Justice Both Too Swift and Slow

The circus began as soon as Superior Court Judge John N. Martin’s courtroom opened at 8 a.m.

More than a dozen disheveled inmates in orange jumpsuits shuffled into the crowded San Bernardino courtroom on a recent morning. Public defenders, whispering, scurried from one prisoner to another. Bailiffs bounced from the courtroom to the crammed hallway, calling in defendants and witnesses.

Hoping to save time during a preliminary hearing, a prosecutor promised the judge she would present her evidence against an accused methamphetamine user by asking the arresting sheriff’s deputy only four questions.

When the prosecutor exceeded that limit, Martin reprimanded the attorney. The judge had nearly 60 criminal hearings that day and no time to waste.

“We have to complete our cases today,” Martin, a 21-year veteran of the bench, said during a break in his chambers, “because the circus starts over tomorrow.”

San Bernardino County judges preside over Southern California’s highest average caseload. It means trial delays, long lines at courthouses and frustration for attorneys and their clients.

In the 12-month period through June 2003, more than 440,000 criminal and civil cases were filed in San Bernardino County, the equivalent of nearly 6,000 filings per judge, according to a study by the Judicial Council of California, the policymaking board for the state’s courts.

In comparison, judges statewide preside over an average of about 4,000 case per year, according to the study.

In Los Angeles County, judges preside over an average of nearly 4,400 cases per year, and Orange County judges handle about 4,600 annually, according to the Judicial Council. Riverside County judges oversee more than 5,100 cases each year.

To keep up with the workload, the Judicial Council has said, the state should appoint 150 new judges statewide over the next three years, with 22 of those going to San Bernardino County, the largest number for any county.

The mounting caseloads in San Bernardino County are due to its soaring population. In neighboring Riverside County, also one of the fastest-growing counties in the state, the Judicial Council recommended adding 15 judges.

As a result of the unwieldy caseloads, San Bernardino County judges say they must hasten the judicial process, sometimes robbing lawyers, defendants and plaintiffs of the time to thoroughly present their cases. “We get the job done,” said Peter Norell, presiding judge for the county’s Superior Courts. “But we are not doing what we ought to do for the public.”

The biggest delays are for those involved in family law disputes, including divorces and child custody battles. Criminal matters take precedence because the law requires that suspects go to trial within 30 days, and civil lawsuits are often settled out of court, using private mediators.

That leaves family law disputes, which don’t often have the mediation option, at the bottom of the judicial hierarchy, public defenders say.

Francisca Barragan, a divorced mother from San Bernardino, waited for more than three hours at the San Bernardino courthouse on a recent afternoon to arrange for a child custody agreement with her former husband. Barragan complained that she had been bounced from one courtroom to another.

“The frustrating thing is that you need to take off a day from work, and they keep you here all day,” she said, sitting on a bench outside a courtroom.

It wasn’t the first time, either. Barragan had been in the San Bernardino courthouse five times in recent weeks.

Relief does not appear imminent. The state Legislature must approve funding for new judgeships, at a cost of up to $1 million each, including salaries for extra clerks, bailiffs and secretaries.

The last time the Legislature approved new judgeships was 2000. Since then, efforts by state lawmakers to add judges have been stalled by the state’s continuing budget woes.

In January, state Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) introduced legislation seeking new judgeships. But Dunn’s staff said the bill does not specify how many positions because lawmakers must first determine how much, if any, extra funding is available.

Even if the state were to fund the extra positions, Norell said, the county doesn’t have extra courtrooms to accommodate 22 new judges.

The workload also bogs down the courthouse offices where people pay traffic fines, file for divorce or seek restraining orders. On any given morning, the line to the clerk’s office stretches about 70 feet, down a long, dreary corridor and around a corner.

To accommodate the daily barrage of motions and hearings, judges routinely delay the start of civil trials, frustrating attorneys who must call to reschedule their witnesses and experts with each delay.

Probate attorneys complain that it takes two months to get a date for a probate hearing, forcing family members to wait months to distribute assets of a deceased relative.

“It’s driving everybody crazy because there is a lot of sitting around at the courthouse,” said probate attorney Sherri Kastilahn.

The courtroom schedules are so hectic that public defenders often meet defendants for the first time in the middle of a busy courtroom during the suspect’s first criminal hearing.

Steve Bremser, a deputy public defender who works in the crowded San Bernardino courthouse, said he recently represented a young woman charged with possession of drugs and a 6-inch knife. The woman had never brandished the knife, he said, and he suspected she had some psychological problems.

But he said his own workload and the breakneck pace of the courtroom made it impossible for him to schedule a mental health expert to see her. Ultimately, the woman’s criminal hearing was continued and the woman was sent back to county jail to wait.

“The caseloads have been so heavy that it’s difficult to feel confident that everyone has received proper service,” he said.