Public confidence is at stake

George

By Ronald M. George
Chief Justice, California Supreme Court

The judicial branch has taken seriously its stewardship of the resources the legislature has allocated to us. Starting with the budget process in 2001, as California's economic situation became more uncertain, we withdrew $213 million from our budget request. As the budget crisis deepened, we initiated measures to cut expenditures, while attempting to minimize the effect on services that have been provided to the public.

But already some of the progress that we have made in expanding access to the courts is beginning to be adversely affected, and future cuts threaten to undo major benefits that have been provided to the public. Access to justice is being jeopardized and diminished in ways that directly affect individuals who need and deserve court services - especially in the areas of civil and family law.

Courts rely on the trust and confidence of those they serve in order to function effectively - and we risk undermining the public's faith in our justice system if we cannot provide the services that make our system truly accessible to all. But in those programs reliant on sufficient court resources, we are seeing an erosion in some services due to cuts that have been imposed. This is not a matter of inconvenience to the courts; it is a matter of depriving individuals of the meaningful access to justice they desperately need.

For example, the closure of Family Law Information Centers, which already has begun in some areas, poses significant risks for victims of violence.

On a single day recently, the Los Angeles Family Law Information center served 91 individuals but had to turn away 16 others. Among those who could not be helped was a mother whose 9-year-old child had not been returned by his father after a visit. The mother was unable to get help in obtaining the emergency order she needed to have her child returned home.

Other individuals in courts such as the Superior Court of Yolo County are suffering delays in obtaining domestic violence restraining orders because of cutbacks in court staff and court hours.

Also being curtailed are other basic services for the public, such as court-provided mediators and court-appointed special advocates, whose role is to monitor and advocate for children in the system. And some programs previously available for the indigent are simply likely to be eliminated entirely.

Nor will the effects of cutbacks in court funding be limited to the poor. For example, if the governor's proposals for the courts are not passed, the complex litigation program will be at risk. This program, now in place in the larger counties in the state, has proved invaluable in effectively and expeditiously handling matters of substantial concern to the business community, as well as to consumers affected by mass torts, complex construction-defect cases and similar matters. Defunding this important program would send a most unfortunate message to injured plaintiffs as well as businesses interested in ensuring the speedy and effective resolution of their disputes.

In fact, every type of civil and family law case will be affected negatively if budget cuts dig deeper into the heart of our justice system. Two courthouses have been closed in Riverside County. In Orange County, night court operations designed to help working families have been reduced from weekly to monthly. In Alameda County, courts are closing at 4:30 p.m., and jurors are being sent home early. This may increase the time jurors will have to serve as well as increase the costs of litigation.

In Riverside County, public service counters are closing at 4 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. Smaller courts have instituted mandatory furloughs for workers, and in Los Angeles some layoffs already have been implemented and the closure of several courthouses is under consideration.

Every trial court in the state is considering or already implementing similar measures. Almost every type of court service is under scrutiny and in danger of reduction or elimination - and the burden falls on the public, which increasingly cannot obtain needed services in a timely fashion.

The appellate courts, including the Supreme Court, also are taking actions that may result in significant delays in pending matters. We have notified the Habeas Corpus Resource Center and the Capital Assistance Project - which handle the defense of death penalty cases - that their budgets will be cut as well.

After having implemented a broad series of measures over the past several years to improve the Supreme Court's ability to attract counsel to handle death penalty cases and to expedite the fair and effective resolution of these matters, we have begun to see concrete progress - all of which may be lost.

It is particularly difficult for courts to absorb large across-the-board reductions, because so many of their functions are mandated by law. Criminal cases must be timely processed or the courts lose jurisdiction. Our state Constitution prohibits the reduction of judicial salaries during a judge's term of office.

Security is necessary to protect not just those who work in our courthouses but also the litigants, lawyers, witnesses, jurors and public at large. Interpreters, who translate more than 100 languages in our courts, must be provided for those who otherwise cannot participate in the proceedings.

Providing counsel for indigent criminal defendants is constitutionally mandated - and that expense alone often constitutes more than 33 percent of an appellate court's budget. Much of the mandatory work of the courts involves performing a vital public safety function, and courts must devote their resources to meeting this obligation.

A strong justice system is essential to a great governmental system. Denying meaningful access to justice deprives those affected of the benefits of a basic cornerstone of our democracy. The budget crisis should not and must not be allowed to undermine the public's confidence in the administration of justice in our state - particularly when we have made such extraordinary and valuable progress, and at a time when preserving and promoting the freedoms, values and rights that are fundamental to our nation are so clearly in the forefront of all our thoughts.