Economic Woes Hit Attorneys and Courts

• Jurisdiction: California,United States
• Citation: Vol. 07 No. 2008 Pg. 02
• Pages: 02
• Publication year: 2008

California Bar Journal 2008.

CBJ - July 2008 #02. Economic woes hit attorneys and courts

California Bar Journal
June 2008

Economic woes hit attorneys and courts

By Nancy McCarthy
Staff Writer

If you think gas prices are high, wait until you have to pay a parking ticket or go to traffic school. Under a bill pending in the state Assembly, penalties for those infractions will more than double, and filing fees in civil cases and penalties in criminal convictions also will rise.

The money generated by the increases - an estimated $5 billion - will fund renovation or replacement of as many as 40 deteriorating courthouses.

"Everyone is guaranteed a day in court, but in California that right is jeopardized by inadequate facilities that threaten the safety of everyone in the building," said Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, author of SB 1407. "It is time to invest in this critical area of the state's infrastructure in a way that does not hurt the state's general fund."

Faced with a $15 billion budget deficit, lawmakers are struggling with ways to...