Cutting costs ... And courts
A budget crisis is forcing some states to close prisons and courts, release some inmates early, stop prosecuting certain nonviolent crimes and slash indigent defense funding. The larger question remains whether these measures will negatively affect public safety and justice.
“If you combine this budget year with the next two—some states don’t do annual budgets—the states could face a combined $90 billion to $100 billion in total deficit,” says Chris Atkins, director of tax and fiscal policy for the American Legislative Exchange Council.
States must cut $17.5 billion in red ink before the end of the fiscal year on June 30, says Gene Rose, public affairs director for the National Conference of State Legislatures. “Forty-nine of the 50 states have balanced budget requirements, so they must close this gap,” Rose says.
Getting Out The Ax
To balance their budgets, many states are cutting court costs. Missouri has cut expenses and equipment in all appellate courts, trimmed its judicial education budget and cut funds to pay senior judges, says David Coplen, director of budget and administration for the Missouri state court administrator’s office.
“We have lost 3 percent of our budget in the last two years,” he says. “In the last 13 years [before 2002], the judiciary had never taken any major reductions. This is the worst budget since the Great Depression in this state.”
Those sentiments echo in King County, Wash., which has closed two district courthouses.
“It is as bad in our state as it has ever been,” says Dick Manning, president of the Washington State Bar Association. He worries that the decline or cessation of public services in the criminal justice system will cause a public backlash.
“How can those who cannot afford participation in our system of justice respect the rule of law when there is not justice for them?” he asks.
Elsewhere, the Oklahoma Supreme Court issued temporary, 2.5 percent pay cuts for nonelected trial court employees in October. New York is considering a reorganization of its court system. Last July, Colorado instituted a hiring freeze of the judicial department, which already has 250 vacancies. And a mandatory three-day unpaid furlough of Colorado court employees, excluding judges, has been extended to eight days, spread out over the rest of the fiscal year.
Colorado faces additional budget cuts down the road. Worst-case scenarios include closing courts for up to a month or more temporary layoffs, says Charles Turner, executive director of The Colorado Bar Association. Another option is doubling filing fees, he says. “We are concerned that this may have an impact on access to courts.”
Colorado has to cut $7.1 million, or 4 percent, from its budget by June 30, says Karen Salaz of that state’s court administrator’s office. The state’s budget committee is working on cutting $465 million across the state, she says. “Right now we’re on a bubble, and we don’t know if it is going to burst,” Salaz says. “We’re all on pins and needles right now.” Perhaps the most dramatic example is Oregon. The state, which has no sales tax, must cut $50.5 million from its judicial department budget alone.
So far, Oregon has made layoffs at all state courts and closed courts every Friday, says Kateri Walsh, community relations administrator with the Oregon State Bar. From March until June there is no small claims court. Also, there is no processing of some misdemeanors, including shoplifting, prostitution, criminal trespass and vandalism. Additionally, Oregon has drastically reduced the indigent defense fund and stopped appointing counsel for some misdemeanors and felony probation violations.
“Undoubtedly this raises thorny legal questions. We fully expect legal and constitutional issues that may arise from the cutting of the indigent defense fund,” Walsh says. “We are looking at the dismantling of our court system. It is a very painful process. We are looking at a systemic breakdown of all sorts of human services, not just the court system.”
Almost 80 court employees have been laid off as of March 1. Says Oregon Chief Justice Wallace P. Carson Jr., “It is going to be a lean two years for state government.”
Virginia Beach, Va., is another example. Harvey Bryant, commonwealth’s attorney, announced in November that, due to budget cuts, his office would no longer prosecute the 2,200 domestic violence cases brought each year.
A few states have a sunnier outlook, including Pennsylvania. “Given the minuscule portion of the overall budget that the judiciary takes—one-half of 1 percent or less—and the new governor’s in-depth understanding of the judicial process, … we are optimistic that the needs of Pennsylvania’s judicial system will be adequately addressed,” says Tom Darr, the state’s deputy court administrator. Gov. Edward G. Rendell is a former mayor and district attorney of Philadelphia.
“Generally, courts do at least as well or better than the average executive agency when it comes to budget cuts,” adds Kenneth Pankey, senior information analyst for the National Center for State Courts.
Inmates Get The Boot
The state budget crisis affects more than courts, though. The penal system has taken equally hard hits. Prisons have closed in Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, Michigan, Kansas, Utah and California.
The Massachusetts Department of Correction closed three facilities last July to come within its reduced budget. “Our budget has been cut $30 million in two years. We have closed five facilities in three years,” says Justin Latini, spokesman for the department. “There will be more overcrowding at the other facilities, but this has been offset by the redeployment of staff to fill vacancies. There have been 22 management positions eliminated.”
In a move that earned widespread media coverage, Kentucky Gov. Paul E. Patton signed an order in December allowing the early release of 567 inmates within 80 days of the end of their sentences.
Atkins of the American Legislative Exchange Council thinks there could be more cuts in public safety spending ahead, a result he finds troubling.
“Releasing prisoners early is something that no one would suggest in good economic times,” he says. “An increased rate of parole releases could be dangerous.”
But some believe the budget crisis affords an opportunity for necessary policy changes.
“There has never been a better time to get a fresh ear for defense counsel proposals for meaningful alternatives to jail,” says Dave Chapman, managing director of the Associated Counsel for the Accused, one of four non-profit public defender agencies in King County.
Some of those alternatives already have been put into place, says Anne Daly, executive director of the Society of Counsel Representing Accused Persons, another agency in King County.
Daly mentions the use of electronic home monitoring at the preadjudication stage, instead of just after sentencing; expansion of the drug court program; and greater use of work release. “We still would like to see more use of adult diversion programs for nonviolent offenses,” she adds.
Both Chapman and Daly say courts and prosecutors are now more apt to consider alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders. “The costs of incarceration are simply too high,” Chapman says.
