The Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce is urging residents to write to the presiding judge of the Los Angeles superior court to protest the planned closure of the Avalon courthouse.
The Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce is urging residents to write to the presiding judge of the Los Angeles superior court to protest the planned closure of the Avalon courthouse.
The Avalon courthouse is one of 10 in Los Angeles County scheduled to be closed by June 30. It is not known when the Island court will close.
The Island courthouse has been operating for half a century. The current judge has served for a quarter century. It is open on Fridays and handles criminal, juvenile and small claims cases as well as restraining orders.
As the Islander reported in November, the 10 county courthouses have been ordered closed to offset a budgetary shortfall that might go up to $85 million. The decision, however, did not come from the county as reported by the media at the time.
“It’s not our decision,” said Cheryl Burnett, a spokesperson for Supervisor Don Knabe’s office.
“The courts aren’t county courts anymore,” she said.” They’re state courts.” She said the county actually has no control over the decision to close the 10 courthouses.
She said Knabe’s office has been forwarding letters from the public to the presiding judge’s office.
The Catalina Chamber website has advised residents to write directly to the same office.
“It’s important to the local business community that there is local access to the county justice system,” said Wayne Griffin, Chamber president and CEO.
He said that if a business person had to go to small claims court on the mainland, they would have to pay for transportation to and from the Island, as well as overnight lodging.
“Residents of Catalina are different from the rest of the citizens of Los Angeles County in that they are separated from the mainland by 22 miles of Pacific Ocean,” Griffin said.
Asked if he meant 26 miles, Griffin said he believed it was actually closer to 22 miles.
Griffin said if the Catalina courthouse closes, Avalon residents would be denied the same level of access to the courts that others have.
He described the issue of jury duty as “huge.” He asked if the county would pay for the transportation and lodging of Islanders who serve jury duty. He said if Islanders were exempted from jury duty, then an Islander facing a jury trial would be denied a jury of their peers.
To contact the presiding judge, write to: The Honorable David Wesley, Presiding Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court, 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles CA 90012.
Griffin said he did not know the deadline for the closure of the courthouse.
