Alabama Chief Justice Isn’t Ruling Out a Lawsuit over Court Funding Cuts
Alabama Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb held a news conference on Tuesday in hopes of avoiding a second round of cuts to the state courts’ budget.
Cobb hopes voters will inspire legislators to restore funding to a court system that has already laid off 270 employees, TuscaloosaNews.com reports. And if that doesn’t work, Cobb has a possible plan B: a lawsuit based on the state constitutional requirement for adequate and reasonable court funding.
“I would say we’re not ruling that out,” Cobb said. “That certainly would not be my preference.”
Legislators have proposed cutting the court budget by another $13.1 million next fiscal year, which could result in about 280 more layoffs, Cobb said.
Related court-funding coverage:
Boston Herald: “Budget puts courts on starvation diet” (op-ed by the Boston Bar Association president)
Updated at 10:30 a.m. to link to Boston Herald op-ed.
