fresno elections 2008

(1) Stopping the spread of gangs in the County. I

will coordinate closely with law enforcement to have a judge available 24/7, and implement proper judicial proceedings to protect the citizens of Kings County.

(2) Preventing the waste of juror time. I will only

call jurors on cases that are going to trial, prevent plea bargaining on the day of jury trial, and limit the impact on jurors by implementing a day of motions the day before the jury is actually called for service.

(3) Stopping the waste of law enforcement's time in

court. I will coordinate closely with law enforcement and the jail to prevent law enforcement officers wasting their time in court, which takes away from their duties on the street.

The County could better handle large case loads by not accepting plea bargains in violent cases and no longer importing out of county or retired judges because it wastes tax payers' money. Violent felons and child molesters' cases need to be handled so as to accommodate the victims in these highly sensitive cases. I would make sure court room procedure created a comfortable atmosphere for victims and witnesses while they testify.

1. Methamphetamine Abuse: The greatest problem facing the courts is the increasing case load caused by the plague of methamphetamine abuse.

The Superior Court of Kings County recently instituted the operation of a Drug Court which hopefully can decrease abuse of methamphetamine by the participants. I served on the judicial subcommittee which set up the guidelines for the Drug Court. The system uses intensified probation and counseling services and can result in immediate consequences or temporary incarceration for participants who violate the Drug Court rules. The expansion of the Drug Court program and the enhancement of Proposition 36 programs and monitoring, can help in some reduction of the County's abuse problems and positively affect Court case loads.

2. Jail overcrowding: Jail overcrowding is a complex problem that involves County government and prosecutors, the Kings County Sheriff, the local State Prisons and the judiciary. The result of jail overcrowding is the early release of persons convicted of misdemeanors and lower grade felonies.

The solutions include the setting up and implementation of a task force comprised of all parts of local government, the State Prisons and the judiciary as recommended by Justice Timothy Buckley in his Order fixing the jail population cap at the physical rated capacity of the new jail. Other solutions involve greater implementation of alternative probation programs including electronic "cuffs" and other intensive probation programs. The jail bed savings could maximize opportunities of jailing scofflaws who violate the intensive probation programs, and increase incarceration days of sentenced defendants without greatly impacting county budgets.

3. Insufficient judicial resources for impacted case loads.

With almost 20,000 State prisoners in Kings County, the judicial caseload is frequently overloaded with inmate related litigation. State inmates file frequent Writs of Habeas Corpus, civil litigation and are involved in many criminal cases arising from within the three County Prisons.

Kings County has been designated by the State of California as workload impacted and the Administrative Office of the Courts has estimated that the King County bench has a judicial need of 11.4 judicial positions. The current bench has 7 judges and 1.5 Commissioners. When the Court adds an 8th judge, now promised after June 2009, the Kings County Courts will reorganize. The reorganization could include expansion of direct calendaring, and civil trial options and ensuring that there are four trial departments open every week. The details of reorganization are discussed in the next question.