Phil Matier: Emergency CA Supreme Court Meeting Over New Budget Plan
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— The chief justice of the state Supreme Court planned to hold an emergency meeting with leaders of the court system Thursday to address Governor Brown's new spending plan.
The governor's chopping block includes plans to cut money for the court system as part of his laundry list of expenditures that will be affected.
People are already standing in line for one to three hours to pay a simple parking ticket. You might not be thinking of cutting court costs until you're affected and standing in one of these long lines.
Then you come to find out about all the surcharges that have been added on to your ticket, including court construction and security fees, and it ends up doubling or tripling your fine.
Nonetheless, the judicial system is taking a hit and has been for a while. If these cuts go through (and they will, let's face it; this is basically a one-way street hearing) you'll see more reductions to the judicial system.
As for a solution to California's piecemeal approach to the solving the budget deficit, there doesn't seem to be one. We believe in the cliff approach to budgeting and democracy, where it's all or nothing.
While the chief justice will address these cuts, it remains to be seen whether or not she'll mention the half billion dollars the courts spent on a statewide computer system that went nowhere.
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