Commit a crime in Santa Monica? You may be heading to LAX
SM COURTHOUSE — Santa Monica might soon lose its criminal courtroom, where locals and visitors alike are tried for everything from jaywalking and panhandling to camping in neighborhood parks, possessing illegal drugs and violating the noise ordinance.
County court officials cited a statewide budget crunch and said they stand to save more than $500,000 in security expenses by moving the criminal cases to the Airport Courthouse near LAX. But local officials said the change will be costly for Santa Monicans.
“This is a community-based courtroom,” said Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Bernard Kamins, who has presided over the criminal cases for nine years. “Santa Monica has very unique and important issues to the populace here... It’s for the people, the witnesses, the defendants.
“This, like the drug court, really works,” added Kamins, a native of Los Angeles’ westside and former public defender who has served on the bench for 19 years. “When you can connect with somebody heart The decision to move the courtroom, which hears only misdemeanor offenses, comes a year after all felony cases were transferred to the LAX Courthouse. Judge Kamins said he currently oversees from 80 to as many as 180 cases in the courtroom each day, adding that between seven and 28 of those cases involve alleged criminals who are being held in custody.
“This, like the drug court, really works. When you can connect with somebody heart to heart — rather than with a club over their head.” — to heart — rather than with a club over their head.” — BERNARD KAMINS Santa Monica Superior Court Judge
Prosecutors and defense attorneys — and even Judge Kamins — said they were caught off guard when county officials called a special meeting last week to discuss moving the courtroom. Officials are expected to discuss the matter again next week and hope to complete the move in May.
Allan Parachini, a spokesman for the court system, said similar consolidations have led to the demise of community courtrooms in Hollywood, Monrovia and San Pedro. He added they are necessary, though painful, because the Los Angeles Superior Court system is facing certain budget cuts of an unknown severity. Last year, it closed 29 courtrooms and laid off 300 people, he added.
Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Linda Lefkowitz, who took over as presiding judge of the Santa Monica Courthouse on Jan. 1, said the city will look at various options for mitigating the added expenses and inconveniences to City Hall and local residents.
“Every judge in this courthouse — we are committed to community courts,” said Lefkowitz, 62, who has been a judge more than 10 years. “And we certainly respect the interests of the community of Santa Monica... But the court will go down there as what’s called a ‘dedicated court,’ meaning it’s going to be a Santa Monica misdemeanor court only.”
Lefkowitz said officials are exploring possibly holding some arraignments by video conference, meaning less expense for local police, prosecutors and public defenders, who would have to commute with the suspected criminals to the Airport Courthouse. Still, Lefkowitz acknowledged the move’s announcement had caused waves in the courthouse.
“I know I’ve given (Judge Kamins) some disappointment about this, and I feel very badly about that,” said Judge Lefkowitz, who praised his judicial work.
But the bottom line, Lefkowitz added, is the move is near certain.
“Let me put it this way: It is highly probable, if not definite, that the cases will be moved to the Airport Courthouse,” she said Tuesday. “We had considered this for some time, because we are now dependent on state funding... We have to reduce our security costs county-wide by $4 million by the end of this fiscal year, by July.”
Parachini said despite the costs and other negative effects to the local community, the move must be made.
“In each community where that has happened, the local law enforcement folks have complained that that’s a hardship for them — and we agree, that is a hardship for them,” he said. “The problem for us is we have to operate a system that has 2.6 million new filings each year and something on the order of 7,000 to 8,000 criminal trials a year.”
Parachini said the decision to move Santa Monica’s criminal courtroom also was prompted by a construction project currently underway there that forces inmates in custody to be funneled outside, through a public area, and back into a secure “lockup facility.”
“Something had to give,” he said. Santa Monica Police Department Lt. Frank Fabrega said it’s unclear how much it will cost City Hall to transfer the prisoners to the newer, larger courthouse near LAX.
“It’s too early to say what the cost will be,” he said. “We anticipate that it may have a dramatic affect on the budget, but we’re still looking into various options.”
Fabrega said while busy times can require dozens of “custody transfers” in a single day, the average is typically 14. But because felony and misdemeanor prisoners can’t be transferred together, the police might have to make as many as four trips each day to transport prisoners. Currently, the SMPD owns only one vehicle to transport groups of prisoners.
Judge Kamins, who lives in Malibu, declined to comment on whether he would make the move to the Airport Courthouse. He reiterated how much he values the courtroom as well as the attorneys that regularly work in it. And he also praised workers at the Airport Courthouse but indicated commuting there would be difficult and time consuming.
City Attorney Marsha Moutrie, an avid First Amendment supporter, echoed many of the concerns of Judge Kamins. She too will be involved in the meeting March 3.
“The thing that I’m concerned about... is the impact upon this community of losing what amounts to a community courthouse that processes violations of local law,” she said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 25, 2004. Read the original PDF.