SEIU 721 President Bob Schoonover issued the following statement in response to a report from the Judicial Council that recognizes the need for action to protect Los Angeles courts from devastating cuts. "The level of reductions facing LA Superior Court, like all other courts in the state, is staggering," the report stated. The report called for "funding solutions" including transferring money from court construction projects.

 

"A short time ago California's court leaders accused the Los Angeles Superior Court of being Chicken Little when it warned of major cuts to the judicial system. Now the Judicial Council and its administrative arm, the Administrative Office of the Courts, have finally acknowledged that the Los Angeles Superior Court and very likely other courts around the state are in dire straits."

"If this acknowledgment had come two months ago, we might have been able to prevent 329 layoffs and court closures that are causing justice in Los Angeles to deteriorate. L.A. Superior Court Judge McCoy has been raising the alarm for months and requested bridge funding in February.

"Now, the AOC and the L.A. court both acknowledge that the situation is critical. If Los Angeles loses 23% of its staff over the next three years, it's going to affect 100,000 people who use the courts every day.  The L.A. court projects those losses to be at 30%, based on real salary numbers rather than on the average numbers the AOC uses.

"But however you look at the numbers, the problem is indeed 'staggering' and it's not going away. The AOC now concedes that every possible step must be taken, including using construction funds, to keep courts open for the public across California. This is what SEIU, law enforcement officers, children's advocates, and local judges have spent the last 6 months fighting for.

"We hope California court leaders look not just at one-time fixes but ongoing and comprehensive solutions to our courts' financial crisis. "
 
"And we hope they move immediately to embrace the oversight and accountability that could have delivered independent analysis and action much more swiftly. That's why we are supporting a bill, AB 2521, that will require a truly independent look at both local courts' and the AOC's books."

 

 

Click here to view more photos from the March for Justice

200 LA County court employees filled the steps of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Downtown LA on Wednesday, March 17. They came to dramatize the impact of layoffs and court closures on the families, children and crime victims who use the court every day.

Courts were closed because of budget cuts, but employees held signs reading "Families and Children Can't Wait" that looked like take-a-number tickets.

Emily Martin (far right in photo), who scans documents for court records at the Mosk courthouse, was there with Bernadette Jaramillo and Jorge Becerra. They had been laid off the day before but were showing their support for other court employees.

"I don't see how they're going to be able to do their business," said Becerra.

Jaramillo, who has a 16-year-old daughter, said she had started looking for work. "I have a court order for child support but because her father is out of work I can't collect," she said.

Martin wasn't looking forward to going back to a courthouse where 10 of her co-workers lost their jobs. "It's empty," she said. "It's just us and a pile of work."

Legislature Needs to Act for Equal Justice

SEIU 721 members called on the Legislature to take action to prevent even deeper cuts to the courts planned for September.

"It doesn't make sense to close courtrooms, shut down courthouses, and lay off employees on the one hand, and continue to spend a million dollars a day on a computer system," said Court Reporter Arnella Sims. "We're going to win our fight as long as we stay together."

As the LA Court laid off 329 employees, KABC-7 reported that "a lot of those layoffs are in family court, specialists and mental health advisors who meet families before their court appearance.... Children will suffer the most."

LA County court employees march for justice Wednesday, March 17, starting at 11:30 AM at Stanley Mosk Courthouse on 1st and Hill. They will say that "families and children can't wait for justice." Click here to learn more.

As shrinking LA Courts lay off 329 employees, we're marching for justice.

Thousands of people depend on the LA County courts for fair justice. On Tuesday, March 16, the court laid off 329 employees - with hundreds more to follow unless the Legislature redirects funding to help California's busiest courts.

Download the flyer (pdf)

Assemblyman Hector De La Torre knows about why functioning courts matter for LA businesses and families. "Government accountability means making sure that the public's interest is prioritized above everything else: essential court functions must be preserved," he wrote in an op-ed in the Daily News.

He called on the Administrative Office of the Courts to "reshuffle their priorities to keep the courthouse doors open with needed staff to serve the public." Read the full article below.

Open letter to LA court employees from SEIU 721 bargaining team leaders, AFSCME and CWA-CFI (interpreters).

Dear Court Employees,

For months LA Superior Court has warned that layoffs in the worsening economy could come as early as April. On Friday, February 19, the court formally started the process of implementing layoffs.

Representatives from AFSCME, SEIU 721 and CWA-CFI met for a discussion with LA Superior Court management about layoff procedures, including cascading, assignment transfers as well as a review of the layoff policy for impacted employees.

Court employees can access the final classification ranking list through the LA Court intranet.

This was the first of several meetings that will occur before any layoffs take place.

We are working to ensure contractors and working retirees are laid off before any permanent employees.

Our efforts continue to obtain additional funding to avoid as many layoffs as possible -- now and for the next fiscal year. Court employees are making phone calls and asking legislators to redirect funding for the expensive case management system to court operations.

We urge your continued participation in efforts by union members to stop the layoffs and closure of courts.

SEIU 721
Linda Mascorro, Legal Processing Unit
Pearl Romero, Supervisory Unit
Gaye Limon, Court Reporters

AFSCME
Gwendolyn Jones, Local 575
Mary Olenick, Local 910
Sharis R. Peters, Local 276
Karen Norwood, Local 3302

CWA-CFI
Eliza Chavez-Fraga, vice president

 

by Arnella Sims
Los Angeles County court reporter and member of the SEIU Local 721 executive board

(This opinion piece appeared in the Los Angeles Times online edition.)

Economists, law enforcement officials and political and business leaders all agree: A healthy economy and our civil society depend on having timely, reliable access to our justice system. But you wouldn't know it reading The Times' Feb. 10 editorial, "Rebuilding California's courts."

Even as top California court administrators have received double-digit salary increases and plunged ahead with massive expenditures on an IT project that is already 500% percent more expensive than projected in 2006, the state's Judicial Council today told Californians that budget shortfalls require keeping our state's halls of justice closed to the children, families and businesses that are counting on them. 

The state's Judicial Council, which administers courts in every county through the state's Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), voted today to continue closing courts statewide one day each month, a decision that will hurt kids and families who need timely access to the justice system.

"The court closures are putting the public in a precarious position. Already businesses, families and the public at large are feeling the impact from closed courts," Court Reporter Carolyn Dasher told the Judicial Council before the vote.

Above: Court employees Ciara Tymony and Qiana Bray beat the rain at Metropolitan Courthouse at an SEIU 721 rally over court closures

On the eve of an expected Thursday decision on whether courts across the state will remain closed to the public one day each month, approximately 100 court employees represented by SEIU Local 721 gathered outside Metropolitan courthouse in Los Angeles.

Click here to see more pictures from the rally. 

The lines at the normally busy traffic court were down to a trickle, but court employees still handed out nearly 300 flyers to frustrated people who had taken time off work only to find the court closed.

"We're issuing a lot more warrants for failure to pay, probably because of the economy. And a lot of people who show up when courts are closed can't take the time off to come back," said Josie Trejo, CSA II at Alhambra Courthouse.