Chief Justice Pleads With Legislature For Minimal Budget Cuts
The Recorder ran an article today about Chief Justice Ronald George's plea that the state not cut the Judiciary's budget by nearly $246 million.
The article covers the Chief Justice's annual presentation before the Legislature. For those of you without a subscription to CalLaw, here are some of the more interesting points:
"The legislation you enact into law may not be subject to judicial enforcement if that occurs," George said in his annual State of the Judiciary address to the Legislature. "I believe we all agree that a functioning court system is not a luxury - it is an essential component of state government. There are severe limits to how much we can reduce the services that we are required to provide."
The Chief Justice also requested 50 new judges, which the Legislator has tried to put off until 2009:
George also lobbied lawmakers to authorize a final set of 50 new judgeships, even though legislative leaders have already said there won't be enough money to fund them until 2009 at the earliest. And, as he had before, he asked the Legislature to boost pensions for judges appointed after 1994, an improvement, he said, that would attract more candidates "from diverse backgrounds to the bench."
