Court funding has been cut by about $1 billion dollars over the past several years.
Cantil-Sakauye says about two million Californians who have sought redress for discrimination, wrongful termination, foster care and other civil complaints have been denied their day in court because of the cuts.
"It’s tragic that 50 years after the enactment of the civil rights act, California faces a different type of civil rights crisis," says Cantil-Sakauye. "It’s not about the law, it’s about access to it.”
Governor Jerry Brown has proposed increasing funding for the courts by about $105 million next year. The Chief Justice says the branch needs about $1.2 billion over the next three years to fully restore the court system.
"We face astonishing and harmful delays in urgent family matters, in business contracts, wrongul terminations, discrimination cases, personal injury cases, across the board," says Cantil-Sakauye.
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