Res 84-018RESOH3TION NO. 84-018
A ]~-qOL~rlON OF THE fifTY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF POWAY, CATIFORNIA,
E~DORSING THE COURT REFORM INITIAqIVE
WHEREAS, the a~ninistration of criminal justice bas become increasingly
cumbersome in California under the weight of unnecessary delays and prohibitive
costs caused by court inefficiency; and
WHEREAS, the California court system is hampered by the search for technical
imperfections in criminal cases which permit guilty criminals to obtain
reversals of convictions to c~m~t new crimes and create new victims; and
W-H~RFAS, the federal judicial system already ~ploys a jury selection
process which streamlines the search for a fair and impartial jury without per-
mitting the unlimited questioning of jurors permitted by California courts; and
WHEREAS, reforms in the preliminary hearing process, grand jury indictments
and less-than-unanimous verdicts will save both time and taxpayer costs while
protecting the fairness and equality of criminal justice; and
WHEREAS, technical delays in the trial process escalate the cost of court
cases and reinforce the principle that justice delayed is justice denied; and
WHEREAS, denial of parole or probation can be an effective deterrent to
further criminal activity if denial is rode prcmptly; and
WH]~EAS, the criminal court initiative would permit judges to revoke proba-
tion, allow the Board of Prison Terms to order paroles revoked, restore the
Grand Jury in indictments, adopt jury verdicts in most cases, make continuances
difficult to obtain, reduce the number of technical defense motions during pre-
liminary hearings, and curtail time-consuming private questioning of jurors in
death penalty cases; and
WHEREAS, the initiative does not impair the civil rights of any defer~ant.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT R~OLV~D BY THE CITY O2~3NCIL OF THE CITY OF POWAY,
that the City endorse the goals of the Court Reform Initiative; and
FORTHER, that the City Council urge Poway residents to read the criminal
court initiative and bec~e better informed about its goals and positive
effects.
PASSED, ADOPTED AND APPROVED, by the City council of the City of Poway,
C~]{fornia, at a regular meeting thereof this 27th day of M~rch, 1984.
Marjor~\.K.
Wahlsten, City Clerk
Linda L. Oravec, Mayor