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California Supreme Court upholds dismissal of criminal cases due to lack of judges

By Douglas A. Berman

The dysfunctionality of California's criminal justice system never ceases to surprise me, and the latest data point in this ever on-going story is reflected in this new Los Angeles Times article.  The piece is headlined "State Supreme Court upholds Riverside County's dismissal of criminal cases," and here are excerpts: A shortage of judges in Riverside County has led to the dismissal of hundreds of criminal cases, a practice the California Supreme Court upheld on Monday and blamed on the state's budget woes. In unanimous ruling, the state high court said Riverside County's dearth of judges represented a "chronic" problem that was the fault of the budget-strapped state. The case before the court involved an accused burglar, one of 18 criminal defendants whose cases were dismissed on the same day after they invoked their rights to speedy trials...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on October 26, 2010 (boomark / email).