Browsing All Posts filed under »State of California«

If it wasn’t already obvious…..

November 7, 2014

31

Imagine producing a flash mob of 500 court employees and members of the public with forty thousand watts of music power pulling up on two semi-tractor trailers in civic center plaza facing the supreme court building at lunch time on a spring weekday to send this message exactly as delivered below. Every media outlet in the world […]

Democracy Now!

November 5, 2014

20

Last week, the Judicial Council voted unanimously to deny emergency funding to the Del Norte, Siskiyou, and Mono Superior Courts. All three counties had bought into the Council’s predictions of a more generous judicial branch budget; now they find themselves running on empty. Del Norte was looking for $300,000, Mono for $82,000, and Siskiyou for […]

Our 4th anniversary of tracking the most corrupt institution in state government

October 27, 2014

39

This past Saturday, October 25th marks our 4th year of tracking the most corrupt institution in state government. You’ll note that this is not an event we’re celebrating. We had hoped that by now the other two branches of government would have used their considerable wherewithal to exercise their respective roles of checks and balances. […]

Closure of Plumas / Sierra Regional Courthouse

October 24, 2014

41

Only four years ago, amid great fanfare, the former AOC heralded the opening of the Plumas/Sierra Regional Courthouse in Portola. This 6500-square-foot courthouse, which features a “prominent transparent glazed entry vestibule and tall clerestoried lobby” along with its single courtroom, was built at a cost of $4.7 million.  In the AOC’s words, it “exemplifies the […]

Powerful Judicial Council Committee opens the public meeting doors for a brief glimpse before slamming them shut.

August 22, 2014

38

Last week, the Executive & Planning Committee held a brief public meeting by telephone. After approving the agenda for the next Judicial Council meeting, the committee’s chair, Justice Miller, asked the members to call a different number so that the committee members could privately discuss appointments to the Council’s advisory committees. An article in Courthouse […]

Does the rules committee follow the rules?

July 23, 2014

18

  Last Thursday, the Judicial Council’s Rules and Projects Committee (RUPRO) met to take up the issue of the renaming of the Administrative Office of the Courts, as requested by the Chief Justice.  The RUPRO meeting, conducted telephonically, was slated to run an hour.  It lasted only 15 minutes. As expected, the committee voted unanimously […]

When the court falsifies the record it undermines the integrity of the judicial system

June 20, 2014

73

Nobody is above the law. Well, except sometimes, when you’re a California judge. We generally make it a point to shy away legal cases and focus on what is wrong with the judicial branch. Mostly what is wrong with the judicial branch can be found in San Francisco. However……sometimes we see a series of incidents […]

TCS & Zaremberg: An inappropriate relationship

April 21, 2014

59

More than 500 years before Christ was born a Chinese general and philosopher penned the chronicles that we know today as the Art of War. That Generals name was Sun Tsu. Packed full of ancient wisdom that has since been passed around the globe, it was produced during a tumultuous time of warring states. History […]

Centralized Funding & Control – The Real “Phantom Menace”

April 14, 2014

7

The Chief Justice made a startling statement in a recent television interview: “General funds support for the third branch of government has failed. It’s absolutely a skeleton of what it used to be.” Her remarks stand in stark contrast with those of her predecessor in a speech he gave back in 2009: “It was anticipated […]

As usual, the AOC’s math just doesn’t add up. Time for an Audit.

March 12, 2014

70

A letter by Judge Kenneth So on Judicial Council letterhead dated March 7 was sent yesterday to every judge in California in a “Court News Update” email.  Judge So claims that we’ve given you misleading information about how the AOC runs its business.  We disagree, and we can back up what we said—with the AOC’s […]

And this is why we need court reporters……

February 28, 2014

24

If a judge speaks to the Judicial Council but nobody documents it, did that judge make a sound? At the Judicial Council meeting last Thursday, Alliance President Steve White was allotted a few minutes to speak in favor of Assembly Member Reggie Jones-Sawyer’s proposed audit of the Council and the AOC.  But you’d have to […]

Myth vs. Fact – Making the Case for an AOC Audit

February 19, 2014

63

Last week, the Chief Justice told an audience in Riverside, “There is a presumption, somehow, in the capitol in Sacramento that the judicial branch is where it is now, with courtrooms closed and less services . . . because somehow, somehow, we mismanaged ourselves into the situation. . . . I have to remind them, […]

Retreads and Denial – A Strange Way To Restore Credibility

February 3, 2014

154

In the aftermath of the CCMS debacle — a $500 million waste of taxpayer money that ranks among the costliest IT failures in American history — how should the judicial branch go about restoring its credibility with the Legislature and the Governor? One way would be to acknowledge the CCMS failure immediately; hold accountable those […]

And the withering criticism continues…….

November 13, 2013

29

You might believe us to be one of King George’s harshest critics. We defer to his peers as being his harshest critics. Occasionally, the fog clears for legal and mainstream media see George and his sycophants for what they are. Supplied below for discussion are two recent Alliance of California Judges communiques to their members. […]

The Fictional Works of Ron George

November 6, 2013

85

The Quest for Justice in California – An autobiography by Former Chief Justice Ronald M. George When your ego knows no bounds and you’re being tagged as the cause of much strife and consternation by your peers, it’s time to jump on the old ‘puter and pen yourself some 800 pages of revisionist history. The […]

31 Courtrooms in Long Beach cost $2.3 billion over 35 years

September 26, 2013

31

September 26, 2013 31 Courtrooms in Long Beach cost $2.3 billion over 35 years Dear California Media, We write to highlight our continuing concerns about the Court Facilities Program. First we offer an editorial written by Milt Policzer of the Courthouse News Service regarding the Long Beach Courthouse, published September 23, 2013: ________________________________________________________ More Long […]

Subscribe to JCW and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 872 other subscribers

JCW’s Archives

Blog at WordPress.com.