 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 
|
|
 |
||||||||||||||||
|
Courthouse Doors Are Slowly Closing By Ellen L. Arnold President, New Hampshire Bar Association
One of many serious ramifications is a relatively "quiet crisis" happening throughout the state. The doors of justice are closing, not with a slam, but with a steady narrowing of the passageway. The doors are not shut and locked yet – but in the present funding crisis, businesses and individuals are facing more and more difficulty in accessing the courts. Each week, courts without judges are postponing trials in cases that have already been postponed two or three times. That means no resolution for disputes involving business assets; the fate of people’s homes; unpaid medical bills; and damages that have gone unaddressed because those responsible
Even proceedings in minor criminal cases are being delayed as court clerks make difficult choices to allocate sparse judge time to the most serious matters. In family courts, the processing of divorce and child support cases takes longer than the goal of resolution in days or weeks – delays that are especially painful when what’s at stake is a parent’s ability to care for their family. We encourage citizens to speak up for their courts. Our courts need to be open to hear our disputes and to enforce the rule of law. Years of underfunding, and the current prospect of more cuts, are closing the doors of justice. We urge you to contact your legislators and Governor Lynch to ask them not cut deeper into our court system. Over the years, underfunding of the courts in NH has resulted in:
Although there are different proposals out there for the state budget over the next two years, all of them call for more vacancies to go unfilled in the administrative ranks and for completely cutting funds for part-time judges who fill in coverage gaps. And different scenarios to save operating costs could close district courts this year in Claremont, Colebrook, Milford, New London and Keene, forcing police, litigants and others to travel longer distances to have their cases heard. The underfunding of the state courts, of course, is part of a larger budget problem facing the state. The state Senate and the House of Representatives have both passed budgets that reduce spending for the judicial branch below the amounts spent in the last two-year budget period. The Senate’s budget cuts more deeply into the courts (by $2.3 million more over the next two years) than the House version. The Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court has said that if the Senate’s cuts are not restored, access to justice for many citizens will be jeopardized. At current levels of funding, the entrance to our courts is narrow, and we urge the legislature to keep the doors of justice open. Ellen L. Arnold is the 2008-9 President of the New Hampshire Bar Association, and is associate general counsel at Dartmouth College. Arnold also is a part-time justice in the NH District Court but has not been sitting during her tenure as a Bar Association officer. |
|
Home | About the Bar | For Members | For the Public | Legal Links | Publications | Online Store New Hampshire Bar Association |
