Apologies about the late submission but this was so brilliant it needed to be posted immediately. Delilah gives you… the night before Christmas…. feel free to add a verse!
******
Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the State,
good people were acting to change the Courts’ fate.
The misdeeds and boondoggles shown everywhere,
in hopes that soon agents with cuffs would be there.
The usual suspects, in bed with Deloitte,
had visions of what funds they next could exploit.
When in Sacramento arose such a clatter,
the Gov turned his head to see what was the matter.
Department of Finance was sent to deliver
a message that made Mr. Jahr start to quiver.
Reserves would be swept, said the Gov in his wrath,
requiring the Death Star to do more new math.
They must pass it down to the trial courts below
so that AOC staffing and coffers could grow.
But then, to our grateful surprise, they returned:
The Judges’ Alliance the CJ so spurned!
The others, the “watchers,” they all were there too,
still active and righteous and stating what’s true.
With the CJ now steering the Titanic ship,
she called to her oarsmen to tighten their grip:
”Now Jody, now Steven, now Curtis and Curt,
it’s full-steam-ahead, we will never get hurt.
Though RonO and BillO and R.George before me,
retired with their perks, you must stay here at sea.
There are bodies to bury, more lowpoints to reach,
more money to pilfer to pay for Long Beach.
Rearrange all these chairs up here on the deck.
Who cares if the trial courts end up the shipwreck?”
But the “watchers” avowed, as the ship sank from sight,
“Once the rats have been caught, we will set things aright.”
Judicial Council Watcher 
wearyant
December 24, 2012
Great work, Delilah! I will be repeating these stanzas on my knees before I clamber into bed tonight. Santa and his reindeer just now flew over our modest neighborhood (powered unseen by a helio via the Coast Guard! Yay!)
And a little snippet about how it truly runs downhill, some of the trickle-down in CoCo County, home of one of our favs … And it tends to land on the huddled, unwashed masses who are already poor, hurt and struggling.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_22243124/court-closures-parking-downtown-martinez-likely-get-worse?
Judicial Council Watcher
December 26, 2012
Look at the bright side. More court construction revenue caused by an inability to park legally and get your court business taken care of. The story we want to write is about the Fresno or San Bernardino judge that takes into account the distance you drive as a penalty all unto its own and dismisses your citation if you show up.
That’s working in the interests of justice and starving the death star at the same time..
unionman575
December 26, 2012
Oh I like that one JCW!
😉
Wendy Darling
December 24, 2012
Bravo, Delilah!
courtflea
December 24, 2012
Encore! Encore! You rock Delilah.
unionman575
December 25, 2012
http://www.omm.com/newsroom/news.aspx?news=2974
O’Melveny’s Goetz Quoted in Daily Journal on LA Superior Court’s Budget Cuts
Richard Goetz, O’Melveny & Myers LLP partner and chair of the Firm’s Class Actions, Mass Torts, and Insurance Litigation Practice, was quoted in the December 19, 2012, Daily Journal article “Defense bar weighs in on court budget cuts.” Goetz commented on the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s recently announced plans to cut nearly US$85 million from its upcoming fiscal budget, noting the challenges it would create for businesses. “Just look how hard it is to do business in countries that lack access to an honest and functioning court system,” Goetz said.
Goetz also warned that the cuts have the ability to extend beyond individual cases, and potentially undermine the judicial system more fundamentally. “The court system depends on public trust and respect to function,” he said. “In any context, those are traits that are hard to earn and easy to lose. We can’t afford to let the budget cuts place them at risk for our courts.”
wearyant
December 26, 2012
Where was Goetz when all this shit was first coming down? Is his aka Rip Van Winkle? Good Gawd. If the lawyers had done something — ANYTHING — maybe, just maybe … oh, hell, Merry Christmas, everyone. Geez.
unionman575
December 26, 2012
“Where was Goetz when all this shit was first coming down?”
Drinking the Kool Aid.
😉
Wendy Darling
December 25, 2012
““The court system depends on public trust and respect to function,” he said.”
Note to Mr. Goetz: Thanks to the lying, unethical, Grey Goose consuming, “leadership” at 455 Golden Gate Avenue, public trust and respect in judicial branch adminstration was lost quite some time ago.
Not that anyone in charge at 455 Golden Gate Avenue cares about that.
Serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
Lando
December 25, 2012
Is Mr Goetz willing to ask how the Judicial Council/AOC lost the “…public trust and respect to function” ? Mr Goetz and other well intended lawyers need to ask that question to understand how the courts that they appear in are so badly struggling all across the state. I hope everyone here had a great Christmas !
Nathaniel Woodhull
December 26, 2012
Want a good laugh? Read The Recorder’s article about Tani being the answer to the Republican’s problems in California! With her management skills and abilities, I’m sure this State could be $100 Billion in the whole by now…
courtflea
December 26, 2012
I hoe so N Woodhull, they can have her!
Wendy Darling
December 26, 2012
Yes, they can have her. If she is the “best” the Republican party in California can hope for or have to offer, they are doomed.
Serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
courtflea
December 26, 2012
Pardon my typo but it kinda works anyway…..heeheee
courtflea
December 26, 2012
Hey JCW how about a retrospective of the JCW/ACJ good works for our New Years gift/pick me up 😀
unionman575
December 27, 2012
http://www.courts.ca.gov/12973.htm
Reduced Court Services
Reduced Court Services (Government Code 68106)
Superior courts statewide continue to face significant financial challenges as a result of the current fiscal crisis, which the Legislature has recognized as one of the most serious and dire ever to affect the state. In an effort to meet these challenges, while remaining open on all days that are not judicial holidays, and preserving as fully as possible access to court services for all litigants, many courts have announced plans to offer reduced services.
Under Government Code section 68106, courts must provide written notice to the public and to the Judicial Council at least 60 days before putting into effect a plan to reduce costs by closing courtrooms or clerks’ offices or reducing clerks’ office hours. The council must post all such notices on this Internet site within 15 days of receiving them. This page contains all notices that the council has receive from courts pursuant to section 68106.
Please note, however, that the page only contains notices of court plans to close courtrooms or clerks’ offices, or to reduce clerks’ office hours. It does not include information about other court changes (for example, restoration of services). For complete information about a specific superior court, the number and location of its courtrooms, its hours of operation, and any upcoming changes, please consult the court’s website. A list of court websites is available.