Published in the March 30 – April 12, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
Morgan Hill is home to a downtown courthouse that opened in 2009 to serve the judicial needs of the people of the South Valley region. But despite the original intentions of having a conveniently located facility to do court-related business, residents of Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy must make the drive north to San Jose or Santa Clara to dispute a traffic ticket with a judge, or for small claims, civil and family court cases.
The traffic, civil and small claims units were closed in the South County Courthouse Oct. 6, 2014. The family law unit was closed in the building Jan. 19, 2016, so residents must go to the downtown San Jose Family Justice Center Courthouse to file for legal proceedings such as divorce, restraining orders, child support and other cases.
At the March 16 Morgan Hill City Council meeting, council members voted to submit a letter to Judge Rise Jones Pichon of the Superior Court system in the county to reinstate the traffic court in the South County Superior Court facilities.
“The cessation of services has had a negative impact on access to services for South County residents and caused significant operational challenges for South County law enforcement,” the letter reads. “The loss of services has disproportionately affected Morgan Hill and the rest of South County in comparison to the rest of the county.”
We agree with the council on bringing back the traffic court to the South County court facilities in downtown Morgan Hill to serve residents living in the southern portion of the county. We also would like to see other justice services such as family law, civil and small claims brought back to the courthouse here. Those who need to engage in the justice system have to endure a 45 to 60 minute one-way car ride during commute hours to reach facilities in San Jose or Santa Clara. It’s especially an arduous burden on people with low incomes who might need to use public transportation because they do not own a car or can’t get access to a vehicle.
The South Valley region has a higher number of people living at the poverty level than other parts of Santa Clara County. So having access to these justice services at the downtown Morgan Hill courthouse is extremely important to residents in our communities who live in a lower socio-economic level. They are more likely to be intimidated or disenfranchised because of the difficulty in going farther north to deal with court-related matters. Removing the barrier of a longer commute would mean much to this group of residents who might not be able to take time off of work or easily afford child care services to spend long hours traveling to and from the north county courthouses.
The issue of lack of the various court service in the South County Courthouse also hits other areas of our region’s society, including adding extra burden to Morgan Hill and Gilroy law-enforcement personnel that the police departments in other municipalities in the county do not face. The city of Morgan Hill does not have quantifiable data showing what fiscal impact might hit taxpayers because of this situation. But the police department assured the city council that impact is a real burden on the level of service the police can provide residents because of this situation.
Pichon manages the county’s court budget, determining the administration of court houses from Palo Alto to Morgan Hill. The city council’s letter to her emphasizes: “The impact on law enforcement over the past 18 months cannot also be over-stated. Previously, when an on-duty officer appeared for traffic court, he or she simply appears on-duty and other officers provided the needed coverage for the absence knowing the officer was nearby if a critical incident occurred. Now if the team is at minimum staffing levels, the department must call an officer in on overtime to accommodate the on-duty officer’s court obligations.”
The decision to remove many of the various court services in the South County Courthouse and bring them to courthouses to the north was made based on budget-cutting considerations on the state level. Unfortunately, any savings that might be accrued are negated because the costs of time and transportation are passed on to residents in the South County. And as the southern county region grows in population during the coming years, the negative economic and quality of life impact on not having these services close by will only increase on our residents.
We encourage the return to the South County Courthouse of all the justice-related services. In a democratic society the right to convenient and unburdened access to the judicial system should be mandatory for all citizens, especially those who might be hardest hit economically.
