A Brief Personal One in Book Four: Ichi-no-Tani 2017

Wrote a political one today. Nothing brand new, really. Stuff I’ve said before. Stuff I’ll say again. So here is a ridiculously short personal one.

(1) Yesterday was a County Holiday but a State Work Day. So… I had a half day yesterday in court; then spent the rest of the day doing errands, working out, playing Borderlands 2.

(2) There is a lot to be done for The Upcoming Move but Wife is already getting into her bad head space about it. She hates change. She hates change so much that even though she is excited about moving (and has wanted to move for the last several months) that is not sufficient to overcome her anxiety. Case In Point: I have one replacement razor blade left. I requested that, as she works at Wal Mart, if she could pick me up some new blades. Her response: “You’ll have to make do with what you have; I’m not purchasing something just so it can be packed and moved.” Meanwhile, we still need to (start) look(ing) for a place to live and inform our landlords we’re leaving and set up transfers for doctor/Rx stuff since we’re both people who need our daily pills. There is a lot to go over and Wife doesn’t quite seem ready to participate.

(3) Speaking of, apparently… my snoring has become unbearable again. To the point where Sunday Night; I was awoken three times until I was officially kicked out of the bedroom. Then last night; I was awoken at 4 a.m. and simply decided to leave the bedroom myself. HOWEVER, Wife still had a rough night’s sleep. So… it has come to this: My snoring does not wake her but it does prevent her from going back to sleep after she has awoken. It is also, likely, the reason that she doesn’t like when I get in bed before her… despite the fact that (technically) I should be at work at 8 a.m. and the earliest she ever needs to be at work is noon. Something that we need to deal with. I’ve been working out (in case it is a weight thing), I’ve been taking stuff for congestion (to let me breathe easier)… bah.

(4) As I was in Omaha over the weekend and tied up with other things on Monday… I have become incredibly behind on reading again. Apologies. I shall endeavor to catch up as I can. As it stands… I do still have some Work Related things I would like to take care of. Some cases I feel that I can complete… other cases I feel like I can get to the point of “Wrapped up but for an agreement,” ultimately, I have 4 weeks left of work. I would like to spend them properly by finishing cases and withdrawing from things. Of course… I would also like to spend those 4 weeks packing and looking for a place to live. Oh moving. Never easy.

(5) Last year I wrote about Government Spending. It seems fitting, then, that I was sent the following today in regards to current Budget Cuts that hurt people.

Editorial: When Iowa cuts courts’ budget, we all pay (From the Des Moines Register)

Iowans are beginning to see what happens when the state shortchanges justice.
Consider one little courthouse, this one in Clinton, which has a shortage of judges because of cuts. Editor Tom Pantera of the Dewitt Observer spent one day there last month to see “what happened — or, perhaps more accurately, didn’t happen”:

Only one judge was available, and he was tied up with a civil trial, so a number of criminal cases could not be heard;
That meant a prisoner scheduled for sentencing had his hearing postponed for a week, sending him back to the county jail;
A probation revocation hearing had to be postponed for 30 days;
No plea hearings were conducted;
A crime victim took a day off work to attend a sentencing, as did members of the defendant’s family, but the sentencing was delayed, causing everyone who traveled here to take a day off work for no reason;
And the county had to forfeit bed space that had been reserved for an offender at a residential correctional facility.

Is this how “right-sized” government is supposed to work? If justice delayed is justice denied, be prepared for more than inconvenience.

Iowa’s judicial branch — which is not just another state agency, but an equal branch of government — has already been hobbled. Lawmakers froze its funding at last year’s level, $178.7 million, and then the governor and legislators took away an additional $3 million last month. As a result, the judicial branch has enacted a hiring freeze, held open judge vacancies for an average of six months, cut travel expenses by 10 percent and scheduled a furlough day on May 26.

Judicial leaders are requesting $194 million for next year. Receiving less will result in diminished services.

“If the Legislature appropriates the same amount of funding as allocated in FY 17, the impact on Iowans will be significant and devastating,” Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady warned in an “urgent” videotaped message to Iowa Bar Association members this month.
Cady said the potential effects include layoffs; reduced courthouse hours; fewer court service days in rural Iowa; elimination of courts specializing in drug offenses, mental health and family treatment; delays in civil lawsuits; fewer juvenile court officers and other consequences.

But in a tough budget year, everyone must make a sacrifice, right? The governor’s office would like Iowans to believe that, pointing to a downturn in the ag economy. But much bigger issues are at play — such as the $12.1 billion in tax credits and exemptions that have eroded Iowa’s tax base and favored granting economic incentives over funding fundamental responsibilities of government.

Don’t even pretend this is fiscal conservatism. In the long run, cuts to the court system won’t save the state any money. All it will do is delay the processing of the work, slowing the progress of cases as they move through the court system while pushing expenses into the next budget year. And the cuts could even create greater costs down the line.

Consider instead what happens when a state invests in its courts. During Cady’s Condition of the Judiciary address last month, lawmakers stood and clapped — repeatedly and apparently sincerely — when the chief justice listed ways the judiciary branch provides a return on taxpayers’ investment:
• The state has hired more juvenile court officers (who now could be cut through budget reductions) and taken new approaches targeted at youthful offenders. “Since we started to make these important changes in 2009, the number of criminal offenders under the age of 21 entering Iowa’s adult prison system has been cut in half,” Cady said. Taxpayer savings: more than $11 million.
• Court-led programs have diverted teens from juvenile court to a program that helps them learn problem-solving skills and helpful ways to express anger. In one program in Davenport, every teen charged with a misdemeanor in the city in 2016 was diverted into the program, and 93 percent have not committed new offenses, Cady said. Taxpayer savings: $5.8 million.
• Iowa’s 12 family treatment courts reunited 860 families “that were on the brink of being shattered by the termination of parental rights” and kept 1,667 children with their parents in the past nine years. Taxpayer savings: $4.9 million.
• Adult drug courts — which give non-violent offenders the opportunity to seek treatment and avoid prison — could save even more money, Cady said. “The demands on the state’s budget are reduced, and all Iowans benefit when, instead of going to prison, our programs pave the way for these Iowans to go to work every day, earn paychecks, support families, and contribute to our communities.”

Huzzah! Lawmakers stood and roared.

These same lawmakers must hear the roars of constituents who will inevitably feel the pain of a crippled court system.