Reinstatement of Domestic Violence Court May Be Sought

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will decide today whether to ask judges at a West Covina courthouse to reinstate a court reserved for domestic violence cases in the wake of protests over its closure earlier this year.

After four years of award-winning work, judges at the Citrus Municipal Court disbanded the domestic violence court in February, dispersing the cases among the eight courtrooms there. At the time, the judges said the move was necessary to operate the courthouse more efficiently.

Since then, banner-waving protesters have taken to the courthouse steps. Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti called the judges’ decision “a step backward.”

County Supervisor Mike Antonovich wants his colleagues to approve a motion asking the judges to reconsider the closure. The supervisors, who control the courts’ budget, cannot order the judges to act.

“These judges have a complete disregarded for keeping women and children safe,” said Helen Grieco, president of the California chapter of the National Organization for Women. “These courts are the best way to fight against violence that can create generations of abuses and victims.”

There are 27 domestic violence courtrooms in California, including ones in Pasadena, Long Beach and El Monte. Hundreds of similar courts opened nationwide during the 1990s.

The courts operate by having one judge, one public defender and one prosecutor handle all the domestic violence cases. Their aim is consistent sentencing, with a single judge also acting as a probation officer to ensure that convicted abusers comply with their sentences.

The Citrus program was heralded as a model in 1995 by the county grand jury. It also won an award for innovation from the Judicial Council of California.

But Citrus Presiding Judge Rolf M. Treu said the judges now feel they can do just as well with the cases spread among eight of them. Initially, Treu cited the huge caseload growing in other Citrus courtrooms for eliminating the special domestic violence program.

But the judges released a report Friday blaming the closure on the district attorney’s office. They said the district attorney assigned rookie prosecutors instead of veterans to the domestic violence court.

The courtroom opened after an agreement with the district attorney’s office and public defender’s office that it would be provided with veteran attorneys.

“The district attorney has changed its policy that only experienced, trained deputies would be assigned to the domestic violence court for a period no less than one year by assigning inexperienced, newly hired deputies and rotating them every 90 days or less,” the report said.

Prosecutors said the judges never made that requirement for the courtroom clear. “I’m trying hard to control my anger. This is the first I’ve heard of it,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Frank Sundstedt, who oversees prosecutors at the Citrus office.

Every judge, he said, knows municipal courts are staffed by the newest prosecutors. “Whether the court had an experienced or inexperienced deputy is not the reason the domestic violence court closed and the judges know it,” Sundstedt said.

In addition, he said, “There is not a court where the district attorney is the dog and judge is the tail.”

The judges’ report also said a key reason for operating a separate domestic violence court was the assumption that judges would be better able to supervise the probation of batterers. But since its creation, the report said, the domestic violence caseload of probation officers has been reduced to about 150 cases each.

By contrast, the domestic violence judge at Citrus supervised 1,500 convicted offenders.

In addition, the report said, a single judge is no longer needed to ensure consistent sentencing in cases of domestic violence because a 1995 state law created a uniform system of punishment.

Others say that the judges are ignoring the advantages of domestic violence courts.

A study of the Citrus domestic violence courtroom found that only 2% of convicted batterers who received probation were rearrested for similar offenses--compared with 15% statewide. “Why mess with success?” said Tasha Amador, who works for a woman’s shelter operated by the YWCA.