City Attorney Warns of Serious Breakdown in Los Angeles Court System

Contact:  Alex Abella (818) 389-7847 (cell) or Mary Lou Aranguren (510) 290-8103

Los Angeles—Critical criminal cases are being jeopardized in the Los Angeles courts, according to a statement by City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. The statement describes lengthy and repeated delays in cases that are being caused by the court's management of the court interpreter strike, now in its sixth week. Delgadillo will testify today at hearings called by Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, Chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee. The hearings have been called to examine the cause and the effects of the protracted strike on the court system and the public.

"This crisis has led to a breakdown in the system... a very serious breakdown," says Delgadillo. His statement reveals specific cases that have been affected including that of a convicted child molester whose hearing to compel registration as a sex offender was delayed for two months while he was free.

Delgadillo says the lack of interpreter services is stressing already limited resources and creating problems such as potential loss of evidence and witnesses, inability to effectively and expeditiously prosecute cases, and delays in the imposition and enforcement of sentences.

Delgadillo says that his deputies report daily that judges are forcing them to delay their cases or transfer them to other jurisdictions.

"Courts may try to blame these debacles on the union," said Silvia Barden, president of the California Federation of Interpreters, the striking union, "but a solution to the strike has been at the court's disposal all along." 

"We're asking the courts to negotiate with us and reach a fair settlement.  The issue is a very simple one of equitable treatment for our members. We want the same pay structure as all other employees in the county. We have been frankly stunned at the lengths to which judges and administrators have been willing to go in refusing to bargain fairly with us, even at the expense of the communities the courts are charged with serving."

Today's hearing, chaired by Majority Leader Romero, is being held jointly with the Senate Public Safety and Judiciary Committees and the Asian Pacific Islander, Latino, Black and Women's Caucuses.

Hearing Location and Time:

Ronald Reagan State Building, 9 a.m. - noon, Auditorium, 300 South Spring Street, Los Angeles