Yesterday Jerry Brown proposed a substantial tax increase to fund our crumbling roads and highway infrastructure. His proposal would charge another $65.00 per year on vehicle registrations as a highway user fee which would generate 2 billion dollars. It would also raise another billion by taxes on gasoline of six cents and diesel by eleven cents. While we’re generally supportive of the infrastructure investment we believe a few critical parts are missing.
First, when it comes to road usage, it is heavy eighteen wheelers and other gross vehicle weight rated heavy vehicles that cause the greatest rate of road deterioration.
Second, there is no money in this plan to fund the courts. We have a problem with that because it is highways and roads that generate all of the court traffic. If we are ever to escape the label of “Not Just In Ferguson” then we must consider bold alternatives to racking up billions of dollars in fees and fines that no one can afford to pay. This starts with a stable court funding model that should be based on something relatively stable and tangible like gasoline/diesel taxes, vehicle registrations or drivers (and other professional) licensing fees.
In our new Amazon shopping culture where nearly anything can arrive within two days including many of your groceries, the number of gross vehicle weight rated heavy vehicles is on the increase. Sure, this may be barely reflected upon in additional diesel taxes but the bad part about this catch-all is that diesel cars like the Volkswagen TDI lineup and the Chevy Cruze and Dodge EcoDiesel trucks get some of the best mileage available and we don’t want to make owning high mileage diesel cars a disincentive.
If anything, we want to provide incentives to owning these kinds of high mileage vehicles. So the target should be adjusted a bit towards GVWR vehicles one ton and over and it should be in the form of even higher road use fees of $200.00 (a dollar a working day) for commercial vehicles one ton and over. Additionally, diesel taxes should be raised to 15 cents per gallon for commercial vehicles while personally owned diesel vehicles under one ton GVWR pay the gasoline tax as is done in many other states.
Equally, there should be no additional fee whatsoever for electric and other alternative fuel vehicles.
With respect to properly funding our courts, increasing the proposed highway fee of $65.00 to $100.00 and giving the courts a hundred dollars of our proposed GVWR fees while eliminating many of the onerous assessments on citations retroactively would kill three birds with one stone:
First, it would assist in discarding the “Not Just In Ferguson” label by lowering all fines and assessments to what people could actually afford.
Second, it would provide a stable source of revenue for the courts and we could actually afford to reopen many of them.
Third, it would reduce all lines outside every courthouse. When people can afford their fines, they’re substantially less apt to appear, which is why many of the most affluent communities have no lines at the court traffic window. So in essence, these changes would assist in right-sizing the courts, court finances, uncollected fines and fees and docket loads.
As far as the various assessments go, many of them should also move from a conviction funded model to a user fee funded model that is also assessed against vehicles, drivers and other professional licenses or taxes with the objective of eliminating nearly all of them.
Unless the courts are willing to heavily lobby the other two branches to take take bold steps to change their funding model as well as the onerous assessments, they will continue to wither at the vine of being understaffed, overworked and under funded while holding the blame card for an ever-increasing amount of noncollectable fees and fines that’s really not their fault.
When the door is opened on changes in funding models, the judicial branch needs to be somewhere near the top of the list and there is no better time than now.
Judicial Council Watcher 
MaxRebo5
September 4, 2015
Before raising taxes lets see if court workloads are even increasing. All data shows downward trends.
Maybe a tax on Ashley Madison users would be useful to fund Family Law Courts.
Judicial Council Watcher
September 5, 2015
Unfortunately, the ten billion dollars that is due the state also needs to be addressed and some of those assessments go to the courts. There is a multitude of reasons to change the funding model and 35 bucks per vehicle (100.00 for commercial vehicles) would be lesser of a tax than the assessments that will never be collected. So think of it as a tax decrease.
unionman575
September 4, 2015
What a birthday present…a tech meeting on my b-day
…thx—Death Star HQ…
I really did not want another listen only event though…
tsk tsk tsk…
Judicial Council Technology Committee
September 15, 2015 Open Meeting
8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Call-in Number: 1-877-820-7831, Public Access Code: 3511860 (listen only)
😉
http://www.courts.ca.gov/jctc.htm
unionman575
September 4, 2015
Docket (Register of Actions)
Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts v. Jacobs Facilities, Inc. et al.
Division 1
Case Number A140890
Case: A140890 1st District, Division 1
Date 2015-09-04
Event Description: Rehearing petition filed.
Notes:
No service on superior court.
For more information on
this case, go to:
http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca
😉
unionman575
September 4, 2015
Brought to you by our favorite tech MC: Presenter: Hon. Terence L. Bruiniers, Chair, Court Technology Advisory Committee
😉
unionman575
September 4, 2015
$18,000,000 Disgorgement
😉
http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/performing-work-with-a-suspended-cslb-89007/
Performing Work with a Suspended CSLB License Costs Big: Subcontractor Faces $18,000,000 Disgorgement
😉
9/4/2015
By Steven Cvitanovic,
David Harris
| Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
In what could lead to a draconian result, the Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District held that a contractor who performs work without a valid license can be required to disgorge all payments received, even if the contractor perfectly performed its work. The case, Judicial Council of California v. Jacobs Facilities, Inc. (Ct. of Appeal, 1st App. Dis., Div. One, A140890, A141393), involved an $18,000,000 contract between Jacobs Facilities, Inc. (“Jacobs Facilities”) and the Judicial Council of California (“Judicial Council”). In April 2006, Jacobs Facilities, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. (“Jacobs Engineering”) entered into a three year contract with the Judicial Counsel to maintain 121 courthouses and other judicial branch buildings throughout Southern California (the “Contract”). Jacobs Facilities contracted to provide maintenance and oversight services, while retaining subcontractors to perform the actual maintenance and repair work.
In December 2006, as part of a corporate reorganization, Jacobs Engineering started winding up Jacobs Facilities and transferred its employees to Jacobs Engineering and then subsequently to another wholly owned subsidiary called Jacobs Project Management Co. (“Jacobs Management”). The work that was performed by Jacobs Facilities was taken over by Jacobs Management. As part of the windup, Jacobs Facilities’ Contractor’s State License Board license was allowed to lapse and the license expired by operation of law in November 2008. Although Jacobs Management was now performing the work, it was not added as a party to the contract. Although it appears Judicial Council was aware of the corporate changes, it was not until November 2009 that the parties assigned the contract to Jacobs Management.
In December 2009, the Judicial Council sued Jacobs Facilities and Jacobs Management. The complaint alleged causes of action for breach of contract, disgorgement under Business and Professions code section 7031(b), and breach of guaranty.
Section 7031(b) allows a person who has employed an unlicensed contractor to bring an action for disgorgement of “all compensation paid to the unlicensed contractor.” The Judicial Council contended that because Jacobs Facilities was not licensed for a portion of the contract (even though Jacobs Management was), the Judicial Council was entitled to the return of $18,331,811 in contract payments. The trial court entered a defense verdict in favor of the Jacobs entities. The trial jury found that Jacobs Facilities “had maintained a contractor’s license at all times while performing the contract; [Jacobs] Facilities had ‘internally assigned’ the contract to [Jacobs] Management prior to the expiration of the [Jacobs] Facilities license; [and] the [Judicial Counsel] was not ‘adversely affected’ by the internal assignment.”
The Court of Appeal reversed. It held the trial court did not have discretion to permit a jury to decide whether or not to enforce the penalties prescribed by section 7031(b). Even if the evidence showed Jacobs Facilities’ work was perfectly performed, the “determination that the importance of deterring unlicensed persons from engaging in the contracting business” is more important than the draconian remedy of requiring the disgorgement of all payments. According to the Court, an “unlicensed contractor is subject to forfeiture even if the other contracting party was aware of the contractor’s lack of a license, and the other party’s bad faith or unjust enrichment cannot be asserted by the contractor as a defense to forfeiture.” Since it was undisputed Jacobs Facilities was a party to the contract, and that work was performed (albeit by Jacobs Management) while Jacobs Facilities was not properly licensed, the court was required to order disgorgement pursuant to section 7031(b).
😉
The Court of Appeal did offer a small window of hope to Jacobs Facilities. In the second portion of its opinion, the Court discussed Business and Professions code section 7031(e) which allows an unlicensed contractor to avoid disgorgement if it can prove to a trial judge that: “the person who engaged in the business or acted in the capacity of a contractor (1) had been duly licensed as a contractor in this state prior to the performance of the act or contract, (2) acted reasonably and in good faith to maintain proper licensure, (3) did not know or reasonably should not have known that he or she was not duly licensed when performance of the act or contract commenced, and (4) acted promptly and in good faith to reinstate his or her license upon learning it was invalid.”
The Court of Appeal remanded the case to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing on the issue of “substantial compliance.” However, as if to enforce the draconian nature of 7031(b), the Court writes: “If the [Jacobs entities] are unsuccessful [in proving substantial compliance] the trial court shall enter judgment against defendants in the amount of $18,331,911, plus taxable costs and interest.”
😉
😉
Judicial Council of California v. Jacobs Facilities, Inc. illustrates the harsh and seemingly unfair effects of section 7031(b). The section requires the disgorgement of all compensation received by the contractor, not merely compensation for the period when the contractor was unlicensed. While there is an equitable component provided by section 7031(e), the holding of this case seems to indicate that “substantial compliance” will not be routinely found. The Court recognized the harshness of the penalty prescribed by section 7031(b) but held that it had to take “its cue from the Legislature in enforcing the letter of the law, consoled by the Legislature’s ‘determination that the importance of deterring unlicensed persons from engaging in the contracting business outweighs any harshness between the parties.” The case reinforces the consequences of complying with the CSLB requirements, and the tremendous importance of maintaining a contractor’s license and keeping it in good standing.
😉
Michael Paul
September 5, 2015
The AOC and Judicial Council holds all the cards. Will they give the 18 million away by intentionally failing to show substantial compliance (while sitting on mounds of evidence) or like the unlicensed AGS lawsuit, silently settle it out of court where the state gets nothing (when they were unequivocally entitled to disgorgement because AGS was never contractors license eligible) in a “confidential settlement”?
This is where Martin Hoshino has an opportunity to show some balls and demonstrate he is serving the courts for the benefit of all Californians or he’s just another muppet out to bury the dirt and pretend it never happened.
The only reason that the AOC “recognized” the switch in November 2009 was a result of me going public. Similarly, the only reason they’re looking at recovering the money is for the same reason.
unionman575
September 5, 2015
“The only reason that the AOC “recognized” the switch in November 2009 was a result of me going public… ”
Exactly.
Keep slamming them Michael.
😉
unionman575
September 4, 2015
http://www.spwb.ca.gov/archives/agendas/2015.php
CA State Public Works Board
NEXT SCHEDULED BOARD MEETING
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 3:00PM
Room 2040, CA State Capitol
• 10-Day Meeting Notice (.pdf)
CONSENT ITEMS
CONSENT ITEM—1
JUDICIAL COUNCIL OF CALIFORNIA (0250)
NEW HANFORD COURTHOUSE
KINGS COUNTY
Authority: Chapters 21 and 29, Statutes of 2012, Item 0250-301-0668 (2)
Consider consenting to an Easement Deed granting public access over state-owned property to the City of Hanford
😉
unionman575
September 6, 2015
Court staffing levels — separate from judgeships — have also been difficult to maintain, especially in Humboldt County. During an Aug. 21 presentation to the Judicial Council, Councilman and Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Gary Nadlar stated that 21 percent of the Humboldt County Superior Court’s operations staff was either vacant or eliminated.
“What Humboldt indicated was a loss of the institutional knowledge and they attributed that to the working conditions that were, I guess, unacceptable to those employees that had been around a long time,” he said. “It’s not just the 21 percent that they’re down. It’s the institutional knowledge that left with them.”
http://www.times-standard.com/government-and-politics/20150905/humboldt-county-court-caseloads-impacting-operations-staffing
Humboldt County court caseloads impacting operations, staffing
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-Standard
Posted: 09/05/15, 10:04 PM PDT
It’s a story common to superior courthouses across the state: caseloads are mounting, but state funds needed to handle them are not keeping pace.
😉
In a budget snapshot submitted to the Judicial Council of California earlier this year, the Humboldt County Superior Court reports that it would need an additional $2.2 million to manage its current workload for a total of $7.6 million overall.
😉
In addition to the seven judges and one commissioner currently employed at the courthouse, two additional judges are needed to keep oversee the cases in the civil and family-juvenile law courts, with one position already authorized by the Judicial Council, the court’s interim Chief Executive Office Mike Tozzi said.
However, neither position was funded in the state’s 2015-2016 fiscal year budget.
“All we really know is the council has in fact authorized an eighth judge, but we have no idea when the California Legislature or the governor is going to fund positions,” Tozzi said.
One of the seven county judges, Judge Dale Reinholtsen, was publicly reprimanded by the state on Thursday for failing to submit decisions on cases in a timely manner as required by law. Reinholtsen’s lawyer Timothy Needham stated his client had worked 12 to 14 hour days, six days a week, during that time due to the high caseloads.
“If the system is broken due to judicial cutbacks and they don’t have the judges to do the work, it becomes impossible to get the work done,” Needham said to the Associated Press on Thursday.
The state Commission of Judicial Performance admitted in their report on Reinholtsen that large caseloads may make prompt decisions by a judge “impossible” and that the average workload of Humboldt County judges “apparently exceeds the statewide average.”
However, it stated Reinholtsen had the ability to pass those cases on to another judge during his tenure as presiding judge from 2013 to 2014.
Judge Joyce Hinrichs stated during a court hearing on Wednesday that she may have to consider bringing in additional judges or holding trials in both morning and afternoon sessions in order to address the large number of cases headed for trial.
😉
Attempts to reach Hinrichs were not returned by the end of Friday afternoon.
Some judge positions in the state are being funded. The recent passage of state Senate Bill 229, provides funding for 12 judge positions in several Southern California Counties —the first time since 2007 that the Legislature has allocated money to fund additional judges anywhere in the state, Judicial Council spokeswoman Teresa Ruano said.
“It’s a move in the right direction,” Ruano said, adding that about an additional 270 judges are still needed statewide.
Even if the two additional judge positions were funded for Humboldt County today, the court would have no available courtrooms to put them in nor the state funds needed to construct more.
😉
Humboldt County’s proposed courthouse expansion is currently on a waiting list for funding on the state’s capital infrastructure and listed as a “high” priority, Ruano said.
However, this “high” funding category is not actually the highest priority, with the “critical” and “immediate” being the highest. Regardless of the category, Ruano said the recession in 2008 caused about $1.5 billion in funds set aside for courthouse rebuilding as part of Senate Bill 1407 were either loaned to the state legislature, used for court operations, or channelled directly into the state’s General Fund.
“But the major point is that all of those projects have no source of funding,” she said.
In an effort to improve their chances for funding, county board of supervisors approved a resolution in January that would give California a free parcel of land on the east side of the jail in Eureka if the state agreed to construct more courtrooms on the property within three years.
Of the state’s 40 court rebuilding projects placed in the highest funding priority, 11 of them were delayed indefinitely by the council in 2013 due to funding shortages, Ruano said.
“Our hope over time is the loans will be repaid and this issue will be revisited and some funding mechanism would be created with all three branches working together to raise priority for court funding in general,” Ruano said. “Of course, keeping the court open and operating has been the highest priority.”
Court staffing levels — separate from judgeships — have also been difficult to maintain, especially in Humboldt County. During an Aug. 21 presentation to the Judicial Council, Councilman and Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Gary Nadlar stated that 21 percent of the Humboldt County Superior Court’s operations staff was either vacant or eliminated.
“What Humboldt indicated was a loss of the institutional knowledge and they attributed that to the working conditions that were, I guess, unacceptable to those employees that had been around a long time,” he said. “It’s not just the 21 percent that they’re down. It’s the institutional knowledge that left with them.”
In its February budget snapshot, the court also stated it has eliminated 36 percent of its management positions since 2009. For its current workers, the court has not provided no cost-of-living wage adjustments since the 2008-2009 fiscal year, with several unionized members of the court staff members currently calling for higher wages alongside county workers.
The court’s report states that gaps in pay equity between different job classifications “are making it difficult to recruit and retain employees.”
After the court’s former CEO Kerri Keenan resigned before the start of August, Tozzi was asked by presiding Judge Joyce Hinrichs to come out of retirement to deal with the organization of the non-judicial staff.
Tozzi said the court currently has about 10 vacant positions. Having worked as the Stanislaus County Superior Court’s chief executive officer for 32 years, Tozzi said larger courts would be able to absorb the hits from these staffing losses.
“For the court the size of Humboldt’s losing seven to 10 in vacancies, you know, it does begin to affect processes,” he said. “It begins to affect people and you just have to be aware of that.”
As for the CEO position, Tozzi said that they are set to begin interviews with potential candidates by mid-month and have hired someone by the end of the month.
Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
sharonkramer
September 6, 2015
More from Kamala:
“Friend,
We all have the right to know what’s going on in our community. And in today’s digital era, when information is more available than it’s ever been, our government should be able to provide the tools to stay informed.
That’s why I launched the OpenJustice initiative. It’s a data-driven approach to law enforcement that embraces transparency to improve trust and accountability….
I encourage you to join the conversation today — and sign on to show your support for more transparency in government.
I have long advocated for a “smart on crime” approach to criminal justice policy, applying metrics to our analysis of effectiveness, and promoted the adoption of new technology that allows the government to work smarter. OpenJustice is the groundbreaking new tool that does that. And it puts important information in your hands.
Add your name and show your support for transparency in our criminal justice system.
Thank you.
Kamala Harris”
wearyant
September 7, 2015
Absolutely hilarious, Sharon. Open justice? Transparency? “applying metrics to our analysis of effectiveness …” LOL! Oh, wow. Thanks for the belly laugh tonight.
unionman575
September 8, 2015
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-court-cuts-20150908-story.html
L.A. Superior Court doesn’t have to reopen shuttered courthouses, appeals panel rules
sharonkramer
September 10, 2015
More from Kamala. This might be the best one yet!
The e-blast is titled “This Kind of Dysfunction”
“Friend,
If you showed up to work tomorrow and refused to do your job, chances are you’d be fired….
Kamala is running to fight against this kind of dysfunction, and it’s our job to make sure she has the resources she needs. This month, we’ve got a huge deadline of our own — our end-of-quarter FEC fundraising goal. Can you give $5 or more to help get our organization off on the right foot?
…they shouldn’t be allowed to grind the government to a halt when they don’t get their way…
Show your support today and stand up against this dysfunction.
Thank you.
Team Kamala”
Auntie Bureaucrat
September 13, 2015
Of course they’ll fix the roads and not the courts… every single Californian (who isn’t housebound) knows how fucked up the roads are.
Only a fraction have caught on to how incredibly fucked up the courts are. It’s shameful and disgusting.
(Sorry for the strong language… this is one of those situations, for me, where no other words adequately convey the truth of the matter).
Wendy Darling
September 13, 2015
What Auntie Bureaucrat said.
Long live the ACJ.
wearyant
September 13, 2015
“Only a fraction have caught on to how incredibly fucked up the courts are.”
That’s been our problem right there. Combined with the public apathy, the crooks on JC staff continue to party on. I’d like to serve them some Red Bull with their Grey Goose. And long live the ACJ and Wendy D. They have to deal with dribble down crap every day.
sharonkramer
September 13, 2015
So what’s going on with the $500M? Anyone gonna get prosecuted for unclean hands dipping into the court construction cookie jar? How about Orange County with the traffic court case fixings? Anyone gonna get prosecuted for their role in that little money maker? What’s going on with the State Bar? Are they going to be subject to open records? Anyone gonna get prosecuted for their covering up mass amounts of lawyer corruption in the CA courts? Has Kim Turner retired yet with full pension? When’s her retirement party? What building are the going to name after her for her years of public service?
What Auntie Bureacrat said.
unionman575
September 13, 2015
Turner retired this summer…
😉
Turner’s replacement as Marin CEO is James Kim, a court administrator from Washington state (King County District Court) whose jurisdiction includes Seattle. Previously, Kim held administrative posts at federal courthouses in Idaho and Washington.
http://www.marinij.com/government-and-politics/20150901/marin-court-clerk-in-disputed-dismissal-wins-reinstatement
sharonkramer
September 13, 2015
“Martinez said it appears Hobbs has ‘trouble following directions’ and will need ‘strong oversight.”
So she refuses to lie, cheat, steal and discriminate against fellow court employees; and even though she won her job back after Turner retaliated — the bullies in that county are still going to be watching her and making her life miserable? Is that right?
Maxrebo5
September 14, 2015
That’s my take too Sharon. CA Courts have been run like a mafia for the last 15 years. Never go against the family as it appears Hobbs did. She sounds like a class act but they hate her now and will make her career miserable.
The corruption of CA Courts has been very well documented by the JCW, ACJ’s, Courthouse News, and the State Auditor. I agree with the realists posting here that nothing is going to change in court admin. The branch’s culture is controlled by the Chief Justice and she is hostile to actual reforms. Fortunately big changes are coming from outside the branch and they may be game changers.
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-google-autonomous-car-20150914-story.html
Understand that of the 7.7 million cases in CA Superior Courts in the last Court Statistics Report from FY 2014 there were 6.2 million criminal cases. Most of these “criminal” cases are not crimes as you and I think of them where property is stolen/damaged or someone uses violence. In reality the vast majority of the so called “crime” is minor traffic infractions and misdemeanors. These traffic cases are easy money for the branch to process and they help justify thousands of staff jobs and many judgeships. They also inflate the branches workload formulas allowing for more state funding.
There were 535,987 traffic misdemeanors in the 2014 statistics report. 99% were of these cases were disposed before trial. There were 4.77 million traffic infractions and 91% of those cases were disposed without a trial. Easy revenue generating cases for the branch. Perfect!
With self driving cars 85% of “criminal” workload could go away in time. Pot legalization coming in 2016 will also result in less “crime” so that will hurt the branch’s workload in the short term as well. There already is no growth in CA Courts and has not been since 2009.
Statewide workload trends are moving downward according to the AOC’s own data. The legislature is noticing too as they are having to back fill lost fine/fee revenue the AOC projected using money from the General Fund due to fewer cases. The branch leaders are now delaying the latest court statistics report for 2015 to avoid showing this still declining trend. The report is overdue now and will likely show court workloads are down again for the most recent year (2013/2014). I say this with some confidence because the crime data from law enforcement (which are published) show crime is at historically low levels.
So if you follow the case filing trends for the past 5 years as I do you only see declining workload in CA Courts. That is the exact opposite vision of what Vickrey and George sold to the branch. They called for ever expanding caseloads due to a rising population. That justified more judgeships, more central admin, ever expanding funding for the branch, and the need for more courthouses. It all sounded great to everyone in the branch but it is not an accurate vision. They just sold the version everyone wanted to hear and with only cheerleaders on the Judicial Council nobody could stop them anyways. But this vision can’t be sustained.
I bet on a much smaller CA Courts as there will be less “crime” and far safer smart cars. Great for the public but not for CA Courts. The longer the branch takes to throw out the George/Vickrey vision the greater the pain will be down the road.
sharonkramer
September 14, 2015
Max, interesting. Sounds like maybe five to seven years before its fully implimented? Its gonna be ugly for court employess, no doubt.
Its sad, but fascinating to witness what a dysfunctional culture has been created stemming from the George years; and how many people are willing to do what their bosses say even when they know its wrong.
That thinly veiled threat for the Marin clerk is really telling. What it says is: “We didn’t speak out when we should have, and now you are a threat to us because you did. Therefore, we need to get rid of you so no one knows our role in aiding Kim Turner with unlawful acts.”
I think the White House has finally gotten the message that when you don’t punish the corrupt in gov’t and business, you cause others to follow their leadership and make retaliation against whistleblowers the standard accepted practice, rather than the exception to the rule.
Ferguson did not happen because everything was honky-dory in the local courts and law enforcement. These recent tragic cop killings are a direct result of people losing respect for gov’t — with the violent among them feeling justified in taking someone’s life because he wears a police uniform.
Seems the USDOJ may finally be starting to investigate frauds and retaliations against whistleblowers. I think they may be realizing what a mess has been caused by not holding bad people accountable (like Kim Turner getting a full pension for life). When she gets rewarded with money and her punishment is merely not being able to do it again, instead of inprisoned for felony court doc falsifications, they are causing a culture of corruption to flourish.
The Ca courts are the poster child of how the social phenomenon works when corruption is systematically encouraged to grow and truth tellers are punished.
NY Times: USDOJ claims its planning to hold people personally accountable. I’ll believe it when I see it.
“New policies prioritize the prosecution of individual employees and put pressure on corporations to turn over evidence against their executives.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/us/politics/new-justice-dept-rules-aimed-at-prosecuting-corporate-executives.html?mwrsm=Email
sharonkramer
September 15, 2015
Wow. Scathing article regarding Orange County courts in OCWeekly Blog:
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2015/09/oc_superior_court_judge_john_d_conley_refuses_to_believe_ocs_justice_system_can_be_bad.php?page=2
Nathaniel Woodhull
September 16, 2015
A belated Happy Birthday uman!!!!! Hope you had a great one. A little Grey Goose can go a long way to having a good Birthday!
While I agree Max’s observation that the numbers related to filings are down; b for many in the trenches the crap they are left to process takes far longer than it used to before HRH-1 was crowned. As one would expect, the bureaucrats inside the Crystal Palace continue to “make work” such as to justify their existence. This results in the foreseeable development of “new and improved” (and sometimes incomprehensible) rules and procedures that take 3-times as long to perform and do nothing to improve the court’s ability to deliver justice to the people of California.
As to the anointment of Kamala Harris as California’s newest U.S. Senator, I can only say that the people of California are getting what they deserve. Hard to believe that one whose claim to fame was being Willie Brown’s girlfriend and “manager” of Treasure Island under his tenure as Mayor has risen to such heights. In a one-party state like California, the fight is always for the party’s nomination and from there on it is down the bunny slope to being elected.
After over 40-years of public service, I have finally moved on to a secure remote location. It’s nice being in a new state that actually maintains a budget surplus most years and when you go to the DMV there are no lines. Talking to my now former colleagues, things continue to get worse and worse, as employee morale sinks lower and lower. I truly feel sorry for those just starting out because even if they wanted to make a positive difference, the system is so stacked against them that they have little if any chance to change things. HRH-1, Vickrey, Overholt and now HRH-2’s team did a masterful job of neutering individual members of the judiciary. Even long-time person friends elected to the Assembly and Senate told me not to bother to fight things, because the Legislature doesn’t really care about the inner workings of the courts. All the vast majority of them are concerned about is where they will land after being termed out. As a huge supporter of term limits at the time of its enactment, that’s one initiative I’d like to have back.
The general population is so busy getting through their day-to-day lives, that it is only when they are personally (and adversely) affected by something happening to them within the courts that they take notice of what’s wrong with the system. When the public pulls the chain and the sh** backs up onto the floor, that they notice. Much short of that, they simply don’t seem to care.
I hope that you all keep up the fight! It’s hard to think that no one will be chasing windmills now that I’m out to pasture.
sharonkramer
September 16, 2015
Judge Woodhull,
Please don’t stay out in the pasture forever. I’m still gleaning a lot of valuable information from the history that you know. For instance, I never knew that Kamala Harris had anything to do with Treasure Island.
June:
Treasure Island’s mold monster
http://sfbayview.com/2014/06/treasure-islands-mold-monster/
“Contending in the epic wrestling match for worst Treasure Island toxin against radioactive material and the colossal chemical contamination, the island’s “mold monster” may have won the battle in epidemic proportions. Residents widely report respiratory problems and asthma from living in mold-saturated structures.”
August:
Mold becomes latest health concern on Treasure Island
http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Mold-becomes-latest-health-concern-on-Treasure-5415674.php
September:
Part 3B: Toxic stachybotrys mold, the silent killer, sickens Treasure Island family
http://sfbayview.com/2015/09/part-3b-toxic-stachybotrys-mold-the-silent-killer-sickens-treasure-island-family/
wearyant
September 16, 2015
Always great to hear from the General W, especially when NW sound so refreshed, content and peaceful. From your happy encampment our continuing conflict with the knuckleheads at the crystal palace promise endless entertainment. Your observations are still right-on even from afar. Interesting tidbit to me that the pretty face Kamala “knew” Willie. And long live the ACJ and Wendy D.
unionman575
September 17, 2015
Thanks for the b-day best wishes General. The Mrs. bought me a Rolex.