OCR Text |
Show judicial chess gas Governor Ramp ton's move last week to reassign duties and districts for Utah's District Judges may for the time being tak; the pressure off the loaded courts in the Salt Lake City area, but it is by no means the answer, and may bring about what has boon feared fear-ed most by legislators and citizens who have in the past opposed redisricting plans put forward. By weakening the court system in the outlying districts in an attempt to improve intolerable conditions condi-tions in Salt Lake County, the Governor's move may have the effect of making mediocre the District Court machinery all over Utah, where presently it is marked by good working conditions in some areas and terrible conditions in others. Although many proposals have bcen advanced over the years by certain study groups to cure tbe situation situa-tion of crowded caseloads and court bark-logs in mn cities, none has ever really come to grips with the problem. They all attempt to merely s'hift judges around like pawns on a chessboard without coming to the obvious ob-vious solution either streamlining the system so that courts can more- efficiently and effectively do their work, or even more realistically, simply by adding sufficient new judges in the crowded districts to take-care take-care of the work. We applaud the Governor's decision to bring the matter to a head, but have little hone the plan wiu have much lasting success. A workable solution must be put forward for the next Legislature meeting in January and it must be passed. |