Linda Mascorro has worked at the Pomona court for 19 years, and when she read that a new computer system to link California’s courthouses could cost $2 billion, she said, “I was shocked. How do they justify any of this? They’re serving justice, how do they justify this to the public?”
The courts’ massive spending on computer systems and new courthouses is happening without public debate or legislative oversight, the Daily Journal and Sacramento Bee have reported. Meanwhile courts are closed one day a month, and employees like Mascorro who deal with family law say that’s disrupting services to families and children, failing to address rising elder abuse and adding to backlogs.
Accountability in the state’s sprawling court system is the topic of a special legislative hearing in Sacramento on October 28.
Court Employees Launch 4-Point Plan for Open Courts
Court employees have linked up with judges, law enforcement and children’s advocates to demand that the Administrative Office of the Courts, which oversees California’s busy trial courts, crack open its books and share its priorities with the public. Unlike nearly every state agency, the $3.6-billion courts bureaucracy is not required to hold public meetings, release its budgets or require independent audits. Before the hearing they released a four-point accountability plan:
- Prioritize serving and protecting the public
- Open records and budgets
- Open meetings
- Require independent audits
Click here to read our Accountability Plan for AOC (pdf)
$2 Billion and Counting for Computers at the Courts
The court’s $2 billion case management system is exhibit A in the call for accountability. Court employees say that using technology to shorten waits and improve access to the courts should be a top priority. But those who have used it question whether it is worth the expense in the current economic crisis.
“How much more money are the courts going to have to spend to fix problems with this system — and make it truly useful for the public?” asked Helen Ariizumi, Court Services Assistant III at the Alhambra courthouse.
She said that unlike the current system the massive new program did not allow electronic filing. “For people who don’t live near court, or who work and can’t come into our courts during business hours, they’re taking away a great service.”
While the system may benefit those filing multiple cases, a cumbersome data-entry process has added to wait times for average court users – those most affected by the poor economy and the court closures.
Judges Join Court Employees’ Call for Open Courts
Dozens of judges across the state have joined with court employees and law enforcement in calling for open courts and open books.
“Our priorities have always been that the courts remain open under all circumstances,” said Tom Hollenhorst, associate justice of the state Court of Appeal, on a conference call with reporters. “Closures have a terrible effect on the court system.”
The AOC is supposed to be accountable to the Legislature, but the Sacramento Bee and Daily Journal have detailed how top court leaders have made spending decisions in secret and failed to disclose financial information to the public. Click here to read the Daily Journal story on our website.
While county courts have been forced to lay off employees and cut services, the AOC continues to hire high-priced employees. In fact, the AOC staff has grown from 490 to 901 since 2004, and the AOC continues to hire despite a hiring freeze. One-third of AOC employees earn at least $100,000 a year.
The Center for Public Accountability at SEIU 721 filed a routine request for public information in September: who works at the state’s Administrative Office of the Courts and how much they get paid. According to a 2007 Supreme Court opinion by Chief Justice Ron George, salary information is “in many cases necessary to disclose inefficiency, favoritism, nepotism and fraud with respect to the government’s use of public funds.” Despite that, the Center has not received a response.
The AOC continues to fund their wish list on the backs of the taxpayers, the court workers, and the vulnerability of the public, with arrogance and no oversight. SEIU is doing the public a huge service by exposing their waste and the out-of-control bloat of their bureaucracy. Keep up the good fight.