LONG BEACH (CN) - Changing the way California's trial courts are governed was the central issue at a Long Beach meeting of trial judges from around California, with a major session on Friday briefly erupting into shouted questions about who was behind an abortive attempt by the central administrative office to take over direct control of the trial court operations at the local level.
"There is a great angst within our branch on governance and how we're governing ourselves," said Judge Michael Vicencia of Los Angeles, who led the session called "Order in the Courts" about the future of California's courts.
That angst, in particular the anger of many trial judges with the central administrators, soon showed itself in a question sent up to Vicencia.
A judge wanted to know about a bill in the Legislature that would have given central bureaucrats the power to appoint the head clerk of every local trial court, a measure that would have taken away much of the authority of local presiding judges to run their courthouses.
The questioner asked why the measure was drafted and who was behind the move.
From the panel at the front of the room, Appellate Justice Douglas Miller said Supreme Court Justice Marvin Baxter had withdrawn the bill because he had been blindsided by the proposal.
"Why was it drafted in the first place?" Judge Lance Ito of Los Angeles shouted out.
"Why don't you have the answer?" shouted Judge Timothy Fall from Yolo County.
Vicencia tried to calm the waters, repeating the response from someone on the panel who said, "Order in the court!"
As moderator, Vicencia's theme from the outset of the session was that he wanted to avoid a complaint session and focus instead on proposals.
"It's instances like that, that gives people the impression that the AOC was in charge," he added, in reference to frequent theme of the conference, that it is a "perception" that the central bureaucrats are running the court system. Many trial judges say that perception is an accurate one.
Miller ultimately said he did not know why the measure was drafted, but knew the staff member responsible. He did not say who it was.
The session filled a large conference room with more than 100 judges in attendance. Officials from the central administrative office stood at the back of the room early in the session.
The 82d annual meeting of the California Judges Association was to last three days and included judge training sessions such as how to handle evidence from social media sites Facebook and Twitter, and documents found on the Internet. The meeting concluded Sunday with a question-and-answer session with Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.
The get-together came at a time freighted with disagreement over how policy is set and money is spent in the courts. State Representative Bonnie Lowenthal, Democrat from Long Beach, was on the panel at Friday's session.
Referring to efforts to fix the problems in the courts with legislation, she said that one thing her experience had taught her is that "You don't want to have it done to you."
Lowenthal pressed on the difference between internal matters of policy at the courts and the handling of public money, which is disbursed by the Legislature.