Legislative advocate for Judicial Council needs says goodbye

State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson had a message for her Judicial Council colleagues at their meeting on Friday: She won't be around anymore to fight for their budget.

"I think it's going to be important as we go forward and as the budget is discussed next year that the courts indicate how severely it has been impacted by this pandemic, because of a lot of my colleagues are not as familiar, sadly, with what the courts do and what it takes to give people that access to justice," Jackson said. "I think it's important that the courts develop a very specific report to the Legislature."

She added, "I won't be there to argue for it."

Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, terms out of the Senate this year after an influential, nearly seven-year run as chair of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, helping pass legislation relating to sexual harassment and other workplace issues.

She also served as a consistent advocate for court funding during the budget process.

California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye acknowledged this, telling Jackson, "We will miss you dearly on the Judicial Council, because you do understand our fight as a lawyer."

Cantil-Sakauye also noted Jackson is "married to a judge," Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge George C. Eskin, and understands the budget struggles county courts have faced in recent years.

Jackson is among several prominent legislators with law degrees who will leave Sacramento over the next two years. This includes two of Jackson's Senate colleagues -- Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, and Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont -- who will term out in 2022.

In his presentation, council Administration Director Martin Hoshino said 28 courts around the state are still operating under some kind of emergency order. These no longer relate just to the pandemic but to the widespread wildfires that have compounded the problems courts have had in operating day to day.

The fires have forced courts in many areas to keep windows and doors closed, he said, even as pandemic guidelines suggest keeping them open. Hoshino said the council has addressed this in part by distributing over 600 air scrubbers to courts at a cost of about $90,000 a day.

"We have had a heck of a time trying to balance those competing responses," Hoshino said.

Council meetings held near the end of the year also often mark transitions, and Friday's was no exception. The chief justice welcomed several new council members and said goodbye to others, notably Associate Justice Ming W. Chin, who retired Aug. 31.

Members then spent some of the money the lawmakers gave them this year, approving several projects related to technology, remote access, and helping homeless and other low-income litigants. These efforts are part of the council's long-term goal of improving its ability to serve people remotely to aid low-income litigants, but this has become more pressing during the pandemic.

For instance, members unanimously approved $54 million in projects under the court's Equal Access Fund. About $23 million of this money went to legal services providers and support centers, much of it to aid with domestic violence and restraining orders.

Another $31 million will go to efforts around landlord-tenant issues. This money came from the 2012 national mortgage settlement with large loan services over misconduct relating to the 2007-8 financial crisis. Much of this money will go to legal services providers through the State Bar.

"Every court in every state is experiencing a crisis in trying to provide access to justice," Cantil-Sakauye said. "Every court seems to be grappling with very similar issues relating to evictions."

Landlord-tenant issues have been unusually prominent this year and led to a somewhat contentious year in the relationship between Cantil-Sakauye and the Legislature. The chief justice repeatedly pressured legislators to pass a bill to protect residential tenants who have lost income due to the pandemic from eviction. She twice delayed the end of a temporary rule barring unlawful detainer cases to give lawmakers more time, but ultimately let that policy lapse on Sept. 2.

But the chief justice closed Friday's meeting by praising lawmakers for passing those protections in AB 3088, an effort that came together in the closing weeks of the session. She also cited the passage of AB 3366, which gave her the power to issue statewide emergency orders. Under the old rules, Cantil-Sakauye signed over 100 emergency orders to the keep the dozens of courts around the state running. Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed both bills.

"The global pandemic has shown what three branches of government working together can accomplish," Cantil-Sakauye said.