recent budget negotiations. Published today, Friday, June 13, from The Recorder, the on-line publication of CalLaw, by Cheryl Miller:
The last part of the article notes an interesting “efficiency” currently being used in a trial going on in the L.A. Superior Court, apparently without first having to convene a Task Force to review and approve the efficiency, along with 2 or 3 sub-committees to make recommendations and review the determinations of the Task Force, write numerous Orwellian-worded reports, and without having to spend a billion or more dollars. Imagine that.
State Lawmakers Embrace Space Race. Plus: More Court Budget Drama
Cheryl Miller, The Recorder
SACRAMENTO—Google Inc. wants a share of Virgin Galactic’s space-tourism business, and California lawmakers could not be happier—or more legally prepared.
In an attempt to transform the state’s high desert into an international space travel hub, Gov. Jerry Brown in 2012 signed into law liability-limiting protections for private space-flight companies, such as Virgin Galactic and Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX.
*****
The budget that the Legislature is expected to send to the governor on Sunday is a case of good news, bad news for the courts. The good news? Trial courts will receive roughly $129 million in additional, ongoing funding in 2014-15 under the plan. The bad news: That’s less than lawmakers had originally pledged to give the courts, and it’s far less than the $266 million in new money judiciary leaders said they needed just to keep courts operationally “treading water.”
After weeks of negotiations, legislative budget writers largely agreed to abide by Gov. Jerry Brown’s more conservative budget proposal for the courts. With the governor continuing to preach spending prudence and legislative leaders focused on battles over bigger-ticket budget items, the May groundswell for significantly higher court funding ebbed.
“We do have a significant access problem in our local courts, and this is an area where I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to make more of a priority,” Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, a member of the joint budget conference committee, said Wednesday.
The new money will raise trial courts’ basic operations budget, and it will cover some increasing employee costs. There’s also an additional $40 million in one-time money for court construction, $30 million to cover a shortfall in fee and fine revenues and $15 million for specialty courts, such as those serving the homeless and veterans.
Not included in the legislative package was money for new judgeships or dependency counsel, items that the chief justice had sought in her three-year “blueprint.”
“I think we’re all disappointed in how much we’re able to invest in our courts as well as a host of other things,” said Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, adding, “The needs are much greater than what we’ve been given as a budget to expand.”Brown has until July 1, the start of the new fiscal year, to sign the budget.
*****
Jurors are usually admonished to stay away from Google and social media. But in one Los Angeles case, lawyers actually handed electronic tablets to members of the jury and told them to get to work.
Each juror and alternate serving in the Bustillos v. Villa Blanca trial received a leased iPad that was loaded with exhibits and jury instructions. The tablets did not, however, have Internet access or any downloaded programs.
“I think it’s working really well,” said Lisa Maki, the Los Angeles attorney who is representing waitress Karina Bustillos in the workplace-harassment case. Maki and defense counsel in the case are splitting the cost of leasing the iPads. Judge Michael Linfield approved what is believed to be the first use of tablets by jurors in a Los Angeles County Superior Court trial.
http://www.therecorder.com/id=1202659395852/State-Lawmakers-Embrace-Space-Race-Plus-More-Court-Budget-Drama%3Fmcode=1202617072607&curindex=0&curpage=ALL
Long live the ACJ.
sunshine
June 16, 2014
Is there any good news here? It reads like a case of bad news, bad news, for court workers.
“The budget that the Legislature is expected to send to the governor on Sunday is a case of good news, bad news for the courts. The good news? Trial courts will receive roughly $129 million in additional, ongoing funding in 2014-15 under the plan. The bad news: That’s less than lawmakers had originally pledged to give the courts, and it’s far less than the $266 million in new money judiciary leaders said they needed just to keep courts operationally “treading water.”
Wendy Darling
June 16, 2014
“Trial courts will receive roughly $129 million in additional, ongoing funding in 2014-15 under the plan. . . . far less than the $266 million in new money judiciary leaders said they needed just to keep courts operationally “treading water.”
Queen Feckless has spent the better part of the last 4 years traipsing around the State, telling anyone and everyone within earshot that Governor Brown is to blame for the closing of courthouses and the financial mess in the judicial branch. Her answer to everything is “more money”.
Those that work at 455 Golden Gate Avenue know that it’s a regular practice for branch “leadership” to “enhance” branch and division budget proposals and projections in order to get “extra money” from the State Legislature and the Governor. It’s also a regular practice for an end-of-the-fiscal year spending spree at 455 Golden Gate Avenue for things like new office furniture and big-screen tvs, among other wasteful uses of public funds. (Who do you think paid for that big screen TV in Sofa Man’s office? The California tax payer.)
Governor Brown has watched as Queen Feckless ignores her own SEC report, the State Legislature having to intervene to finally shut down the debacle of CCMS (only to have the Judicial Council and the AOC try again and again to resurrect it under a different disguise), state attorneys “telecommute” from Europe, the branch builds grandiose edifices, name buildings after themselves, and Tani and company use the CHP as their own personal taxi service. And that’s just the short list.
Governor Frugal hasn’t survived in California politics this long for nothing. He’s up for re-election this November, on a platform of fiscal restraint and responsibility. He wasn’t, and isn’t, about to reward the behavior of Queen Feckless and 455 Golden Gate Avenue with “more money.” Not now, and probably not for the next 4 years. Governor Brown is well aware at this point that the arrogance of branch “leadership” is matched only by their hubris.
That’s good news for California tax payers. And probably bad news for the California trial courts. Because nothing is going to materially change with branch “leadership”, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, and the waste of public money on pet projects and useless personnel. It will be the trial courts, again, who will suffer for the bad behavior and incompetent management of branch leadership. Meanwhile, Queen Feckless and company will continue to be chauffeured around by the CHP.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
Wendy Darling
June 16, 2014
Published today, Monday, June 16, from Courthouse News Service, by Maria Dinzeo:
Worry for California Courts as Assembly Passes Budget
By MARIA DINZEO
(CN) – The $156 billion budget California lawmakers passed Sunday gave a $40 million boost to courthouse construction, but fell far short of the $266 million the judiciary hoped to raise for the trial courts this year.
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye unveiled in January a “budget blueprint” for the courts that set a $1.2 billion funding goal over the next three years, with $266 million more needed this year just to stay afloat.
“We are nowhere near adequate funding of the [justice] system and nowhere even their own treading water mark, and that’s unfortunate,” Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, said on Sunday. “This budget simply does not focus on the priorities that Californians have set.”
Assembly budget chair Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, also said found the insufficient boost to court funding but highlighted the “meaningful expenditures that will touch the lives of each and every Californian.”
“I’m confident we have laid the framework for continued and progressive investment into the future,” Skinner added.
High-speed rail and preschool education won out, with $250 million in carbon offset revenues allocated to the giant transportation project and $264 million going to expand children’s programs, such as 11,500 preschool slots for low-income 4 year-olds.
Budget conference meetings preceding the final vote on the budget, passed just six hours before the midnight deadline Sunday, revealed a compromise that stuck with the $160 million Gov. Jerry Brown proposed in May, plus $40 million for courthouse construction projects.
Lawmakers on both sides were disappointed, but resigned.
“This is more than where we were before,” Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, said, but added, “I am sorry we couldn’t do some of the other court augmentations.”
A visibly annoyed Gorell also said noted that the “significant access problem in our local courts” deserves priority.
“I’m going to support it because of the construction funding but there is a dire need to get more operational money in the courts,” he added.
Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, blamed the small augmentation to the judiciary’s budget on Gov. Brown’s budget proposal, which limited spending on programs to $500 million.
“I think we’re all disappointed in how much we’re able to invest in our courts,” Weber said. “Many of us thought that the governor’s concept was prudent and wise. We’ve been limited to $500 million to spend on programs. The needs are much greater than what we’ve been given as a budget to expend.”
http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/06/16/68774.htm
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
June 16, 2014
http://www.courts.ca.gov/jcmeetings.htm
Next Big Top Circus
June 26 and 27
Better start rolling those Trial Court coins Tani & Co….
wearyant
June 17, 2014
Maybe bitcoin is the ticket, UMan!
unionman575
June 16, 2014
http://www.courts.ca.gov/partners/courtsbudget.htm
The Trial Court Budget Advisory Committee meets:
Monday, July 7
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Sacramento
The meeting is open to the public
😉
unionman575
June 16, 2014
http://timesofsandiego.com/opinion/2014/06/16/budget-cuts-undermine-confidence-judicial-system/
wearyant
June 17, 2014
http://www.dilbert.com/
Today’s cartoon, Tuesday, June 17, 2014. Wendy D is playing Dilbert and an AOC management-type, teflon suit of course is represented by the pointy-haired no-account boss.
Long live the ACJ
Wendy Darling
June 17, 2014
LOL, Ant!
It would be funnier it weren’t so true.
Long live the ACJ.
wearyant
June 17, 2014
Wendy Darling, this is the only website I can think of that makes me cry and laugh at the same time! Hang in there, keep up the good work and be well, dear WD! We’re all pullin’ for you.
Long live the ACJ
wearyant
June 17, 2014
“Only a penny of every General Fund dollar supports California’s courts”
Oh, boo hoo hoo, Tani! And the pictures featured of the courts! Pictures of holes in the ceiling and people thrust inside the hallways waiting endlessly for a front-line worker to help them … why not show pictures of the upper echelon AOC bureaucrats ensconced within the SF Golden Gate palace next to those horrid pictures of our trial courts? After all, the realism there is, the AOC skims their cut prior to any public funds going to our trial courts. The AOC cats are hurting por nada. We need that penny that is so prominently pictured in your inane PR to go directly to the trial courts, luv. Get an ATM that features bitcoin. Only monopoly play money can help you now, luv, to keep your lifestyle in the way you’ve grown accustomed.
Long live the ACJ
Nathaniel Woodhull
June 17, 2014
Ant, you don’t understand. The issue isn’t what is siphoned off at the top, the issue is how
much is there left to siphon? While we are seeing people with 15-20 years experience flee
our trial courts because they can no longer stand the working environment that they were told was “temporary” in 2009, Morale in the trial courts is at an all-time low, and it is only going to get worse because they at least 60% of the courts didn’t make the necessary cuts already because they bought Tani’s horse excrement that “good times” were on the horizon. A number of PJ’s and CEO’s actually believed that they May Revise was going to bring over $300 Million to the Trial Courts and because of that they didn’t make cuts that were necessary.
Tani and the kids within the Crystal Palace haven’t seen a real downturn at all. In fact, the AOC keeps RFP’ing themselves into oblivion. More and more people are hired “off the books” or as “temporary” positions that mysteriously become permanent.
Yet the Legislature keeps accepting the horsesh** that is shoveled by Tani & Company that they are down 30% in staffing at the AOC. I am convinced that nothing is going to change. I’ve decided after well over 40 years of public service I’m going out to pasture. Maybe I’ll just declare victory and leave? I never have run from a fight, but I don’t view this as a fight. I view this as assisted suicide.
California is lost. As Wendy recently said, the Greatest Generation is gone and what is currently residing in California is a bunch of self-absorbed yahoos whose only apparent interest is how much they can get for themselves or questioning why their house isn’t now worth $5,000,000.00, so they can cash out.
I’m moving to a state that appreciates its people, has a balanced budget and people still view self-reliance as a positive character trait. If they don’t make enough to live on, they get a second job. No body looks to the government to bail them out and the court system works just fine. Fortunately, this place wasn’t ruined by Bill Vickrey or Ronald George. I’d tell you where it is, but I don’t want more neighbors moving in, in droves.
Vaya con Dios everyone. I’ll check in from time-to-time, but General Woodhull is moving on.
Faithfully yours, having, served the public from the time of the early Nixon Administration. (Back when we had lead paint and incandescent lighting, analog watches and no home computers or cell phones)
.
Wendy Darling
June 17, 2014
“I view this as assisted suicide.”
Yep. That or conspiracy to commit murder. Not that anyone is going to do anything about that.
Long live the ACJ.
The OBT
June 18, 2014
General, We will miss you and your powerful insights. We will also miss your historical perspective , as people like you and I actually know the truth and how things ran before HRH-1 showed up. Many of us here know the trial courts weren’t broken and worked to serve the citizens they represented very effectively. HRH-1 created a big lie, that he and only he and full state control were necessary to “fix” the courts . Well he and his hand picked successor “fixed” everything. Actually what they did was to create a total mess of a once proud court system. Those of us who remain stuck in this morass see the sad results everyday. Long lines, closed courthouses, unacceptable delays, unemployed court employes, overburdened calendars, all while the JC/ AOC fiddles while all else burns. The JC/AOC continues on, with Blue Ribbon Commissions, Task Forces, Innovation and Knowledge Centers, lol, and yes a taxi service for the elite at 455 Golden Gate and beyond. Wendy’s post above is about the most articulate statement of everything that has gone wrong since Queen Feckless ‘s arrogant and uninformed rule. The only reasonable hope is that after the State Auditor’s report, Queen Feckless will resign and someone new and independent like J Liu can walk us all out of this mess. Not likely but even a glimmer of hope like that can get me through the day. Good luck General and thanks again for all you contributed to a great cause.
Wendy Darling
June 18, 2014
“The only reasonable hope is that after the State Auditor’s report, Queen Feckless will resign and someone new and independent like J Liu can walk us all out of this mess.”
She’s too arrogant to resign. And as far as “hope”, when it comes to the California Judicial Branch, at this point, I’m a “believe it when I see it” person; “hope” is for suckers.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
Wendy Darling
June 18, 2014
Farewell, General Woodhull, and happy trails to you. In the words of Roy Rogers, it’s how you rode the trail that matters:
Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Happy trails to you, keep smilin’ until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we’re together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.
Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Some trails are happy ones,
Others are blue.
It’s the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here’s a happy one for you.
Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Happy trails to you, keep smilin’ until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we’re together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.
Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Long live the ACJ.
Wendy Darling
June 18, 2014
Published today, Wednesday, June 18, from Courthouse News Service, by William Dotinga:
Retirement Plans by CA Justice Marvin Baxter
By WILLIAM DOTINGA
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – California Supreme Court Justice Marvin Baxter announced today that he will not seek re-election in November and will retire in January after 24 years on the court.
“I have been privileged to have such an interesting and fulfilling career in the law, serving as a deputy district attorney, in private practice, as appointments secretary to Gov. George Deukmejian, and as an Associate Justice on the California Court of Appeal and Supreme Court,” Baxter said in a statement. “It is a great honor to have served on the state’s high court since 1991.”
A native of the Fresno County town of Fowler, Baxter began his career as a Fresno deputy district attorney in 1967. He entered private practice in 1969, eventually making partner at Andrews, Andrews, Thaxter, Jones and Baxter before going to work in the Deukmejian administration in 1983.
Baxter spent five years advising Deukmejian on judicial and executive appointments before his boss appointed him to the California Court of Appeals, Fifth Appellate District. Deukmejian next appointed Baxter to the California Supreme Court in 1991, where he has served two terms.
Earlier this year, Baxter stepped down as chair of the Policy Coordination and Liaison Committee of the Judicial Council, succeeded by Judge Kenneth So of San Diego. The committee sets the legislative and lobbying agenda for the Judicial Council.
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye called Baxter “an intellectual force to be reckoned with.”
“I was very fortunate when I became Chief Justice to have the quiet-spoken and reflective Justice Baxter on my left-hand side not only on the Supreme Court but also on the Judicial Council,” Sakauye said in a statement. “I will miss his sage advice and counsel.”
Baxter, 74, said he looks forward to “an active retirement and will focus our time and attention on family and friends, traveling, hobbies, and charitable activities.”
http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/06/18/68850.htm
Long live the ACJ.
Wendy Darling
June 18, 2014
And from today’s Sacramento Bee:
California Supreme Court Justice Marvin R. Baxter To Retire Next Year
By Christopher Cadelago
California Supreme Court Justice Marvin R. Baxter announced Wednesday that he will retire when his term ends in January, providing Gov. Jerry Brown another opportunity to reshape the state’s high court.
Baxter, 74, will have served 24 years. His retirement follows Justice Joyce L. Kennard’s departure in April and further signals the coming changes to the court.
“I have been privileged to have such an interesting and fulfilling career in the law, serving as a deputy district attorney, in private practice, as Appointments Secretary to Governor George Deukmejian, and as an Associate Justice on the California Court of Appeal and Supreme Court,” Baxter said in a statement Wednesday.
“It is a great honor to have served on the state’s high court since 1991. With three Chief Justices, twelve Associate Justices, and excellent staff, I have been able to contribute to its substantial body of opinions and case law. At the local and statewide levels I was gratified to have the opportunity to assist Governor Deukmejian in the appointment of more than 700 judges and numerous executive branch appointees, and to have supported the evolution of our judicial branch of government as a member of the Judicial Council of California and its committees. Jane and I look forward to an active retirement and will focus our time and attention on family and friends, traveling, hobbies, and charitable activities.”
Baxter was nominated to the court by Deukmejian in 1990 and confirmed to a second 12-year term in 2002. A native of Fowler, Baxter attended Fresno State University and Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.
“Marv Baxter has been a good friend and trusted advisor for over 30 years. His quiet yet thoughtful demeanor served as a steady influence during some troublesome times that I experienced in the Governor’s Office,” Deukmejian said. “His endless efforts resulted in well established recommendations that I grew to rely upon, especially in the selection of individuals for judicial appointments. His accomplishments both on and off the bench have been justifiably praised by all who know him.”
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/06/calif-supreme-court-justice-marvin-r-baxter-to-retire-next-year.html
Long live the ACJ.
Lando
June 18, 2014
The former Governor pretty much said it all. ” His accomplishments both on and off the bench have been justifiably praised by all who know him.” While I didn’t always agree with Justice Baxter, I have always admired him for his honesty, integrity and the consistent way he treated all with fairness and respect. I have said it before and will say it again. It is too bad he wasn’t named Chief Justice. If he had the balance between the Judicial Council and trial courts would have been maintained for the benefit of all the citizens of California.
Wendy Darling
June 18, 2014
What Lando said.
Quote of the day: “I will miss his sage advice and counsel.” Tani Cantil-Sakauye. Too bad she didn’t listen to it while she had the chance.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
June 18, 2014
http://www.courts.ca.gov/26427.htm#20140626non
I can see the JC welcomes public comment.
😉
10:00–10:15 a.m. Public Comment
The Judicial Council welcomes public comment, as it can enhance the council’s understanding of the issues coming before it. To accommodate members of the public, the Judicial Council encourages those who wish to comment at the meeting, on either a specific agenda item or on a more general topic of judicial administration, to provide notice in order to ensure that all requests are acknowledged during the meeting.
Notice can be provided in two ways:
1. Written notice by 4 p.m., Wednesday, June 25, 2014,
o by e-mail to judicialcouncil@jud.ca.gov, or
o by postal mail or delivery in person to:
Judicial Council of California
455 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, California 94102-3688
Attention: Cliff Alumno
In the notice, please state the speaker’s first and last name and the specific agenda item to be addressed or, if not on the agenda, the topic to be addressed.
2. Sign in at the meeting reception, on the day of the meeting
o before the call for general public comment, or
o before the specific agenda item of interest is introduced.
unionman575
June 18, 2014
Hark the Long Beach White Elephant beckons once again…
Judicial Branch Report to the Legislature:
Evaluation of Cost-Effectiveness of the Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse
😉
Meanwhile let’s do it all again…Hollywood Style…
unionman575
June 18, 2014
Meanwhile…the JC humps all slap themselves on the back for a job well done…
Administrative Office of the Courts: A Report on Services Provided by Staff to the Judicial
Council
Wendy Darling
June 18, 2014
I saw at least 2 AOC “ghost employees” on those org charts. One of them has been retired since January 1, 2009.
Things never change at 455 Golden Gate Avenue.
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
June 18, 2014
Oh my, it must be award season again…
Let’s do it!
😉
Executive Summary
The chairs of the five Judicial Council internal committees—the Executive and Planning
Committee, the Rules and Projects Committee, the Policy Coordination and Liaison Committee,
the Judicial Council Technology Committee, and the Litigation Management Committee—
recommend approving the recommended recipients of the 2014 Judicial Council of California
Distinguished Service Awards. These annual awards, the highest honors bestowed by the judicial
branch, recognize individuals who exemplify the leadership strengths that create significant and
positive contributions to court administration in California. Following council approval, the
awards will be presented at a ceremony to take place on Thursday, August 21, 2014, from 4:30 to
6:00 p.m., in conjunction with the August Judicial Council meeting.
Wendy Darling
June 18, 2014
Following the announcement today of Justice Baxter’s impending retirement, the name of Darrell Steinberg was heard being whispered in the dark hallways of 455 Golden Gate Avenue. But that’s probably just another one of those “magical coincidences”.
Long live the ACJ.
The OBT
June 18, 2014
Justice Baxter is all that a great Justice should be, intelligent, patient, honest and caring about the public he serves. I have full faith that Governor Brown will appoint a new Justice with these same outstanding qualities. Justices Jenkins, Humes, O”Leary and Manella should be high on the Governor’s list. While many who patrol the dark hallways of 455 Golden Gate would love to see Darrell Steinberg appointed , I think this Governor is smart and courageous enough not to waste such a valuable pick on a political hack who long ago left his principles behind for political gain and expediency.