Judiciary Budget
NEW: Links to the Governor’s budget recommendations for the judicial branch of government.
We invite you to contribute your ideas for the state’s Judiciary budget. This forum is a space for you to join the discussion on how the state should prioritize funding for these issues.
(click images to enlarge)
NEW: Links to the Governor’s budget recommendations for the judicial branch of government
Try to be as specific as possible in your comments so that your suggestions can be fully utilized by the Judiciary Budget Division Committee. Thank you for adding your ideas to the discussion.
You may also share your ideas directly with your local Senator:
Follow this link to look up contact information for your Senator.
Follow this link to look up who represents you.
To learn more about the Senators who serve on the Judiciary Budget Committee, follow this link.
Eden Valley
January 16th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Part of the fault for budget overruns is the fact that so many services are duplicated or they are totally ignored by those who are responsible for them. Take The Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board and the Board on Judicial Standards, Both of these are funded by taxpayer dollars from the legistlative branch of government when the responsibility belongs to the judicial branch of government. The Supreme Court is responsible for ploicing judges and attorneys with the funds already allocated to them so why are the taxpayers paying for services a second time to fund these boards that really do nothing in the first place except protecting lawyers and judges from prosecution and the public which is contrary to the purpose these boards were formed
Elk River
January 16th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
We have to stop the frivolous law suits from even making it to court. Like the report of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Judges having enough common sense to throw these cases out would save a lot of money and cases that deserve their time in court won’t be tied up for months or years before being heard.
Golden Valley
January 16th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
When MinnesotaCare required funding, all healthcare providers were taxed 2% of their gross revenues to pay for it and unlike the judiciary, there is no constitutional dictate for healthcare coverage for those unable to afford it. Tax lawyers 2% of their gross revenues while preventing them from passing it on to their clients just as the law requires of healthcare providers and there’ll be ample funds for the judiciary. With so many of our legislators being attorneys, however, it will be more politically expedient to tax the “rich” ( defined as anyone making more than a legislator) than to tax themselves. Real reform can’t occur as long as the fiction persists that anyone in this state is undertaxed. The problem is we are living well beyond our means and overspending.
Minneapolis
January 17th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Paul — you have a very interesting idea. The Hennepin District Court handles a lot of complex business cases every year, and the court fees do not line up with how much court staff time goes into processing those cases. If we taxed large settlements or awards by a small amount, that would help keep court fees lower so that low-income people could still afford to file simple cases, but would still raise revenue to match how much staff time goes into the bigger cases.
The time might also be ripe to re-examine the increase criminalized offenses that the Legislature created in the past 15 years. A lot of misdemeanors were upgraded into felonies, and that leads to bringing cases into the court system for hearings that could otherwise have been handled by fees.
Wayzata
January 18th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Paul and Lindsay have great ideas. The MNCare tax on physicians is a joke. It goes into the general fund and not to help those for whom it was developed. However, taxing the lawyers is a GREAT idea. To discourage the attorneys from seeking large settlements (which we all end up paying for in the long run) have the percentage they can collect from the award diminish as the award increases. There is no reason anyone should be awarded $7million for being left with a scar on their face after an ELECTIVE surgery.
Paul is unfortunately correct in that the legislature at every level is dominated by lawyers therefor making any legal reform essentially impossible.
Let us get back to the age of judges being able to judge a case prior to it getting to trial. Let the judge throw out the suit against the school where the merry-go-round hurt little Jimmy; where Sally fell off the teeter-totter; where Bobby got hurt by a ball in a game of dodge-ball. Why do you think our kids don’t enjoy the same equipment we had a children? You got it…the schools are afraid of being sued! If judges still had the power to judge maybe my kids would know what a merry-go-round is!
Lets tax those awards!
St. Paul
January 20th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Minnesota’s judicial system is one of the best in the nation. Pointing blame at any one area of law as the cause of a judiciary budget shortfall is not accurate, or a solution. We have the privilege to live in a country where we strive for justice through a fair and impartial process, whether it involves trying criminal cases or resolving family, business, or civil disputes. We should do everything we can to assure adequate funding, or do the best we can to preserve as much of the judiciary process as possible amidst a bad economy.
pine island
January 27th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Hey folks, what are we talking about here? We are talking about the third branch of government not some social program. While the wage situation for some court employees might be different I can say that I have recieved only two 3.25 percent COLA raises in the last six years while the cost of my copays on everything has risen. While the cost of everything around me has gone up. I consider my self lucky not to be assembling Ford trucks or one of the many already layed off workers in the state of MN. But to ask the employees of the courts to go another 2 to 4 years and to cut cost ( wages or employees ) is not reasonable if you wish your court systems to operate. At best I am looking at keeping my job with no raises for the next possibly 4 to 6 years that would be two small increases in 12 years. Who can live this way. Plus we have not shared in the wealth when things were good, we contstantly feel like we are swimming up stream. The Auto workers had good times years ago while government employees did not.
If you expect these employees to continue to keep your courts functioning I would suggest not to cut funding there is very little left to give. The value of keeping long term employees is of hugh value to the courts. Who is going to want to stay on in jobs with no prospect of a raise or rewards for your work.
Mankato
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Just for the record, schools and government entities are already immune from lawsuits when little Jimmy gets hurt on the playground and Judges have full authority currently to dismiss cases that are frivolous. Most of the courts time is spent on criminal cases and business v. business litigation not injury cases. Those filings are down.
Cottage Grove
February 5th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Lance has a point. However these boards were set up to
enshrine the status quo not to protect the public. For
example as a reader of this are you a criminal or not.
The State and State Courts think you are. They have
imposed taxes on you to pay for crimes you did not commit.
Yes you are paying for the jails and those in it. You are
also providing them with better health insurance than you
have. Do you think people who commit crimes should pay for
it or do you think you should pay for crimes you did not
commit?
Austin
February 15th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Change the law to make State Prisons keep the convicted. They release them to the counties to serve their time, that fills up local jails. This causes counties to have to build bigger jails to house them. If not, they are released into the community under “probation”. These include sexual predators, which most deem incurable.
This has happened in Mower County which is resulting in building a bigger jail to meet the requirements that have been mandated, but not funded by the State. So everyone Mower County resident must pay more taxes for that also.
MINNEAPOLIS
March 13th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
We are Americans. To be American means that we solve our disputes through civility, not brute force. The institution that most fully supports our civility is the court. It’s sadly ironic that we’re engaged in two wars designed to export our system of justice at the same time we’re considering dismantling our own.