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| Advocacy News & Updates |
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| Audit Request Passed! |
California's Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) unanimously passed Senator Mark Leno's request to audit the Marin and Sacramento County Family Courts! Click here to read Sentor Leno's press release. Click here to download a one-pager on the audit's scope & objectives from the State Auditor's website. >>Click here to view the JLAC hearing on the California Channel Note: Our audit presentation begins at 46:33 mins into the hearing, and ends at 1:10:40 mins, so it lasts about 24 minutes. Media outlets across the state & nation are reposting Gary Klien's July 1 article about the audit: > Marin IJ, July 1, 2009 And the July 1 Associated Press story has legs: TV PRINT |
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| Sacto Hearing Success! |
Assemblywoman Fiona Ma's May 28th informational hearing titled "Interests of the Child in the Courts" was a tremendous success! Thank you to the 54 supporters who turned out in Sacramento for this important event! Assemblywoman Ma concluded the hearing by stating that she will be reviewing the testimony to determine the next course of action which will include legislation. |
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| AB 612 Update |
AB 612 (which would eliminate junk science from being used in family courts) passed unanimously off the Assembly floor and will make its next stop in the Senate Judiciary Committee - the hearing date is yet to be determined. Assemblymember Jim Beall, Jr. CJE and our allies are working to fix the bill, which was dangerously amended during the Assembly Committee hearing. Stay tuned for more info! Click here to listen to audio from the hearing (recording is in MP3 format and runs just over 1 hour) Click here to read more & listen to audio clips from the AB 612 press conference on Assemblymember Jim Beall, Jr.'s website. |
CJE Advocacy |
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| Legislative Priorities | JPE's | JLAC | ||
| 2010 Legislative Priorities | ||
CJE remains committed to educating policymakers at all levels of government about the systemic gaps within the courts, as well as potential solutions. In 2010, CJE will continue to build upon our advocacy successes from last year, which include the passage of Sen. Mark Leno's JLAC audit of the Marin and Sacramento Family Courts. Our current 2010 legislative priorities include: AB 612 (Child Custody - Non-Scientific Theories) was introduced in 2009 by San Jose Assemblyman Jim Beall, Jr. and would ensure that all expert testimony or evidence in custody cases that involve abuse allegations is based on concepts and theories generally accepted by the scientific community and supported by credible and admissible factual evidence. We expect this bill to be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee sometime this summer. Stay tuned for details. AB 1050 (Child Custody - Children's Voices) was introduced in 2009 by San Francisco Assemblywoman Fiona Ma and would allow children the right to present live testimony in family court about their custody and visitation arrangement. We expect this bill to be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee sometime this summer. Stay tuned for details. AUDIT - The California State Auditor's final report on the use of court appointees in California Family Courts is due to be released in June 2010. CJE and CPPA continue to submit evidence to the State Auditor about litigants' experiences with court appointees. If your case was active in either Marin or Sacramento Counties at any time from 2004-2008, then please download, complete and send us the brief family court audit intake form on this home page, and we will submit it to the State Auditor on your behalf. Please do not contact the State Auditor's office directly. NEW BILLS - For more information on legislation pertaining to the California Courts, go to www.leginfo.ca.gov, and please remember to check the CJE website frequently for advocacy updates as we routinely meet with legislators who are concerned about our issues and interested in reforming and improving our courts. |
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Judicial Performance Evaluations |
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CJE remains committed to introducing the idea of a Judicial Performance Evaluation (JPE) program for California to our State legislators. JPE programs already exist in 19 other states and are generally popular among judges and voters alike where they have been established. To learn more about JPE's visit the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (University of Denver) online or click here to download a one-page pdf about CJE's advocacy work. We are encouraged by the positive feedback we’ve received about developing a statewide Judicial Performance Evaluation (JPE) program for California, similar to those working in other states. Our preferred model for California’s JPE program is Colorado, where volunteer commissions at the state and local levels conduct evaluations, and the program is funded using revenue from traffic violations. CJE is currently focusing on building support for JPE's among diverse statewide organizations.
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| 2009 Joint Legislative Audit Committee Request | ||
After 17 months of delays and procedural hurdles, California's Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) unanimously passed Senator Mark Leno's request to audit the Marin and Sacramento County Family Courts on July 1, 2009. Click here to read Senator Leno's press release. The 14-member JLAC Committee approved the audit request with a 12-0 bipartisan vote! Click here to view the JLAC hearing on the California Channel. The passage of this audit is a remarkable victory that we have fought long and hard for. Please take the time to thank Senator Mark Leno for his work on this important issue. His leadership and commitment to transparency has made this audit a reality. The Bureau of State Audits will begin work on this audit within the next couple of weeks according to committee staff. Please trust that we will provide you with more details as they become available. Click here to read the Marin Independent Journal's coverage of this emerging story. - - - As part of CJE’s ongoing commitment to protecting children, and the rights of children while in the courts, we have identified an alarming number of critical gaps in how the California Family Courts deal with child custody disputes, allegations of physical and sexual child abuse, and domestic violence. In light of the seriousness of these issues, it is CJE’s opinion that an audit and evaluation of the California Family Courts by the California State Auditor is warranted. In 2008 CJE worked closely with the office of Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Sally Lieber to develop a letter to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) requesting an audit of the California Family Courts with respect to child custody disputes. In June 2008, Assemblywoman Lieber submitted the letter to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. Unfortunately, due to the absence of the committee's chair, the JLAC failed to meet after the request was submitted. Assemblywoman Lieber, who has been a remarkable champion for children in the California legislature, and a great friend to CJE, was termed out of office in 2008 and is unable to re-introduce the audit request during the 2009 legislative session. This audit will help identify any existing inconsistencies in the application of domestic violence, child custody, and child abuse laws and processes within the state, and will bring clarity to issues the Legislature should address for the protection of parents and children of the state of California. |
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