One of the items we’ve heard from members of the inner circle is a talking point that dismisses current discourse and attributes it to budget cuts and the economy. Yet as JCW searches the internet for sites such as ours that specifically indict their judicial leadership, they don’t exist quite to the degree that they do in California. Admittedly, circumstance have us uncomfortably leading the charge in number of reads, number of posts, number of participants, the sharing of critical information, the generation of media attention in the form of thousands of stories in the past 3 years, attention from the other two branches of government and more than likely – the feds. IRS, FBI and a bunch of other three letter monikers. The sharks smell blood.
What we’ve managed to accomplish with our unique approach and outreach in these matters has been to get every court reform group throughout California to agree on one thing: It does not matter if you represent Family Court reform; Mothers rights, fathers rights or children’s rights; It does not matter if you represent probate and conservatorship reform; it does not matter if your cause is promoting judicial excellence, it does not matter if you are a member of a court union, a court reporters association, a bunch of former court employees from the AOC, former employees from Contra Costa Courts, former employees from the LA courts, a judges alliance or a judges association.
One certainty that has served as a consistent theme to unify us all; nothing will ever change until Judicial Council kangaroo governance is addressed and the proverbial head of the snake (being kangaroo governance and inappropriate influence) is removed and replaced with something that serves all of the people.
These voices for reform are getting louder as we all come to the realization that just like the emperor before her, our new empress has no clothes! In a number of respects, she is being painted as being more closely aligned with Imelda Marcos than to lady justice. Yet we all know and can feel the effects of those behind the curtain and many of the same old tired ploys that have been tried for years.
What also is less apparent is that a collection of independent media companies and journalists extending from the Oregon border to San Diego County is not only beginning to work with us, but they are beginning to work together because they have a stake in these reforms as highly concerned citizens. Amazingly, those who charge others thousands for their superb freelance works are beginning to brainstorm as any national news team might to produce their own stories, videos, photography and other works that will be diving deep into these issues that will be hosted here and elsewhere.
Momentum is growing.
If your organization has anything to contribute to the cause or you need resources to tell your story, please feel free to contact us directly and we’ll put you in contact with one of our sponsors or any of the independent media companies or individuals that we’re working with. It is a goal of our sponsors and those that have agreed to work with us to synchronize this effort, to expand everyone’s web presence and to organize opposition.
Simply put, we’re out to shut down the Ministry of Truth. Please join us.
Judicial Council Watcher 
unionman575
August 11, 2012
Malfeasance and mismanagement.
😉
Been There
August 11, 2012
But for . . . the bad economy the malfeasance and mismanagement would have continued largely undetected.
unionman575
August 11, 2012
It is time…
https://recalltani.wordpress.com/
😉
unionman575
August 12, 2012
Wendy Darling
August 11, 2012
Once again, it is all of us together, or none of us at all.
Long live the ACJ.
SHORTY KNOWS
August 11, 2012
The vehemence of the discourse is due to misfeasance, malfeasance and mismanagement. My trial court is getting ready for contract negotiations. Our county is urban/suburban/rural. We are one of the most underfunded courts in the system. This is publicly and privately acknowledged by AOC employees and other courts’ management. We are one of the most underfunded courts in the system because we started with a low ‘cow county’ allocation and it has never been changed. None of the allocations have ever been changed, even though the Central Valley and Inland Empire counties grew, in population. often in excess of 20 percent since 2000, while coastal counties’ populations grew much more slowly. Less than 10 percent. California, since 2000, has grown about 10 percent in population. (I know that the real measure of under and over-funding is the RAS model, but I am keeping it simple by focusing on population.) Because of our underfunding — a situation largely created by the AOC and the Judicial Council by their refusal to change allocations — the court’s employees are going to be asked to take significant pay and benefit cuts. Because the employees are somehow obligated to fill the hole created by the AOC and Judicial Council’s refusal to do their job and properly allocate. This is malfeasance.
But wait, it gets worse. Our court was saddled with CCMS. The stories of how incompetent the programming was and the program is are legion at our court. To add insult to injury, our court spent in excess of $2M of its meager budget to put CCMS in place. Money we needed. This is not the economy. This is AOC/Deloitte malfeasance.
It’s not just the economy stupid. Not by a long shot in this case.
unionman575
August 11, 2012
Please keep me posted on the contract negotiations in your trial court Shorty. Thanks.
bbqchefs1963@hushmail.com
😉
Wendy Darling
August 11, 2012
Let’s hope Shorty’s court management isn’t using the AOC and Sofa Man for their contract negotiations.
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
August 11, 2012
Namaste.
JusticeCalifornia
August 11, 2012
Is the sagging economy behind the direct or indirect discussions/charges of corruption in the biggest judiciary in the Western World? I think not.
Aren’t we ALL really dancing around the fact that “top” leadership appears to be heavily involved in criminal enterprise? How can we tell?
Let’s start by acknowledging that the CJ/JC/AOC respond to requests for information and transparency and the suggestion that the branch needs new, democratically selected leaders, like rats and roaches when the lights are suddenly turned on. They scurry and run and huddle and hide and destroy and redact and circle the rat pack/ roach wagons. They are way more concerned about circling the wagons and hiding/destroying information, and keeping ethically compromised and patently unqualified “team” faithfuls in charge than they are about the economy. Who in responsible government simply worried about the economy does that?
So let’s strip away the paper-thin veneer of respectability “top” leadership has been hiding behind, and frankly assume we are dealing with some type of organized crime– a tight circle of white collar/black robe gangsters who have engaged in lots of high-level illegal and lucrative activity which they are very obviously anxious to hide.
LOL.
Can you just imagine if everyone joined together and demanded, Demanded, DEMANDED an investigation of the financial workings of “top leadership”? The suggestion, and the request, has been made many times, and it’s an easy argument to make, with all the smoking guns lying around.
Can you imagine if there was a unified DEMAND for an official investigation that “just follows the money”. This garbage has gone on for far too long, and involves way too many people. The RICO clan cannot cover all of their tracks, although they are trying lack mad.
CAN YOU IMAGINE THE DEPTH, BREADTH AND DETAIL OF THE COLLECTIVE BODY OF DOCUMENTED KNOWLEDGE OF THOSE WHO HAVE DEALT WITH/BEEN VICTIMS OF BRANCH GANGSTERS AND ARE CALLING FOR REFORM?
Can you imagine if there existed a trusted official clearinghouse (like the BSA, the FBI, the US Attorney), for all this knowledge, so the intricate web-like connecting of the dots could begin?
And hey, I don’t think those three-letter agencies are bogged down by CCMS.
OOOOH! Did y’all just hear the gasps of panic of those in top leadership reading this?
I daresay the white-collar/black robed gangsters can run, but ultimately cannot hide. Perhaps the first major- league white-collar/black-robe gangster to turn state’s evidence will get the best treatment. I’ve always heard that it’s the cover-up that compounds the crime.
A PUBLIC, LOUD, UNIFIED, STATEWIDE DEMAND– (not polite suggestion, or request) for an official investigation of the financial dealings of our top leadership white collar/black robe RICO friends. Yep, that’s the ticket. Ever so justified by the evidence. The only ones resisting such an investigation would be those implicated by the evidence.
Just my opinion.
JusticeCalifornia
August 11, 2012
And I really love how corrupt branch “leadership” has solicited/ compromised intelligent lawyer/leaders for years.
Dunn, Steinberg, Feuer — all bright, experienced, charismatic, savvy lawyers-turned legislative “top” leadership cheerleaders –nuff said. You guys understand the game and how it is played, and how you helped orchestrate the current judicial branch crisis, and where the lay of the land now is. You set the example for the bar. Walk your talk. Show us. Be an example to the bar. Do what you must to clean up the mess.
JusticeCalifornia
August 11, 2012
Cold Day Rain, it’s gotta be an ethically-impeccable, neutral, official investigation. If it’s another farce, we will all know, and the link to corruption will go further up the publicly funded food chain.
courtflea
August 11, 2012
Cold, CA aint PA because corruption has been there for generations. Were just getting started here. I hope it does not take as long as it did in PA to have justice served on the corrupt. Ask Geoff Gallas about PA sometime.
unionman575
August 11, 2012
http://www.ncsconline.org/D_ICM/about_icm/staff.asp
Geoff Gallas = NCSC (not my favorite group of folks)
Wombat
August 23, 2012
This is the old website. Geoff has not been with the NCSC for quite awhile.
Anon
August 12, 2012
Excellent comments.
Does California really have a gambling barmaid as chief justice ? Ex of Willie Brown (40 year his junior) as attorney general ? Whatever happened to common sense?
Wendy Darling
August 12, 2012
“The only thing common about common sense is just how uncommon it is.” — Will Rogers
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
August 12, 2012
Common sense left long ago. We are left with imcompetence, graft and corruption.
courtflea
August 12, 2012
Anon, don’t leave out Bill Lockyer and his wife former Oakland politico.
Unionman, the Nation Center does have good folks just like the AOC. What they do at the top, well that is another thing. I personally have had nothing but good experiences with them.
unionman575
August 12, 2012
http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/08/12/2950071/states-long-judicial-battle-still.html
State’s long judicial battle still raging
By Dan Walters – The Sacramento Bee
Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012 | 08:11 PM
For years, hundreds of Superior Court judges have waged a political rebellion against what they considered to be an oppressive and bloated state judicial bureaucracy based in San Francisco.
The rebels, gathered under the banner of the Alliance of California Judges, alleged that the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), an arm of the State Judicial Council, was wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on itself, on an unworkable computer system, and on a grandiose courthouse construction program while starving local courts.
The rebellion, stemming from a state takeover of local court financing in the 1990s, erupted during former Chief Justice Ron George’s reign, and Tani Cantil-Sakauye inherited it when she succeeded George in 2010.
Cantil-Sakauye tried to steer a center course, pledging to enact reforms while opposing legislation that would reduce the AOC’s authority over local court budgets. She denounced the measure, backed by rebel judges and unions representing court employees, as an intrusion on judicial independence.
In the last few months, however, the rebels scored a series of stunning victories. The Judicial Council abandoned the controversial computer system, a “Strategic Evaluation Committee” appointed by Cantil-Sakauye issued a massive report that agreed with much of what the Alliance of California Judges had been alleging about the AOC’s high-handedness, and a budget “trailer bill” enacted in June included restrictions on the AOC’s financial power that the rebels had sought.
The critical report and pressure from the Service Employees International Union clearly played central roles in getting the legislation passed, overcoming reportedly heavy opposition from AOC lobbyists.
Cantil-Sakauye declared herself to be “pleased.”
Does that mean the civil war that has ripped apart the state’s judiciary is settled? Hardly.
The trailer bill that so pleased the rebels is an adjunct to a new state budget that slashes judicial support again.
Meanwhile, conflicts over the Strategic Evaluation Committee’s reform recommendations are emerging.
Hundreds of judges have posted comments on the Judicial Council’s website, most demanding that the reforms be activated. But the Alliance of California Judges fears they will be buried.
unionman575
August 12, 2012
Need an AOC job? The Death Star is hiring here:
https://careers.jud.ca.gov/psc/recruit1/EMPLOYEE/PSFT_HR/c/HRS_HRAM.HRS_CE.GBL?FolderPath=PORTAL_ROOT_OBJECT.HC_HRS_CE_GBL2&IsFolder=false&IgnoreParamTempl=FolderPath%2cIsFolder&
unionman575
August 12, 2012
And I thought they weren’t hring at the Death Star.
Wendy Darling
August 12, 2012
Proposed entry for Deliah’s Dictionary:
“AOC Hiring Freeze” =’s hiring like crazy.
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
August 12, 2012
That’s a good one Wendy.
😉
Wendy Darling
August 12, 2012
You just can’t make this stuff up, Unionman. Really.
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
August 12, 2012
I know
SHORTY KNOWS
August 14, 2012
The jobs listed today are all appellate court and Habeas Corpus Resource Center jobs. If we would get rid of the death penalty we could downsize the HCRC and the Supreme Court. LWOP works.
unionman575
August 12, 2012
Next Meeting at the Death Star 8-30-12 & 8-31-12:
http://www.courts.ca.gov/jcmeetings.htm
unionman575
August 12, 2012
Let’s all not forget the OCCM shindig here:
Click to access OCCM12-01.pdf
unionman575
August 12, 2012
I can’t wait to see all the make believe OCCM cost “savings”.
Get me a bucket!
unionman575
August 12, 2012
Well said Anonymous.
😉
unionman575
August 12, 2012
unionman575
August 12, 2012
http://www.courts.ca.gov/12973.htm
Former AOCer
August 13, 2012
Cold-if you are going to state what is not factual, please identify the statements. Sure there are some issues that may not hold your interest and be better placed on “TMZ”, but the basic message on this blog has merit. Typos abound, rumors are posted, vulgarity is not uncommon, but most of us can breeze past that, and focus on the important matters.
unionman575
August 13, 2012
I agree with you Former.
Guest
August 13, 2012
The economy isn’t bad for everybody in California. Mr. Jahr just got approved to double dip his judge retirement with a $250,000 salary to “lead” the branch. This is happening under the cj’s nose. That would be like the Senate leader in California announcing a salary freeze AFTER all staffers got raises. Oh yea, that happened too.
JusticeCalifornia
August 13, 2012
So Jahr can do as he’s told, tow the party line and get roughly a cool half-mil plus famous fabulous benefits, or rock the boat and exit the scene (so sorry, didn’t work out) and get his regular judge’s retirement.
Wow, sounds a lot like his former “retired” Shasta County benchmate Halpin’s 19-year “temporary” assigned judge gig.
Bought and paid for all the way.
Been There
August 13, 2012
And best of all, the lucky Mr. Jahr was the best qualified candidate found – after a national search no less! There is hope in California for the underqualified! Right, Tani?
Judicial Council Watcher
August 13, 2012
Please note that this thread has been groomed for the following reason that can be found on the about and privacy page. Personally attacking or insulting moderators, or other posters or this site because they disagree with you does not promote the merits of your argument nor is it the kind of free speech we’re required to tolerate.
“Judicial Council Watcher is not the place to launch attacks against judicial officers for their work from the bench, nor is it a place to discuss your legal case if it is not directly tied to the judicial council or the AOC. This site does not represent a free-for-all against our court system as we believe an effective justice system for all is essential. We reserve the right to edit and/or delete posts that attack judicial officers for their work from the bench or for discussing your case when it is not specifically related to the judicial council or the AOC. We do however welcome you to avail yourself of using a signature line to point to your own website when posting here.”
Mr. Rain operates his own web site and is welcome to post his vitriol there.
Judicial Council Watcher
August 14, 2012
Interestingly, in response to this post above regarding our notice of grooming, we received three emails – all from litigants who are all outing judges for their rulings from the bench – (ie nipping at the heels of the problem) decrying our refusal to participate and go after judges for their work from the bench.
Trickle-down dysfunction (Thanks Mr. Phillips!) starts at the top. Without putting in-place a rigorous structure of transparency and accountability at the top of the organization, these litigants all fail to understand that there is no hope for them and there is no hope for change. While they continue to nip at the heels of the issue, we’ll concentrate our efforts on changing the governance structure and instituting rigorous checks and balances – ie, trying to get others to do their jobs.
Cole Day Rain
August 14, 2012
Snot gonna work any better than the litigants you scoff.
Judicial Council Watcher
August 14, 2012
Many other litigants see it as a compound problem, participate here and abide by our guidelines, are respectful of other participants, yet also maintain their own websites that tell their stories. What they do over on their sites is their choice. We would beg to differ on the issues of effectiveness in approach. There are people throughout government and the media that read and participate in this site. Some check it multiple times per day. The numbers clearly show that when we’ve made the mistake of allowing someone to become unglued here, that participation dwindles – but the amount of reads doesn’t.
Not attacking judicial officers (or allowing others to attack judicial officers) for their work from the bench is also a precondition of the media companies that underwrite our endeavors. Those same companies have declared open season on administrative acts. If you can convince those company owners that we’re wrong and you’re right, I would imagine they will underwrite your endeavors as well. After all, they underwrite several similar efforts.
JusticeCalifornia
August 13, 2012
Cold, I am not going to study the facts of your case, or comment on them. I cannot tell you how many litigants in the family court system fervently believe that their case is THE leading case of corruption, and if it just got enough press the branch would be blown out of the water. You are preaching to the choir if you want people to agree the family law system sucks.
The CFCC with a) its access to justice grant program which pushes supervised visitation for good, and good-enough parents — as well as abusers; b) its often poorly trained recommending mediators who do one-hour hit and run, necessarily superficial–and usually life altering– custody recommendations; and c) its extreme emphasis on use of experts of all kinds, willing to spout psychobabble of all kinds, for a price — FACILITATES the bankrupting of families, and the brutal and often inappropriate separation and of good mothers and fathers from their children. Children are being yanked unceremoniously from loving parents without so much as a chance to say goodbye– and then they are only able to see those parents in a bizarre supervised environment. An entire generation of parents and children are suffering the devastating results of all of the above are. PTSD is everywhere. But cha ching, cha-ching –keep those access to visitation grants coming on in.. . (one reason I love the SEC tail-wagging-dog comments about grants).
Yes, the family court system is very broken. BUT THIS IS NOT A FORUM TO ATTACK ALL JUDGES, OR TO OBSESS ABOUT ONE’S OWN CASE.
Some of us are strident, or sarcastic, or disrespectful as heck of those whom we believe deserve no respect, and we often joke around (flea, I told you we would get in trouble for joking around about sheath dresses and pearls) but ultimately most of us completely appreciate the ACJ, AOC Watcher, and JCW, and the members of the legislature and their kick-ass aides, and the union members and court employees, and the longtime bloggers here, and all those from all walks of life who are unified in CALLING FOR INVESTIGATIONS OF THE FINANCIAL AFFAIRS OF THE JC/AOC, and DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE JUDICIAL COUNCIL. Seriously, after what has gone down, how can anyone argue against those two goals?
I have an entire laundry list of other goals based on my experience and perspective and I am not shy about sharing my views (which I am certain make judges cringe at times), but when it comes right down to it, corruption starts at the top and trickles down, and we here shamelessly rally around basic goals aimed at killing the head of the snake — like financial investigation/oversight of the JC/AOC and eliminating unilateral appointment of an insular few to “rule” the branch.
That is, after all, the stated mission of this particular blog.
Dan Dydzak
August 13, 2012
So far, I have not seen Mr. Jahr, the CJ, the California Supreme Court or any responsible AOC official call for implementation of the SEC recommendations. Has CJ Tani ever made a public statement or issued a press release that she is willing to do that? Or issue a public statement or issue a press statement with Mr. Jahr and other “responsible” people around them that Mr. Thor is coming home and that there is an accounting and audit? No.
The late Louis Nizer, Esq. formulated a well-known theory which he used time and again in cases, The Rule of Probability. If Tani and her crew were not hiding things, they would
(1) make an accounting; (2) do an audit; (3) get rid of Thor; (4) demoncracize the Judicial Council; and (4) do other things to clean up the mess. The inaction is a testament to Nizer’s Rule.
courtflea
August 13, 2012
Justice CA, if I had only listened! In the future I will forgo my ration of meow mix 😉
courtflea
August 13, 2012
Since no JC agenda is posted yet, does anyone know which day of the meeting the SEC report will be shoved under the carpet?
unionman575
August 13, 2012
My guess is day 2 in the afternoon when everyone has tired of the 2 day JC endurance race.
unionman575
August 13, 2012
Click to access 08-12summary.pdf
CA Controller Releases July Cash Update
unionman575
August 13, 2012
Click to access 68106-Lake-20120731.pdf
LAKE: 16 Court Closure DAYS in Fiscal Year 2012-13.
Hey Jahr & Co. – we could use a few more bucks in the trial courts EVERYWHERE.
unionman575
August 13, 2012
Click to access 68106-Placer-20120801.pdf
Same deal Jahr & Co.
Access to Justice is being denied EVERYWHERE
unionman575
August 13, 2012
http://www.courts.ca.gov/16794.htm
UPDATE POSTED AUG 10, 2012
Following the meeting of the Executive and Planning Committee on Aug 9, committee chair Justice Douglas Miller released this statement:
“Our committee’s all-day discussions concerning recommendations from the Chief Justices’ Strategic Evaluation Committee were tremendously productive and successful. We completed a review of all the SEC recommendations except for 19, and we expect to have the review completed by the time of the council meeting (Aug 30). At this time, we plan to recommend to the Judicial Council that the bulk of the SEC recommendations be accepted by the council, and we will issue a detailed report of our recommendations before the next council meeting on August 30 and 31st. Our discussion today was enriched by the presence of the President of the California Judges Association, San Diego Judge David Rubin, as well as the SEC Chair and Vice Chair, Assistant Presiding Judge Charles D. Wachob of the Superior Court of Placer County and Presiding Judge Brian L. McCabe of the Superior Court of Merced and Presiding Judge Sherrill Ellsworth of the Superior Court of Riverside County. Judge Steve Jahr, the incoming Administrative Director of the Courts, was also a helpful and necessary participant.”
The Judicial Council meeting agenda for Aug 30-31 will be posted here approximately one week prior and will contain a link to the committee’s report.
Been There
August 13, 2012
So non E&P members were present by invitation, but the meeting could not be public? I am confused.
unionman575
August 13, 2012
We are all “confused”.
😉
unionman575
August 13, 2012
We should have all gone there as invited guests. Me, you, JCW, everyone.
unionman575
August 13, 2012
http://www.courts.ca.gov/18467.htm
Just a little reminder to the JC from the link above:
o The Executive & Planning Committee will report back to the council at its August meeting with the comments received, a list of priorities that the council should focus on, and a proposed timeline for acting on the recommendations.
o “We have heard many thoughtful comments today and over the last several weeks about the SEC’s recommendations,” said Justice Douglas Miller, chair of the council’s Executive & Planning Committee. “We are fully committed to this report and our process, and take full responsibility for preserving its integrity.”
unionman575
August 13, 2012
unionman575
August 13, 2012
Uh oh more problems for “Hot Rod” in San Diego…
http://www.sdcourt.ca.gov/portal/page?_pageid=55,1816536&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
Budget Reduction Public Notices/Invitation to Comment
unionman575
August 13, 2012
http://thecoastnews.com/2012/08/state-budget-cuts-lead-to-september-closure-of-vista-courthouse/
More “Hot Rod” news.
unionman575
August 13, 2012
Is it just me, or is it my imagination??? …. The AOC keeps building new Taj Majals and almost every court in the state is CLOSING EXISTING COURTHOUSES and laying off staff.
Wendy Darling
August 13, 2012
Nope, not your imagination Unionman.
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
August 13, 2012
Thanks.
Wendy Darling
August 13, 2012
Where’s a Grand Jury when you really need one?
unionman575
August 13, 2012
Make that a Federal Grand Jury please.
😉
unionman575
August 13, 2012
These are going to be 2 red hot fiscal issue as cities and counties struggle with the AOC as court services are reduced by courthouse closures and other trial court service reductions… Watch.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/07/20/2916909/video-hoped-to-ease-fresno-county.html
Video hoped to ease Fresno County court closures
County plans to use video-conferencing.
By Kurtis Alexander – The Fresno Bee
Friday, Jul. 20, 2012 | 11:22 PM
After weeks of fielding criticism for plans to close seven courthouses, Fresno County’s presiding judge offered a small concession this week.
Superior Court Judge Gary Hoff says many of those inconvenienced by having to take their court business elsewhere will have the option of staying put and contacting the court through video-conferencing.
In coming months, the court plans to link residents in at least two yet-to-be-determined rural sites with judges in Fresno courtrooms via computer network, initially for traffic and truancy cases.
“If this is successful,” Hoff said, “we could expand the program, which would mitigate some of the issues the cities in the outlying areas have raised.”
But for some of those affected, Hoff’s plan appears to be too little, too late. City and county leaders who have criticized the court closures as limiting access to justice say video-conferencing may be better than closing a courthouse, but it’s no substitute.
Critics are stepping up their protest. The county this week told state court officials that it no longer wants to pay full price for what the state bills counties for court services. Mayors in 14 Fresno County cities have recently signed a letter of dissent. And the city of Mendota is sending its gripes straight to the governor.
Unless the protest bears fruit, though, courthouses in Coalinga, Firebaugh, Reedley, Sanger and Selma will close July 30. The Clovis and Kingsburg courthouses will follow suit Aug. 6.
The closures, which are the result of state funding cuts, mean all court matters will be handled in the city of Fresno — traffic, civil, family law, probate and criminal cases.
“It’s like 40 miles to the court,” Mendota Mayor Robert Silva said. “That’s a major problem. People in our particular area, if they’re working, they’ll have to take the entire day off.”
Council members in other cities have said the same, including in Coalinga, where residents will have to travel some 70 miles to get to a courtroom.
Many residents of these rural cities, home to some of the Valley’s poorest neighborhoods, don’t have cars.
County officials have been critical of the courtroom closures since they were announced in May. But officials waded deeper into the debate this week after receiving a letter, which they called inappropriate, from the California Administrative Office of the Courts.
The state office has asked the county whether it wants to buy the Clovis Courthouse after it closes — at “market value.” The problem for the county is that it originally owned some of the courthouses, including Clovis, and transferred them to the state for free.
“So, you can buy your buildings back, and we’re shutting your courthouses down. How is this good?” county Supervisor Debbie Poochigian said. “They should give the buildings back to us, and what we choose to do with them, that’s up to us.”
A response by the county to the Office of the Courts says that court facilities in Reedley, Firebaugh and Clovis should revert back to county ownership under the same terms in which they were deeded to the state. (County officials have not said what they would do with the buildings.)
The county’s letter to the Office of the Courts also asks that the county’s roughly $13 million annual bill for state court operations be reduced. Since the state took over court financing in the late 1990s, counties have been billed for a share of the court costs.
The fee “was predicated with the understanding that there would be a certain level of service to the unincorporated communities. That’s no longer the case,” County Administrative Officer John Navarrette said.
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/07/20/2916909/video-hoped-to-ease-fresno-county.html#storylink=cpy
Wendy Darling
August 13, 2012
“But officials waded deeper into the debate this week after receiving a letter, which they called inappropriate, from the California Administrative Office of the Courts. The state office has asked the county whether it wants to buy the Clovis Courthouse after it closes — at “market value.” The problem for the county is that it originally owned some of the courthouses, including Clovis, and transferred them to the state for free.”
Now, courtrooms and courthouses aren’t just being closed – the AOC is trying to sell them back to the counties, even when the courthouses were transferred to the AOC for free. That is really deep down the rabbit hole.
One wonders if the AOC bothered to tell the State Legislature that they have entered into the business of selling courthouses.
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
August 13, 2012
There is more where that came from Wendy…that is but one of many AOC snafus in the works. This is the dirty side of life at its finest – AOC Style.
OMG I smell a skunk.
unionman575
August 13, 2012
No that slipped their mind over at the Death Star.
Here let me hang the shingle out here for the AOC for free:
“For Sale – Slightly used, dillapidated courthouses for sale – get them before they collapse from lack of basic maintenance and repair”.
As Michael Paul all about this stuff – he knows far more than I do.
Think of me like a one track mind kind of guy – I follow the money – kind of like a nice, ethical Steve Nash for US here on JCW, the good guys.
😉
Wendy Darling
August 13, 2012
Comparing the smell eminating from 455 Golden Gate Avenue to skunks is an insult to skunks everywhere. 🙂
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
August 13, 2012
My apologies to skunks Wendy.
How’s this instead?
Wendy Darling
August 13, 2012
THAT would be the smell from 455 Golden Gate Avenue – fermenting sewage.
Long live the ACJ.
Judicial Council Watcher
August 14, 2012
Two red hot fiscal issues indeed and very telling.
The AOC is not looking at ever re-opening these courthouses but instead is looking to sell them off.
Some time ago we heard that the reason for this selloff is that the AOC does not want to maintain the courthouses if they’re no longer being used. In some areas of California, old courthouses are turning into public dumping grounds and the buildings are being vandalized and strewn with graffitti BEFORE the AOC puts up 14+ high Constantine wire topped fences around the properties – but only after hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage is done.
One is left wondering what the market value of a courthouse is when there are only two customers: The AOC and the feds. The feds have a new courthouse in Fresno. Fresno operates out of the old federal courthouse that the AOC acquired for a buck. ($1.00)
Hey, AOC, wasn’t that fair market value for the Fresno courthouse?
You’re correct. The maintenance of effort payments are hard to swallow when there is no maintenance of effort. King George also had the vision of the King George Justice Centers, Inc. A collection of 58 court complexes throughout the state to be professionally maintained by Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) & Haliburton. Other services will be provided by the Carlisle group and Deloitte. It would have worked if only we would have permitted them to deploy CCMS V 4.5 – you know, the next edition that dispenses justice via interactive voice response.
“If you are pleading guilty, press 1. If you are pleading innocent, press 2. If you are pleading no contest, press 3.”
“To render your civil judgement please deposit $450.00 in quarters at the sound of the tone”
Fresno needs a “court bus system” to get people from across the county to the courts. I bet that bus system is going to cost….. about 13 mil a year to operate so that some “maintenance of effort” at serving the public is maintained.
Been There
August 14, 2012
KBR and Halliburton are well known for making obscene profits on no bid contracts for the US military in war zones — some charitably call them war profiteers. VP Cheney was CEO of Halliburton prior to 2000. The Carlisle Group — oh my, a quick Google search will disclose the heavy hitters behind that entity. Deloitte – enough said.
It would be very intriguing to find out just how King George brought these particular entities into play. They are all known for undertaking only those projects that can make their shareholders very rich — not exactly the group you would look to to run a fiscally sound, cost efficient King George Courthouses franchise. Or was that the point?
unionman575
August 14, 2012
I’ll take that 13 mil Fresno MOE bet JCW. You are right it will be 13 mil.
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unionman575
August 13, 2012
Let’s lift up the hood and see what we have here Jahr…ah the Shasta Trial Court Budget…Let’s see your work at your former trial court….
Click to access proposedbudget.pdf
Dan Dydzak
August 14, 2012
One of the large reasons the judicial system is allegedly “broke” is because of the GrandJury Rico activity by defendants named in my lawsuit. If you steal an obscene amount of money and put it through entities such as First Century Bank (which also does not return TARP monies), with the assistance of people like Sandor Samuels, Esq.–Monzillo’s sidekick at Countrywide–what does one expect. Add to that you have Kamala Harris–who does not account for the $ 560 Million Fund she is controlling–conspiring with a former AOC attorney, Peter Krause, Esq–to convert funds herself and feed her friends and campaign donors. Justice Miller says they are going to implement the SEC recommendations–what about, again, an audit and accounting and the firing and return of Mr. Thor from Geneva? Please explain, Justice Miller, why he is still there? Please explain offshore accounts and Vatican Bank dealings?
As part of the AOC RICO activity with others such as R. George where there have been attempts to “fix” my lawsuit—
In my case, DYDZAK V. DUNN et al., which asks for a receivership and audit, Judge GREGORY MUNOZ continues to NOT disqualify himself–even he though he was served with process and is a PARTY along with Justice Miller and his sister, FRANCES MUNOZ, an inactive member of the Bar and former OC Superior Court Judge–GREGORY MUNOZ is therefore wilfully violating C.C.P. 170.1(a) [judge disqualified where knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts, party and related to person within third degree].
Without divulging the specifics, a COMPLAINT WITH THE JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE COMMITTEE has been duly sent against JUDGE GREGORY MUNOZ to, you guessed it, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, SF, courtesy copy to Judith D. McConnell, Court of Appeal, a member of the Commission. McConnell, by the way, did nothing in the past about the misconduct of State Bar Judges in my matter. I guess that shows she is closely aligned to R. George and Justice Huffman.
Do any of judges engaged in RICO activities follow the Canons of Ethics?
Dan Dydzak
August 14, 2012
Inactive attorney FRANCES MUNOZ, formerly a long-time OC Judge, has been sent an email by me regarding her being named as a defendant in DYDZAK V. DUNN et al. She is a long-time protege and supporter of R. George, Carlos Moreno and also supporter of AOC and CA Supreme Court illegal activitiy. She has not responded to my email yet and explained why her brother, Judge GREGORY MUNOZ, has not disqualified himself from the case even though (1) he is a party and been served with process; (2) his older sister FRANCES MUNOZ is a party to the litigation. The ethical issues here are obvious
Dan Dydzak
August 14, 2012
To show you the extent of AOC and R. George corruption, even though he is named as party with his sister, retired Judge Frances Munoz, Judge Gregory Munoz still has not disqualified himself in Dydzak v. Dunn. This shows the extent to which my litigation has been “fixed”. There are numerous others out there whose cases have been manipulated by questionable judge assignments. Clearly, R. George’s reach was to make judges subservient to him and say, If you don’t go along with me, suffer the consequences in your career and future. Sad to say, certain judges and lawyers went along with this—-which of course compromises the fairness of the system. Mary Roberts, Beth Jay, Ronald M. George, Sarah Overton—instead of winning a case on the merits, rig it! What a sad commentary on justice in this state at the present time.
I have asked retired Judge John Trotter of JAMS in Santa Ana to mediate this dispute. Perhaps he can talk some sense to the participants.
California is supposed to be the Golden State. Not a dictatorship run by a few despots and judicial kingmakers with no integrity. If the Alliance Judges don’t step up sufficiently—and I sincerely know they are trying–Darth Vader will prevail. The Alliance Judges have to behind the scenes put an end to totalitarianism in the judicial and legal system, where justice for the connected, rich and powerful prevails over the truth. Otherwise, we might as well allow Putin and Stalin types to run the show. Legislative change is needed NOW.