The court system has suffered profound funding losses in the past several years. Year after year the legislature cuts the court’s funding until now it has reached crisis proportions. Layoffs of court personnel have caused delays in access to the court by the public. Delays will soon turn into denial of services. Entire courthouses have been shuttered in an effort to live within the funds allowed. Civil trials have been postponed to allow the waiting criminal trials to take precedence in the few available courtrooms.
Funding the court system isn’t very popular with politicians. After all, when politicians overstep their authority where does the public go to put a stop to excess? The courts are the answer to many societal problems. Where does a civil society settle their individual grievances? It’s the court system that is the glue which holds a civilized society together. The failure to adequately fund the court system won’t just deny criminal defendants their Constitutional Rights but will add to the breakdown of society. What will people do when they don’t have access to a forum to solve their problems?
The California State Legislature must find the money to fund the system adequately. That means in their eyes, the court system needs to be a priority, not just a necessary evil. We will all be very much poorer if the recent trend of cutting the court’s funding continues.