SAN DIEGO COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Justice With Efficiency: A Possible Ideal

Good news about the criminal justice system is rare these days.

But the San Diego County Superior Court has had some successes worth noting during the past year.

Under the able supervision of Judge Jesus Rodriguez, the backlog of pending criminal cases has dropped from 3,000 to 1,400, a 53% decrease.

Rodriguez is drawing compliments from both sides of the bar for his management changes. The district attorney’s office says Rodriguez has speeded cases to trial “without compromising the integrity of the system.”

And the public defender’s office says the predictability that Rodriguez has brought to the system makes it easier for witnesses and attorneys. That’s high praise.

Rodriguez’s efficiencies in criminal trials come on the heels of another successful experiment in the San Diego County courts.

In 1987, the San Diego County Superior Court introduced the concept of fast-tracking civil cases. Under that system, 95% of the civil filings are disposed of within 24 months, whereas previously they typically took 52 months. But that system had its critics. Some lawyers thought that the judges’ zeal in hurrying cases sometimes compromised justice.

Rodriguez, at 39 the youngest judge to supervise the criminal courts here, has apparently managed to achieve efficiency without harming justice.

In addition to setting a firm 50-day trial start, which speeds plea bargains, Rodriguez also stopped the practice of “judge shopping.” Other efficiencies have come in the handling of felons on probation charged with new drug-related crimes. Instead of trying such defendants on the new charges, the district attorney seeks to have probation revoked. These cases are being disposed of in an average of 40 days, and 88% of the cases result in a state prison sentence.

San Diego’s experiment with the civil court fast track proved so successful that it is now mandated for every county in the state by 1992.

Perhaps the Legislature might want to study Rodriguez’s approach to managing criminal trials as well.