SACRAMENTO — It was 1997. The long custody battle for California’s trial courts was over. After years of negotiations and failed attempts, the Legislature had finally shifted primary funding responsibility for the courts from the counties to the state.
Then-Chief Justice Ronald George hailed the passage of the Lockyer-Isenberg Trial Court Funding Act — named for two longtime judiciary allies in the Legislature — as one of the most significant judicial reforms of the 20th century. At the time, the bill’s co-author, Whittier Democratic Sen. Martha Escutia, insisted the legislation would end the politics and penny-pinching that enveloped courts under county control.
