San Francisco court hit hard - Sacramento next??

SAN FRANCISCO — Lines at a courthouse are kind of like hurt feelings in a divorce: they are expected, they are unavoidable, but, hopefully, they are dealt with quickly.

For the romantically estranged residents of San Francisco, however, the wait for a divorce may soon drag on longer than the life span of most Hollywood marriages, as a series of cutbacks threatens to cripple the civil courts. Under a plan unveiled last month and due to take effect this fall, San Francisco will close 25 courtrooms, reduce clerks’ hours and lay off more than 175 employees, effectively bringing much of the business of the court to a crawl.
Katherine Feinstein, the presiding judge of San Francisco Superior Court, said the average time for a divorce would be at least 18 months. All manner of other civil matters — small claims, civil and class-action lawsuits, probate and conservatorship cases, and big-money complex cases — will also probably take longer to settle.
“The civil justice system in San Francisco is collapsing,” Judge Feinstein said.
But San Francisco is hardly alone in seeing hours or services cut; other California counties have already made cuts or are expected to soon.
Judge Steve White, who presides over Superior Court in Sacramento, the state capital, said a shrinking staff had already caused the number of service windows at family court to be reduced to 2 from 10, leading to waits of five to six hours.
“People bring lawn chairs,” Judge White said. And while San Francisco’s cuts have not yet taken effect, on Monday lines were already forming before open windows. Nicole Carson, 21, had been waiting for nearly four hours with her 7-month-old daughter, Essence, on her lap outside the Superior Court’s Family Law Self-Help Center, hoping to file paperwork to get full custody of her daughter and child support from the girl’s father.
“This is the third day I’ve come here,” Ms. Carson said. “I had no idea it would be this hard.”
The cutbacks stem from a $350 million reduction in financing for the state’s judicial branch — the largest cut in California’s history — in the 2011-12 budget, part of a penurious spending plan endorsed by Gov. Jerry Brown, who has made taming California’s money problems a priority. Gil Duran, a spokesman for the governor, said the cuts were unfortunate, but were part of “immense fiscal challenges that require sacrifice at every level of state government.”
As constitutional officers, judges cannot be laid off. But as anyone who has ever entered a courtroom can attest, much of the heavy lifting is done by the support staff.
“It’s not that we don’t have the judges to do the work, we do,” said Judge Feinstein, the daughter of Senator Dianne Feinstein. “We won’t have the clerical staff to back us up. We won’t have the papers.”
Dozens of judges and court officers had written to Mr. Brown, a Democrat, to say that the cuts would “render precarious our democratic ideal of justice for all.” And the cutbacks will lead to all manner of other effects, lawyers say.
Marinus H. Goossens, whose legal practice in San Francisco focuses on estate planning and family law, said the slowdowns could create a ripple effect, as hearings were pushed back and divorce and other monetary settlements were delayed.
That, in turn, could lead to delays by clients in making all kinds of economic decisions.
“A pending case means legal uncertainty,” Mr. Goossens said, “and people don’t like uncertainty. Uncertain periods lead to people keeping their wallet closed.”
The cuts could also jeopardize the paying of traffic tickets, which would mean lost revenue for the judiciary. Runners who file cases at courthouses are often paid by the number of cases they file, so longer lines mean longer waits and fewer paydays.
The delays will make already painful, scary and expensive processes all the more taxing, said Diane Wasznicky, the president of the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists.
“It’s horrendous for people whose only legal resource is to use the system,” Ms. Wasznicky said.
Even those not involved in knock-down, drag-out fights were finding delays, prompting them to seek alternate solutions. Elizabeth Toumi, for example, was at the San Francisco court on Monday with her former husband to change the child custody agreement for their two children, ages 5 and 6. Frustrated by the lines, Ms. Toumi — who is unemployed — said she finally went online and figured out how to do the paperwork herself, without lawyers or assistance from the court.
On the policy-making level, meanwhile, the cutbacks have also laid bare a simmering tension between the civil and criminal courts and the courts’ administrative arm. (In California, financing for the courts is allocated through the state’s Judicial Council, a 21-member group made up of judges, legislators and lawyers, along with other nonvoting members.)
While the courts still receive the bulk of the money, judges accuse the Administrative Office of the Courts of “sucking revenues” with a variety of construction, computer and other projects.
“The dollars are not being delivered to where the rubber meets the road,” said Judge David Lampe of Kern County, north of Los Angeles, a member of the board of the Alliance of California Judges, a group of some 400 state judges that was formed in 2009 in response to a previous round of cuts.
Philip Carrizosa, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the Courts, said that he understood the judges’ complaints but that they were “misinformed and mistaken in blaming the A.O.C.” because the Judicial Council had the final decision on all financing.
“We’re just staff,” Mr. Carrizosa said. “They’re judges.”
A spokeswoman for the council, Lynn Holton, also defended the Administrative Office of the Courts, saying that the council included trial and appellate judges who had gone along with the cuts made to the trial courts.
“In budget times like these, there are no winners,” Ms. Holton said in an e-mail message.
Indeed, while criminal cases will continue, even constitutional guarantees for a speedy trial could be put to the test, meaning potential dismissals of less serious charges. But, Judge White said, “even what are considered minor charges can be very serious in terms of public safety. Drunk driving, for example.”
Meredith Grier, meanwhile, a paralegal at San Francisco Superior Court who is facing a layoff in September, said she expected to see an increase in people coming to court to file civil actions in hopes of beating the lines, and filling her in-box with more forms than she can count.
“It’s just like sand,” Ms. Grier said. “It just continues to fill.”

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Airbag for head....really?!?!?

Yeah right. You'd be found dead along road looking like a dork.

Take it for what it's worth...

We have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

We spend more, but have less.

We buy more, but enjoy less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.

We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life.

We've added years to life not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.

We conquered outer space but not inner space.

We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.

We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less.

We've learned to rush, but not to wait.

We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes.

These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom.

A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.

Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it.

A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

To all my friends in my life, thanks for being there.

PARTY!!

TGIF!!!

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from CWMD

Why Penn and Teller won't cover Islam or Scientology on their TV show

I've always been a fan of P & T but never knew....from an interview w/ LV weekly.

Let’s talk about your TV show Bullshit! Will you ever run out of theories to debunk and people to expose? If you build a kingdom on bullshit, you're not in danger of running out of it. Our producer says that Teller and I can take any subject in the news and do a credible show on it. Sure, we like to have a villain, something to call "bullshit" on, but if we don't, we can depart from that model.

Are there any groups you won't go after? We haven't tackled Scientology because Showtime doesn't want us to. Maybe they have deals with individual Scientologists —- I'm not sure. And we haven't tackled Islam because we have families.

Meaning, you won’t attack Islam because you’re afraid it’ll attack back ... Right, and I think the worst thing you can say about a group in a free society is that you’re afraid to talk about it—I can’t think of anything more horrific. [...]

You do go after Christians, though ... Teller and I have been brutal to Christians, and their response shows that they’re good fucking Americans who believe in freedom of speech. We attack them all the time, and we still get letters that say, “We appreciate your passion. Sincerely yours, in Christ.” Christians come to our show at the Rio and give us Bibles all the time. They’re incredibly kind to us. Sure, there are a couple of them who live in garages, give themselves titles and send out death threats to me and Bill Maher and Trey Parker. But the vast majority are polite, open-minded people, and I respect them for that.

Fuck people who don't have a sense of humor. Especially fuck those people who think it's right to retaliate with violence over our right of free speech.