State Judges To Meet on Budget Cuts

A group of state court judges has called an emergency meeting for Friday following news of a proposed budget cut.

The Judicial Council of Georgia – headed by Supreme Court Justice Leah Ward Sears -- called the meeting after Governor Perdue announced an across the board twenty five percent budget reduction for this month only.

The group will decide if it should sue the Governor, questioning if he has authority to cut funding to another branch of government.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Melvin K. Westmoreland says the Governor made his decision without speaking first to the state’s judges.

"It was just unilateral. The Governor informed OPB that 25 percent needed to be cut across the board. There was no determination made that public safety is something that is more important to the citizens of Georgia than tourism."

Westmoreland added that any loss of money could mean furloughs for the state's public defenders and staff.

"That one million dollars that would come to the Council of Superior Court Judges may not be a lot in respect to the budget crisis. But it certainly means a great deal to the judges and their staff. That million is the million that pays the salaries of our support staff and without those support staff, we will not be able to conduct court."

Georgia is running out of money as the state tries to balance its books for the fiscal year which ends June 30^th.

If the Judicial Council of Georgia moves forward in a lawsuit against Perdue, the case automatically goes to the Georgia Supreme Court, lead by Chief Justice Sears, who says she will excuse herself.