CA courts still jammed

From CalMatters Digital Democracy reporter Ryan Sabalow:

California’s court reporter shortage has gotten so bad that thousands of people, including alleged domestic violence victims, no longer have a written record of their civil cases, making it harder for them to exercise their constitutional right to appeal.

But it appears controversial legislation that court reporters were pushing is dead in the Legislature for the year, giving the California Supreme Court time to rule on a pending case that could decide whether California’s law prohibiting recording in many types of cases is unconstitutional.

Last month, CalMatters reported on how the court reporter shortage has soured to the point that legal aid associations petitioned the state Supreme Court to invalidate California’s law banning recording in certain civil cases. 

The petitioners argued that the ban creates a “two-tiered” justice system where wealthy litigants have the option of hiring private court reporters to type up a written record. But people who can’t afford the more than $3,000 a day to hire a contract reporter are at the mercy of an understaffed court system.

After the petition had been filed, the court reporters union sponsored legislation that critics feared could conflict with the court’s decision and make the problem worse. 

But earlier this week, the union’s Assembly Bill 882 was suddenly pulled off the Senate Judiciary Committee calendar. The bill, which would have lifted a recording ban on court proceedings for three years, needed to pass the committee to advance, making it likely dead for the year. Assemblymember Diane Papan, a San Mateo Democrat and bill author, didn’t return messages. 

The bill’s apparent death comes after California Attorney General Rob Bonta last month took the unusual step of weighing in on the Supreme Court case, siding with petitioners. 

Bonta wrote that many low-income litigants can’t get a record of their court hearings, “including proceedings that affect some of the most significant aspects of their lives.” He said the situation has become untenable for both litigants and the courts. 

From CalMatters Editor in Chief Kristen Go: 

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Let’s dive into two endeavors President Donald Trump’s administration is cutting federal funding for:

• California’s High-Speed Rail project: Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday said the state is suing the Trump administration over its termination of $4 billion in funding for the state’s high-speed rail project. The day before, the U.S. Transportation Secretary said it was “time for this boondoggle to die.” The massive infrastructure undertaking is intended to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles and boost local economies along the way, such as Central Valley’s Fresno. But it also has had a ballooning budget and missed deadlines. Though Trump and Republican lawmakers have been among the project’s most vocal critics, support among Californians has remained relatively steady over the years. 

• AmeriCorps: After Trump’s order in April to cut funding for the public service program, California lost over 5,600 Americorps workers and $60 million. California and 23 other states are suing the administration, and in June a federal judge granted a temporary injunction to reinstate Calfiornia’s grants and allow AmericaCorps workers to return to work. But many of the workers aren’t coming back, and Trump’s recent federal budget does not include money for the program after 2026. This would lead to hundreds of California schools that have Americorps staffing facing severe worker shortages in tutoring, mentorship and after-school programs. Read more from CalMatters’ Adam Echelman and Carolyn Jones.

After the June shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers, the California Legislature is advancing a bill that would hinder journalists from accessing public officials’ contact information. Press freedom advocates say the measure would deny reporters information that would help keep officials accountable. Find out more from CalMatters’ Yue Stella Yu.