The Courts Await, Governor

The Court of Appeals in Santa Ana, a sprawling green-and-white gabled building on Spurgeon Street, has become People’s Exhibit A as to why Gov. Gray Davis needs to step up the pace of his judicial appointments statewide.

The Santa Ana court--Division Three of the Fourth District is its formal name--is working without a full complement of justices. Since the retirement of Justice Edward J. Wallin in February 1999, five justices have been laboring mightily to reduce a backlog of cases that continues to mushroom.

Empty along with Wallin’s seat are nearly 70 judgeships statewide. One problem has been the way the governor has used the state’s Judicial Nominations Evaluation Commission, the group of lawyers that rates the qualifications of candidates for the bench. The commission reviews candidates whose names the governor has sent it, a process that can take months. Previous governors sent several names for each seat and would choose their nominee from among those the commission rated as most qualified. But Davis has tended to send just one or two names, and only after much deliberation and delay. More delay results if Davis’ candidates are rated below the top level.

Meanwhile, the backlog in the Santa Ana appeals court has grown to 900 cases, the worst in the state, and cases have been dramatically delayed. In 1999, statewide, it took on average just under a year and a half to resolve an appellate case. Typically in Santa Ana, more than 2 1/2 years now pass before an opinion is filed.

Santa Ana is not the only appeals court with vacancies. There are two empty chairs in San Francisco and one in Fresno, which has been vacant for more than a year.

In trial courts, where vacancies and understaffing have long been facts of life, a bad situation is worsening. There are now 23 empty seats on the 428-member Los Angeles Superior Court, with more retirements expected. Long case delays in Los Angeles had eased but now threaten to resurge.

There’s no lack of qualified Californians for these posts, and Davis has won high marks for the caliber of the 56 men and women he has named to the bench since he took office in January 1999. Yet, as with appointments he’s made to other state agencies, he has moved with extraordinary caution, fearful of being burned politically by appointees whose decisions might embarrass him. Davis also appears captive to a methodical, detail-obsessed personal style.

The governor is keenly aware of the growing court delays, having been lobbied to speed up his judicial appointments by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, bar leaders and the presiding judges of appellate and trial courts up and down the state. Last month, as part of the new state budget, Davis added new seats to the Los Angeles Superior Court, the Santa Ana appeals court and several other courts--the first such additions in years. Having done that, Davis needs to quickly fill those seats and all the others vacant for too long. It doesn’t help Santa Ana to have seven seats if only five are filled.