Although projections about California’s budget deficit have improved dramatically of late, the judiciary continues to be hammered, it seems, almost on a weekly basis.

Last week, Judge Steven Jahr, administrative director of the courts, set off alarm bells when he wrote in a memo that Governor Jerry Brown was planning to grab $200 million from judiciary reserves a year earlier than the state’s 2012-13 budget indicated. Jahr warned that the cuts would have a “disastrous impact” on court operations and “would further cripple our justice system.”

Brian Kabateck, president of Consumer Attorneys of California, told the Sacramento Bee that civil court services might take the biggest hit. “Anything from civil jury trials to domestic violence services to small claims are going to suffer,” he said. “They're going to chop the easiest civil things they can first because they need to provide constitutionally protected services like criminal court.”

The governor and the Legislature slashed $540 million from the judiciary this year, resulting in service reductions and delayed construction. Reserve funds are counted on to help cushion the blow from those cuts and, in some cases, have already been committed.

State general fund support for the courts has dropped from $2.2 billion in 2008-2009 to $1.3 billion this year. The state’s 58 trial courts, in their 400 facilities, consume most of those funds. During the preceding three lean fiscal years, all but four of the courts left vacancies unfilled and 47 of them assigned furlough days. More than half reduced clerk hours and family law assistance, 25 had staff layoffs, 23 closed courtrooms and 10 closed courthouses. 

Last month, Los Angeles Superior Court officials said they plan to close 10 regional courthouses because of a projected $50 to $80 million budget shortfall. L.A. County’s 9.9 million residents can expect longer lines and slower case resolution.

Nearly half of this year’s $540 million in cuts ($240 million) came in the courthouse construction program, setting off a competition that pit one judge against another in public combat for precious dollars. Justice Brad Hall, who chaired a committee that hacked away at funding requests, said, “I feel like we're in a Jerry Lewis telethon with the numbers clicking behind us.”   

In June, the Legislature shut down a half-built, billion-dollar online database-driven judicial computer system that would have replaced 70 legacy systems and linked courtrooms, law enforcement and the public. 

H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the state Department of Finance, said no final decisions to sweep the judicial reserve funds have been made. Chief Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye is scheduled to meet with Governor Brown on December 12 to talk about the proposal.

–Ken Broder

To Learn More:

Judiciary Warns Brown Is Preparing Another Cut to Court Budgets (by Kevin Yamamura, Sacramento Bee)

Governor Sweeps Funds Out From Under California's 58 Trial Courts (by Maria Dinzeo, Courthouse News Service)

Potential Early Sweep of Trial Court Fund Balances (Letter from Judge Steven Jahr) (pdf)

Budget Shortfall Closes 10 Los Angeles Courthouses (by Jennifer Smith, Wall Street Journal)

The 2012-13 Budget: Managing Ongoing Reductions to the Judicial Branch (Legislative Analyst’s Office)

Courts Compete for Sparse Dollars: It’s “Like We’re in a Jerry Lewis Telethon” (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)