Civil disturbance.

When California voters approved the so-called "three strikes" law that increased penalties for repeat felons, most people expected a case backlog to build in the criminal courts. But 16 months after the law took effect, another unanticipated and potentially devastating consequence has occurred: The civil courts, rather than the criminal courts, are being overwhelmed, because higher-priority criminal matters are bumping civil cases out of county courtrooms.

In fact, the civil courts have been so hard hit in the wake of three strikes that some lawyers are predicting California's legal system could eventually break down entirely. And even if it doesn't, business owners and other individuals with a grievance will have to wait months, perhaps years, for their cases to be heard.

The problem stems from the fact that three strikes has greatly increased the number of criminal cases going to trial, because defendants no longer have any incentive to enter into a plea bargain, whereby they plead guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for a more-lenient sentence.

Under the new law, there is little incentive for accused felons to avoid trial by pleading guilty to lesser charges, because judges no longer have discretion to reduce felony charges to misdemeanors. A third felony conviction automatically results in a sentence of 25 years to life.

And because the consequences are more serious, criminal trials are getting longer. The length of the average criminal trial in L.A. County has increased from four days before three strikes went into effect to six days today, according to Superior Court officials.

Speedy trials 

Because of a criminal defendant's right to a speedy trial, criminal cases get priority over civil cases. The result is that many courtrooms and judges formerly handling civil cases in L.A. County and throughout the state have now been switched over to handle criminal cases. And that is creating a growing backlog for civil litigators.

"The whole criminal justice system is predicated on the assumption that most of the cases will settle (without a trial), and that's no longer happening," said David Pasternak, a parmer at the Century City firm of Appleton, Pasternak & Pasternak and vice president of the L.A. County Bar Association. "I would not be surprised if, some time in the next year or so, the civil courts in Los Angeles County are forced to shut down."

Already, some district courthouses in L.A. County have stopped hearing civil cases entirely. In downtown L.A., 15 of the 50 Superior Court courtrooms that had been reserved for civil cases are now being used for criminal cases. Judge Robert Parkin, assistant presiding judge for Los Angeles County Superior Court, said that 182 criminal trials were heard in local civil courtrooms during all of 1994. However, so far this year, there have been 341 such switches, and Parkin said he expects at least 700 by year's end. The number of civil trials heard in Superior Court, meanwhile, decreased by 18 percent in the first four months of this year, compared with the matching period last year.

"When these kinds of laws (like three strikes) are passed, if we're going to maintain our system of justice, we've got to have additional resources in order to handle the added caseload," Parkin said. "We cannot cut anymore and continue to operate at an acceptable level."

Most likely, however, Parkin and other judges and attorneys will be forced to operate with even less resources than they have today. On June 20, L.A. County supervisors approved a preliminary plan to slash 20 percent from the budgets of most county departments - including the L.A. Municipal Court and Superior Court. Because of the priority given to criminal cases, these budget cuts will almost certainly fall hardest on the civil courts, judges and attorneys said.

Progress undone

It's too early to tell how long the average civil case is being delayed as a result of the three strikes law, but several judges agreed that much of the progress made in recent years to shorten the time-to-trial of these cases is being undermined. Judge Robert Dukes, supervising judge for the county Superior Court's East District in Pomona, said his district stopped hearing civil cases entirely from September of last year to January. And from January to June, it took from two to six weeks from the time attorneys first appeared to announce readiness to begin for a case to get a courtroom. Before three strikes, it took only three days on average, Dukes said. "Seven years of effort (to reduce waiting time for civil cases) have kind of gone down the drain," he said.

The ultimate victims of the problem are plaintiffs in civil cases, whose grievances will likely remain unheard for years, attorneys agreed, and who will have to bear the burden of increased legal costs.

"It's like the beginning of the end of the system," said attorney Yakub Hazzard with Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp in West Los Angeles. Hazzard, like other attorneys who handle litigation, said he sometimes has to prepare for a case twice because his cases get bumped after he appears in court. "What's expensive (for the client) is, you gear up and get ready for trial, and then you get bumped for a couple of months and you forget everything you learned. So you have to start over again," he said.

Judge Parkin said he believes the situation will discourage some plaintiffs, especially small business owners and individuals, from going to court with legitimate complaints. Large corporations and wealthy individuals, on the other hand, will increasingly turn to private judges as arbitrators, he said. "You end up with, in effect, a two-tiered justice system," Parkin said.