Cut Court Costs

Regarding a potential $31.7-million budget shortfall (Dec. 22) in our Orange County courts, I have one remedy.

Criminal justice and small claims should be top priority. Next would come the civil litigation as funds permit. When Congress overrode the presidential veto on securities tort reform, it was a clear signal that the system was out of control. If the lawsuit loser paid the winner’s legal costs, as most other industrialized [countries] require, the number of frivolous lawsuits would decline, as well as the taxpayer burden.

RICHARD T. SHUIRMAN

Orange