Thanks to the lack of money given the courts, they have had to cut back the number of courts and days the courthouse is opened. Delays are massive and finally the people get a positive results—the number of lawsuits in California have gone down 25% in five years. This allows adults to solve issues without attorney or lawsuits. The economy savings are enormous, the emotional turmoil is less.
At the same time the cost of filing a suit and other documents have gone up. This is causing the professional in the court system to worry if they will be needed in the future.
“The trend in court filings is worrisome,” Justice Douglas Miller, chairman of the Judicial Council of California’s executive and planning committee, said in a news release.
The trend coincides with and increase in court filing fees and closure of courthouses or cutbacks in hours as a result of state budget cuts, he said.”
Court budget cuts blamed for drop in cases filed
While most types of criminal case filings are up, most civil case types are down — suggesting that litigants, frustrated by court delays, are either pursuing alternative dispute resolution or dropping grievances altogether.
Kathy Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 8/13/14
California court filings dropped 9 percent statewide last year — and they’re down almost 25 percent from five years ago, according to new data released by the state courts system.
The same trend is showing up locally. Filings dropped 7 percent in Sacramento County last year; they’ve decreased 16 percent over the last five years.
The reason: state budget cuts that have hiked fees and reduced access to the court system, lawyers and judges say.
While most types of criminal case filings are up, most civil case types are down — suggesting that litigants, frustrated by court delays, are either pursuing alternative dispute resolution or dropping grievances altogether.
“The trend in court filings is worrisome,” Justice Douglas Miller, chairman of the Judicial Council of California’s executive and planning committee, said in a news release.
The trend coincides with and increase in court filing fees and closure of courthouses or cutbacks in hours as a result of state budget cuts, he said.
Statewide, there were 7.7 million case filings in fiscal year 2012-13, down from 8.5 million in 2011-12 and 10.3 million in 2008-09.
Case filings in Sacramento County dropped to 352,324 in 2012-13 from 380,0202 the year before and 417,150 five years ago. Filings in Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties also declined.
Some of the decline is due to small claims and infractions, but the kind of civil actions filed by business owners are down, too. At the same time, complex cases — including felonies, probate, mental health and dependency cases — and certain civil cases concerned with personal injury, property damage and wrongful death have increased.
“It’s telling that business is staying away,” said B.J. Susich, president of the Sacramento County Bar Association. “(Business owners) could be going to alternative dispute resolution — or, which happens a lot — not pursing claims because they perceive the court system as too costly and too time consuming.”
Earlier this month, Susich and the county bar association complained to Sacramento Superior Court that new fees for online access to court documents hinder access to justice.
Read the court statistics report.
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