superior courts

Los Angeles Superior Court (LASC) Presiding Judge Lee Smalley Edmon announced June 15 that 431 court employees will be adversely affected as reductions in state financial support for the California judicial branch force additional cuts in the  budget by $30 million. These actions will affect nearly 1 of every 10 employees of LASC, the largest trial court in the nation. “This is the unfortunate human impact of the need to reduce our spending by $30 million,” Edmon said. “We are laying off people who are committed to serving the public. It is a terrible loss both to these dedicated employees and to the public.” The latest cuts are part of an ongoing series of reductions that began in April of 2010 and that will continue. The reductions made to date have saved a reported $70 million. The current actions will save another $30 million. Despite these cuts, the court faces future additional shortfalls as more reductions in state support for the trial courts are proposed for the Fiscal Year 2012-13 budget. As of this writing, the state budget is not yet finished, but the Governor’s May Revision proposes to reduce judicial branch funding by another $544 million, and to eliminate […]