"We are asking obviously for more staffing. We are asking for more comprehensive and adequate training, not just emails. Not just binders. That's sort of outlines what a courtroom or what various courtrooms do. Not everyone is the same."
"For instance, tomorrow, my courtroom alone has, I think, 17 preliminary hearings. And the preliminary hearings, we usually have the time estimate between 25 minutes to one hour and 30 minutes. We just don't have enough hours in the day."
"Because of the short staffing, they've been unable to adequately train us. So, we get sent to various assignments that some of us are prepared to work on. And the result of that is paperwork errors that caused us to have jail longer than they're supposed to."
More than 200 San Francisco court clerks are preparing for a strike beginning Thursday, continuing demands made since a 2024 one-day strike. Court clerks cite severe understaffing and inadequate training as primary concerns, leading to significant backlogs and case delays. Clerks report excessive workloads, with some courtrooms handling 17 preliminary hearings daily despite time estimates of 25 minutes to 90 minutes each. Insufficient staffing prevents proper training, resulting in paperwork errors that extend jail stays beyond appropriate durations. The San Francisco Superior Court stated it would maintain reduced operations during the strike while protecting defendants' rights and meeting statutory deadlines. The Public Defender's office expressed concern about ongoing staffing issues.
Read at ABC7 San Francisco
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