submitted : May 3,2009, by Kiffi Summa
At the April 30, 2009, annual meeting of the LWV Northfield-Cannon Falls Area, we were informed about judicial finance issues by the Chief Judge of the Third District, the Honorable Wm. Johnson. Judge Johnson has been a judge, for I believe he said, 32 years; it’s gratifying to hear a judge of that long term speak in such an enlightened manner, about both philosophical and practical matters, of our Minnesota judicial system.
The Mn. House, Senate , and Governor are all proposing budget cuts to the justice system ranging from 1-7%; it is two months before the fiscal year begins, and the budget is not yet near finalization. In 2008, there was a 10% payroll cut in the judicial department, which is now functioning on 87% of a full staff level. Our district is 2 judges short , and there is a statewide shortage of over a dozen judges.
Judge Johnson emphasized that a judge’s work must be supported by good staff services. As an example of the impact of previous cuts, the public defender’s office is struggling under a double case load, and the Rice County court administration office has had to shut down (to the public) for a half day a week in order to get their paper work completed. Judge Johnson felt that there was legislative ’support’ for additional cuts to the judicial budget, and wondered how it will be possible to provide ‘good law’, if services to the public are further reduced by additional budget cuts. He fears that an even more distressed budget will cause more mistakes in process to be made, as well as poor decisions.
Judge Johnson said, ” We cannot continue to do EVERYTHING less well; we’ll have to make more cuts somewhere.”
One resolve would be to cut the numbers and types of cases the courts hear. A suggestion would be to hear no civil cases, harassment and criminal vandalism, and to lose the ability to intervene in many juvenile offenses, while continuing to increase case loads and cut support staff in general. Some small counties now have no court administration office; more would have to close. A 5% budget cut would have to be matched by equal percentage cuts in services and/or cases.
Now we come to the crux of the matter; how to continue sufficient funding of our state’s judicial system when we must find more dollars to satisfy the increased budgets for schools, and healthcare?
First of all we must put things in perspective : the budget for the courts is approximately 1-1 1/2% of the State’s budget. Minnesota had been a leader in state courts, and is a widely respected system internationally. Our courts are the only direct access point for the citizen who has been impacted negatively by government. Judge Johnson maintained that it is far easier to maintain the quality of our court system than to re-create it after damaging budget cuts. He asked a very serious question of his listeners: “How can we have a fair society if we cannot fund ‘the Rule of Law’ ?”
Consider this impassioned plea for a fully funded justice system, and then call your local county and state legislators to insist that we not lose this essential component of a just society.