Budget Cuts Closing L.A. Courtrooms

April 23, 2010 (by Horatio Algren) According to reports one judge that presides in Los Angeles is predicting pandemonium with the budget cuts that are affecting Los Angeles courtrooms.

Los Angeles personal injury attorney, Michael Ehline, stated that In Los Angeles there have been 17 courtrooms closed and another 50 are scheduled to be shut down in September unless money is found to keep them open. One judge that presides in the Los Angeles courtrooms has predicted problems that will arise and the backlog of civil and family law cases that will occur.

The closing of the courtrooms is attributed to California’s financial trouble and the decision to cut $393 million from state trial courts in this year’s budget. This has resulted in the Los Angeles court system struggling to serve the public.

Los Angeles lawsuits that have been delayed are custody hearings, divorce proceedings, juvenile dependency cases, small-claims disputes and civil lawsuits, along with drivers that decide to fight traffic tickets. Driver’s fighting traffic tickets in Los Angeles courtrooms can now expect to wait as long as nine months to go to trial.

The more complex lawsuits including businesses are more than likely to feel the pressure of the closings, as it currently takes an average of 16 months to resolve cases with business disputes being resolved. With the cuts court officials expect this to become backlogged and take an average of four years for these types of cases to be resolved.

According to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles W. McCoy Jr. there are approximately 100,000 people going in and out of the courthouses.

The courtroom closings will not allow criminals to go free, but it will take longer to try people charged with crimes, and will increase the cost of litigation against people.