JD Journal » New Hampshire

Massachusetts Top Judge: Court Layoffs “Shortcut to Anarchy”

Erik Even — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:54:27 +0000

The Boston Globe reports that the economic meltdown could have a devastating impact on the American justice system, as courts are forced to lay off employees and cut down on court hours, according to Massachusetts’ top judge.

“I shall be blunt: Our state courts are in crisis,” Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall told members of the American Bar Association at its midyear meeting…

New Hampshire’s judicial branch will halt civil and criminal jury trials for a month to save on per diem payments to jurors. It will also postpone filling seven of the state’s 59 vacant judgeships this year. Budget cuts in Florida have left 280 court employees without jobs and more layoffs are expected. In Maine, the courts have loosened security, no longer staffing magnetic security machine checkpoints at local courthouses…

Courts may have to close civil or criminal sessions or consider consolidating. Those changes could reverberate through the system, she said, slowing the courts down again.

And she noted that about half the state’s courthouses are staffed at “below minimal levels” as determined by an objective national staffing model…

She quoted legal scholar Reginald Heber Smith, calling the denial of justice “the shortcut to anarchy.”

Via Boston Globe.

New Hampshire to Shut 8 District Courts

Erik Even — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 18:03:33 +0000

New Hampshire governor John Lynch’s proposal to close eight district courts would save nearly $2 million a year.

But some are critical of the plan. Colebrook Town Manager Donna Caron said she fears her town’s police budget, already cut 12%, could not handle the extra gas, salary and overtime for officers to travel the extra distance to a court 37 miles away.

Besides Colebrook, the governor proposed the following district court closures and mergers: New London to merge with Newport; Claremont transfer operations to the Sullivan County facility in Newport; Plaistow to merge with Salem; Milford to merge with Merrimack; Hooksett to merge with Concord; Keene to transfer operations to Cheshire County facility in Keene; and Hillsborough to merge with Henniker.

The consolidation would impact six part-time judges, one full-time judge and 22 court staff.

All eight courthouses operate out of leased space, and closing them is expected to save the state about $1.8 million a year in rent.

Other savings would come from “efficiencies in staff” and not needing as many court security officers.

If the plan is approved, consolidations would take effect July 1st.

Pierce Atwood Lets Go 7 Attorneys, 14 Staff

Erik Even — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:20:23 +0000

Pierce Atwood, the largest law firm in Maine, laid off 21 employees last week, including seven attorneys and 14 staff members, according to Gloria Pinza, the law firm’s managing partner.

The laid-off attorneys were based in the firm’s Portland, Maine and Portsmouth, New Hampshire offices. The 14 staff members were in its Portland, Portsmouth and Augusta, Maine offices.

Pinza said the law firm is hiring three new attorneys at its Boston office in February, and that in March it will open a new office in Providence, Rhode Island, with two new attorneys. Despite the economic climate, Pinza said the law firm sees some opportunities to grow in those markets.

Pierce Atwood also maintains offices in Concord, New Hampshire; Stockholm, Sweden; and Washington, DC.

States Halting Jury Trials to Save Per Diems

Erik Even — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:29:17 +0000

From Page One of today’s Los Angeles Times:

The economic storm has come to this: Justice is being delayed or disrupted in state courtrooms across the country.

Financially strapped New Hampshire has become a poster child for the problem. Among other cost-cutting measures, state courts will halt for a month all civil and criminal jury trials early next year to save $73,000 in jurors’ per diems. Officials warn they may add another four-week suspension…

“All the effort to subpoena witnesses and prepare for those trials is right out the window,” [county prosecutor James M.] Reams said, frustration in his voice. “Internally, it’s a monumental waste of time. We’ll have to redo everything.”

At least 19 other states, including California, have slashed court budgets and other government services as their economies have tanked, said Daniel Hall, vice president of the National Center for State Courts, a nonprofit in Williamsburg, Va.

“Courts are there to provide a fair and impartial resolution of disputes,” Hall said. “When you start affecting that, you affect who we are.”

California cut its judicial branch budget by more than $200 million, or about 10%, in the current fiscal year, and further reductions are almost certain as the state grapples with a projected $40-billion deficit. A Republican proposal unveiled last week, for example, would trim a further $205 million from the judiciary.

Because courts are Constitutionally required to provide speedy trials for criminal defendants, civil litigation and family law cases are taking the brunt of the budget cuts.

Read the article at LAT.