Now You Know They've Gone Too Far

The teabaggers in Congress, that is. When our corporatist Chief Justice starts screaming about budget cuts -- well, that's extreme.

The impact of the sequester was more significant on the courts than elsewhere in the government, because virtually all of their core functions are constitutionally and statutorily required. Unlike most Executive Branch agencies, the courts do not have discretionary programs they can eliminate or postpone in response to budget cuts. The courts must resolve all criminal, civil, and bankruptcy cases that fall within their jurisdiction, often under tight time constraints. And because many of the Judiciary’s expenditures, such as rent and judicial salaries, must be paid regardless of sequestration, the five percent cut that was intended to apply “across-the-board” translated into even larger cuts in discretionary components of the Judiciary’s budget. . . .

Sequestration cuts have affected court operations across the spectrum. There are fewer court clerks to process new civil and bankruptcy cases, slowing the intake procedure and propagating delays throughout the litigation process. There are fewer probation and pretrial services officers to protect the public from defendants awaiting trial and from offenders following their incarceration and release into the community. There are fewer public defenders available to vindicate the Constitution’s guarantee of counsel to indigent criminal defendants, which leads to postponed trials and delayed justice for the innocent and guilty alike. There is less funding for security guards at federal courthouses, placing judges, court personnel, and the public at greater risk of harm.

It's sort of a boot-licking document, overall -- Roberts obviously knows his audience -- but it still points up the real-life effects of Congress' ideologically-driven budget cuts.

Of course, Republicans don't like a free and independent judiciary -- it doesn't always give them the decisions they want. So we'll see what effect Roberts' report has.

Via The New Civil Rights Movement.