Workload Seen Leading Judges to Leave Bench

While Justice John A. Arguelles’ announcement Monday that he will resign from the state Supreme Court came as a surprise, legal authorities said Tuesday that the court’s heavy workload and other pressures may help to lead more justices to step down.

“I would not be surprised to see other recent appointees of the court retire before the 1990 election,” said Gerald F. Uelmen, law dean at Santa Clara University and author of a recent study of the court’s massive backlog.

Failed to Reduce Docket

Uelmen, who previously had warned of professional “burnout” among the justices, pointed in particular to the court’s inability to reduce its docket of nearly 200 capital cases, despite a concentrated effort to do so.

“Just trying to make an inroad on that backlog means virtually half of the justices’ time was spent on death-penalty cases,” he said. “They’re trying to get things back to normal . . . but I don’t see that happening in the foreseeable future.”

Preble Stolz, a UC Berkeley law professor, noted that the strain may be especially heavy on the three court members, including Arguelles, who commute each week from homes in Southern California to the court’s headquarters in San Francisco.

“Unquestionably, the heavy workload has made the job less attractive,” said Stolz, author of a book on the court. “And it really is a serious problem for someone who has to abandon his home and spend practically half his life on a commuter airline.”

The 61-year old Arguelles, who announced he would retire March 1 after two years on the high court, did not cite either the court’s backlog or its travel requirements as reasons for leaving the bench.

‘Other Interests’

He said only that he wanted to pursue other “business and professional opportunities” while he remained in good health. With nearly 25 years on the trial and appellate bench, he will be eligible to collect a pension of 75% of his annual salary of $103,469.

But, whatever Arguelles’ reasons for retirement, court members on frequent occasions have acknowledged privately that the effort to speed the handling of the approximately 400 cases before the court often detracts from the time they need to write opinions and from other professional satisfactions of being a judge.

They are fond of quoting former Justice Otto M. Kaus, who likened the job to that of “traffic cop and editor,” moving cases efficiently through the system and relying heavily on legal memoranda written by court clerks. Kaus retired from the court in 1985 at age 65 after four years of service.

“I don’t think anyone goes on the Supreme Court intending just to contemplate his navel and make wise decisions--but it is absolutely hard work,” Kaus, now a Los Angeles attorney, said Tuesday.

“The pressure of work is so great you have the feeling you cannot give an individual case the attention it deserves,” he said. On the high court, he noted, a justice may spend about half his time preparing and participating in the court’s weekly conference, in which it decides what cases to accept for formal review.

Kaus acknowledged that the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco weekend commute he endured as a justice was “a damned nuisance,” but denied that was the reason he retired. “I retired for one reason,” he said. “My wife made me.”

At present, Arguelles, Chief Justice Malcolm M. Lucas and Justice David N. Eagleson all travel by plane on weekends to their homes in the Los Angeles area. Justice Edward A. Panelli commutes by car to his home in Saratoga, southwest of San Jose. The other three court members--Justices Stanley Mosk, Allen E. Broussard and Marcus M. Kaufman, who moved to San Francisco from San Bernardino when named to the court--reside in the Bay Area.

The court’s heavy caseload has frequently meant seven-day workweeks, particularly for Arguelles, Eagleson and Kaufman, the three newest justices named to the court last year by Gov. George Deukmejian. Weekends, while spent at home, often include work on a stack of briefs and other court documents, the justices note.

Panelli said Tuesday he believes the court is making substantial progress in attacking its backlog and that Arguelles’ departure--or that of any other justice in the future--could be determined more by pension considerations than anything else.

But he acknowledges that the workload and travel pose a burden for him and other justices. “The problem is the workload coupled with separation,” he said. “The fact that for some of the justices, their families are away from their work is a strain. . . . When my wife is not here with me, all I do is work from the time I get up in the morning until the time I go to bed. It’s great as far as production is concerned, but otherwise it’s not much fun.”

Modern Communications

Stolz believes the court could ease the strain on its commuting members by making more extensive use of the wide range of electronic devices--computers, telephones and facsimile machines--that now connect far-flung modern enterprises.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, covering nine western states, makes use of such devices to improve communication among about 28 judges whose offices are spread throughout the circuit.

“It seems to me the state Supreme Court could do it the way the 9th Circuit does, to some extent,” said Stolz. “The justices could meet together periodically when necessary, but they could maintain a staff and office in their home areas. There certainly is less reason these days than there used to be for bringing all of the justices to just one building where they can work.”

Arguelles will remain on the court to complete work on cases in which he has already begun to participate, even if it requires a special appointment to stay on beyond March 1.

Meanwhile, starting on Jan. 1, the court will shift to a new procedure that will require the justices to issue decisions within 90 days after argument before the court. While there are no deadlines for setting a case for argument, the justices hope the new procedure will speed the overall process.