Court officials get an earful about closed courthouse, transparency in the legal system

The Palo Alto Courthouse at 270 Grant Ave. in the California Avenue district. Post file photo.
The Palo Alto Courthouse at 270 Grant Ave. in the California Avenue district. Post file photo.
Word Count: 437
Daily Post Staff Writer

“Do better,” Supervisor Joe Simitian told Santa Clara County Superior Court officials at a meeting yesterday (Oct. 5) about making the court more accessible, now that the Palo Alto courthouse has been closed for 18 months.

Simitian grilled Beth McGowen, the assistant presiding judge, and court CEO Rebecca Flemming for running a system that is alienating residents and losing their trust. The court is remote, unresponsive and inaccessible, he said, especially for people in the northern part of the county. McGowen said Simitian’s assessment was fair, and she pointed to the court’s reduced budget and layoffs …

Premium Content: To read the rest of this article, please click here and Sign In or Subscribe to access our paid site.

If you have a Daily Post Archives account, your access includes Premium Content such as this article. Enter your Archives Username and Password, and you will be redirected to the article.

If you are a first-time user, please Subscribe to select a plan that meets your needs, and create an account to view premium content such as this article.

1 Comment

  1. If the goal is to make the courts as inaccessible and opaque as possible, the closing the Palo Alto courthouse is the way to do this. I don’t buy the claim that budget cuts are the reason for this. The state is spending $13 billion on the homeless this year, and it will have no long term impact.

Comments are closed.