The State : Bar Unit Sues State on Judges

A growing backlog of cases has created “a failure of justice” in local courts, the Orange County Bar Assn. said in suing the state to provide funding for more trial and appellate judges. The Bar said failure by the state to establish needed judgeships and fill existing vacancies has created trial delays averaging three years and a backlog of thousands of cases. An aide to Gov. George Deukmejian, named as a defendant the Los Angeles federal court suit, said it appeared that the Orange County Bar “is seeking to achieve through the court system what it has failed to achieve through the state Legislature.”