Women lawyers get new lectern

The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports, as a reader sent me:

SANTA CRUZ -- The state's top jurist says the California court system needs to move into the digital era and she plans to help make that happen.

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye spoke to members of the legal community about the state of the California judicial system Tuesday evening at an event co-sponsored by Women Lawyers of Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz County Bar Association. ...

As the state has undergone budget cuts across the board, the judicial system has hardly been immune. Cantil-Sakauye said she hopes the court system will be able to stanch the cuts and seek restorations in the next several years.

"Even though we have budget concerns, we are still a strong institution," she said.

To make it even stronger, a number of efforts are under way, she said, including the formation of a committee of judges tasked with reviewing and overseeing the case management systems. A major push will be made to get more documents online and to provide more cohesion when it comes to case management systems. Within the state's 58 trial courts, there are more than 100 different computer systems being used, she said.

"We will be working hard to bring it into the 21st century," she said.

Is she joking? Five years ago Santa Cruz had minute orders online. No more. They ought to have audio recordings of court proceedings online. Some federal courts now have all the briefs online.

Cantil-Sakauye, who toured the Santa Cruz County Superior Court earlier in the day, praised the court as one of the best-run in the state. She said court workers had clearly made necessary sacrifices and educated themselves pre-emptively in light of burgeoning budget cuts.

"We expect to be hearing from many courts starting over the next few months about bailouts, but we don't expect to be hearing about this from Santa Cruz," she said. "They took their leadership and skill and crafted a solution."

Cantil-Sakauye was the first speaker to use a new podium custom-made in honor of Judge Kathleen Akao, the second female judge to have been elected in the county, who died in 2005. The new lectern was presented by Heather Morse, the county's first female judge.

A podium is a platform for the speaker to stand on. A lectern is a slanted stand to hold the speaker's notes. Which is it, a podium or a lectern?

I was going to make some comments about all these women judges and lawyers, but that might be ruder than my much-criticized comments about Dr. Gay. Besides, I have to sentenced by Judge Morse tomorrow.

So I'll just say that I am glad we have a new podium or lectern or whatever it is, and we don't need any bailouts.

I watched the TV show Revenge last night. The main character had been institutionalized by a psychiatrist as a young girl, as part of a plot to punish her father and prevent him from seeing her. Years later, she exposes the psychiatrist. The truly guilty parties have not yet gotten what they deserve. It is a TV show, and there are more episodes to come. Hmmm. Shrinks who separate dads from their daughters should always have to worry that they will be exposed for what they have done.