Under Scrutiny for Wasteful Spending, Judicial Council Votes to Terminate $1.9 Billion Computer Project
San Francisco — The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California released the following statement from Debbie Pearson, a court worker from Alameda Superior Court, after the Judicial Council voted to halt further deployment of the Courts Case Management System (CCMS):
“Today’s move by the Judicial Council to terminate deployment of the next phase of CCMS is a positive step in restoring access to justice as the top priority of our courts.
“Today’s action frees up $46 million this year alone, money which must be used to address the serious backlog of cases and delays the public is experiencing because the court bureaucracy put its pet project ahead of the public’s interest for too long.
“The Judicial Council’s decision came about because the workers who keep California’s courts running shined the light on the CCMS spending spree, and because legislators put the court bureaucracy on notice that the public’s access to justice must come first.
“Our work is not over. Even in the face of mounting scrutiny from the public and the legislature, today’s decision leaves an opening for more spending on the wasteful CCMS project.
“Court workers will continue speaking up for the public whose timely access to justice must be the top priority of our courts, and that means advancing solutions to restore accountability to the judicial bureaucracy and ensure that dollars allocated to our trial courts by the legislature cannot be siphoned off for more wasteful spending.”
Hundreds of workers who keep California’s trial courts running rallied in San Francisco today to demand that the public’s access to justice be restored as the top priority of California’s court system. They were joined by San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Supervisor John Avalos and San Francisco Labor Council Executive Director Tim Paulson.
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