Suit on Delay in Civil Cases Is Kept Alive

A federal judge Tuesday refused to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that a severe shortage of Superior Court judges has created inordinate delays in civil cases and has denied residents access to the court system.

In a 19-page ruling, U.S. District Judge David Kenyon rejected a motion by the state to dismiss the suit, which seeks a court order forcing the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to ask the state Legislature to appoint more judges to eliminate the backlog in civil cases.

Kenyon rejected the state’s argument that the County Bar Assn. should exhaust administrative remedies to get more judges appointed before bringing the suit.

He also rejected arguments that the federal court lacks jurisdiction in the case and that the lawsuit was legally deficient.

The judge refused to dismiss Gov. George Deukmejian, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) and Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) and Secretary of State March Fong Eu as defendants in the case.

In June, Deputy Atty. Gen. Henry Ullerich sought to dismiss the state officials as defendants, arguing that federal courts lack jurisdiction to rule on matters involving state courts.

He said none of the four has disputed or questioned the “factual underpinnings” of the Bar Assn.’s lawsuit.

Kenyon noted that the plaintiffs have contended that “the near five-year delay in the civil docket of the Superior Court is causally connected to the alleged shortage of judges allocated to Los Angeles County and that the delay in Los Angeles County is unparalleled in any other county in California.”

When the suit was filed last year, Bar President Larry R. Feldman called it the strongest medicine that could be given to combat the county’s decade-old shortage of courtrooms.

It followed U.S. District Judge William P. Gray’s declaration that he would begin enforcing a 1979 order on jail overcrowding. That order was expected to force the Los Angeles Superior Court to use more of its courtrooms for criminal matters to cut down on pretrial delays. Those moves would create an even greater morass in the civil trial system.