S.F. courts grind to a halt amid worker strike, delaying trials

Love what you read? Love that it was free?

Mission Local will never have a paywall. All our articles are free for everyone, always. Help us keep it that way — donate to our end-of-year fundraiser to make Mission Local free for your neighbors.

Donate today!

Court clerks went on strike at multiple San Francisco courthouses this morning, shutting down courtrooms and delaying hearings and ongoing trials — including that of Nima Momeni, who has been accused of murdering Cash App founder Bob Lee. 

Dozens of court clerks with Service Employees International Union Local 1021 and their court-reporter and court-interpreter colleagues gathered outside the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant St. on Thursday, chanting for better labor practices and bringing down the  already backlogged San Francisco Superior Court. 

“We’ve been understaffed for a very long time, so we’re spread very thin,” said Rob Borders, a courtroom clerk of 10 years at the Hall of Justice and an organizer of today’s strike. “And the result of that is, a lot of times we’re asked to go cover in courtrooms that we haven’t been trained in.” 

Borders said this lack of training could result in clerical errors, which translate into people getting arrested for outstanding bench warrants that should have been canceled, or people not being released from jail because their paperwork wasn’t in order. Both of these scenarios, he said, have happened. 

“Mistakes happen because of the poor training, and a little mistake that the clerk makes can have a lot of ramifications for the community,” he said. 

Around him, court clerks in purple and court reporters in blue chanted and waved signs in the middle of Bryant Street. A table nearby held flyers for those involved, and cardboard containers of coffee. Earlier that morning, workers said, the attorneys for Nima Momeni bought them a few hundred dollars’ worth of pastries from a nearby cafe. 

“It was Brad’s idea,” said Momeni’s lead attorney, Saam Zangeneh, referring to his co-counsel, Bradford Cohen. “He loves the people and believes in First Amendment rights.” 

The strike and resulting delays only add to an ongoing backlog in the San Francisco court system, where cases have already been dismissed after violating defendants’ speedy-trial rights, with prosecutors blaming the pandemic and judges. 

In a statement, Court Executive Officer Brandon E. Riley called today’s organization a “short-notice strike.” The court’s news release today said it would shift resources “to prioritize those cases with statutory deadlines such as criminal cases, custody arraignments, unlawful detainers, and civil harassment and domestic violence matters.” 

Riley pointed to a reduction of state funding this budget cycle, which he said has resulted in a $2.5 million ongoing cut to the court’s budget, and that more funding cuts would likely follow. 

Learning about the delay of the Momeni trial, court reporter Rhonda Harris said: “Good!” She expressed frustration with the workload at the court, which she said never recovered after the pandemic. 

The court reporter who takes notes during the Momeni trial was also at the protest in solidarity with the clerks, but declined to comment. 

“We all support each other,” said interpreter Muriel Falak, one of 15 Spanish interpreters in the court system. 

Attorneys, too, many of whom had their cases delayed, were seen chatting with the striking workers, hugging and waving plastic noisemakers in the air. 

The strike is expected to last only one day, as the labor union has a scheduled meeting with management tomorrow. In almost two months of bargaining, Borders said the union’s demands have not been met with any constructive discussion. 

“We’re hoping that this will get their attention and say, ‘Okay, we’re ready to actually bargain with you in good faith, [we’ll] try to meet you eye to eye on these issues that we’re that we’re expressing concern about,’” he said.