Chief Justice Suspends Vote on Eviction, Foreclosure Emergency Rules
The Judicial Council of California will not vote today on whether to end two emergency rules governing evictions and judicial foreclosures, after Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye announced she suspended the vote.
Said Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye:
"After discussions with the Governor, legislative leaders, and Judicial Council members—as well as hearing from residents with many different viewpoints—I have suspended for the time being the vote on the emergency rules dealing with evictions and judicial foreclosures. I believe the executive and legislative branches will need more time to sort through various policy proposals.
"As I mentioned in April when we first adopted temporary emergency rules and took other actions, we are at a point with the pandemic with no guidance in history, law, or precedent. When the Governor issued his executive order providing me, as chairperson of the Judicial Council, and the council with the authority to protect the public during the pandemic, I promised the Governor that we would assume this responsibility with the utmost care. The rules we promulgated are temporary measures designed to protect the health and safety of the public while ensuring that access to justice remains available. The judicial branch cannot usurp the responsibility of the other two branches to deal with the myriad impacts of the pandemic. At the beginning of the statewide shelter-in-place orders, the Legislature was not in session and the Judicial Branch was a constitutional partner with the Executive Branch in adopting temporary, emergency rules designed to protect the public and our justice system. We will work with the Governor and legislative leaders on an updated time frame for amending, sunsetting, or repealing the Judicial Council’s rules, orders, or other actions taken under the authority assigned to us under the Governor’s Executive Order."
The Judicial Council is scheduled to release the results of its vote on whether to end the COVID-19 emergency bail schedule by 5 p.m. today.