Los Angeles Courts Stay Open as Homes of Judges, Staff Burn

Los Angeles courts are largely moving ahead with hearings and trials as residents across the county flee raging wildfires burning for an eighth day.

Most of the county’s 36 courthouses stayed open since the first L.A. fires began Jan. 7, with court staff sometimes working in face masks as smokey air filled facilities near uncontained blazes. Three courthouses closed temporarily last week but reopened Friday.

Lawyers and their clients say they’re anxious while appearing before judges, distracted by calls from friends and family who may be in the path of the fires.

The city is entering a second week of wind gusts fueling fires and limiting firefighters’ ability to contain them, as at least 24 people have died, while some 12,000 buildings and over 40,000 acres burned in one of the costliest natural disasters in modern US history. While the Palisades and Eaton fires remain largely uncontrolled, forecasters are projecting a new round of potentially lethal winds threatening further damage across the region.

The county’s public defenders union on Jan. 9 called for wider closures. By Jan. 13, around a dozen union members had lost their homes, said Local 148 president Garrett Miller. One union member saw five jurors fail to show up to their ongoing trial in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County due to the fires, prompting talk of a mistrial, Miller said.

“Many judges were not present,” Miller said in an interview. “They called out. They have the freedom to do that, given their position. Whereas a lot of our attorneys can’t do that, and won’t do that, because if the courts are open they want to be there for their client.”

As L.A. residents traveled through flurries of ash to appear for suspended drivers license and consumer warranty cases, Miller said public defenders voiced “visceral” frustration that two of the county’s largest courthouses, Stanley Mosk Courthouse and Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center closed in November for an L.A. Dodgers victory parade, but not for the firestorms.

“It was obviously such a fluid emergency,” Miller said. “It was clear that it was getting worse before anything was getting better.”

24 Judicial Officers, Staff Lose Homes

The L.A. court in a Jan. 13 public notice said residents impacted by the wildfires and called for jury duty can request a change from the Jury Services Division. Court self-help center staff will be available to answer questions at two Local Assistance Centers and Disaster Resource Centers for Impacted LA County Residents through at least Jan. 17.

As usual, remote appearances are available to litigants, and judges have discretion to consider delays, Rob Oftring, the court’s Chief Communications and External Affairs Officer, said in an email to Bloomberg Law. Bench warrants for failure to appear in criminal cases will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Presiding Judge Sergio C. Tapia II said in a statement that L.A. courthouses will remain open whenever possible to ensure access to justice.

“We are keenly aware that many of our judicial officers and court staff have lost homes and been directly impacted by this devastating disaster,” Tapia II said. “Our court community mourns their loss along with them and their families.”

In addition to the five federal judges and six federal court staffers whose homes burned, at least 12 judicial officers and 12 staff members in L.A. state court have lost their homes to the firestorm.

Blaine Corren, a spokesperson for the Judicial Council of California, said in an email that “the council is not in a position to weigh in on this question of keeping courts open or not, as this situation is essentially a local court operations issue. And it’s commendable that the courts are doing everything they can to keep the doors open.”

Heightened Risks

Disasters exacerbate the danger of domestic violence, custody issues, and evictions, and courts need to be open, at least remotely, to address the emergencies, legal advocates say.

Otherwise, abusers can take advantage of a lack of oversight and threaten victims with claims like, “The court’s closed, you can’t get help,” said Allison Kephart, COO of WEAVE, a Sacramento-based group working with domestic violence survivors. “Or, ‘I’m going to take our kids and you won’t be able to get them back because the court’s closed.’”

“Just because one emergency is happening--and it’s a very large emergency, it’s a very real emergency--doesn’t mean that other emergencies stop happening,” Kephart said.

The California Judicial Council agreed in May to allow judicial officers to preside over remote civil proceedings outside of court in circumstances like natural disasters.

Diego Cartagena, the president and CEO of L.A. legal aid organization Bet Tzedek, evacuated with his wife and nine- and 12-year-old children last week and shares Kephart’s concern.

“We don’t want anybody taking some sort of extra-judicial, extra-legal action, like saying, ‘The courts are closed, so I’m just gonna evict you anyway,’” Cartagena said.

Cartagena’s organization has allowed staff to take paid leave to evacuate and relocate, and come to the office for fresher air quality and to recharge devices. Flexibility is needed, he said.