Several lawyers filed suit against the state of New Hampshire to restore money cut from the court system. The case, Baxter v. New Hampshire, No. 217-2010-CV-00683, was filed in superior court and sought restoration of $4 million in funding.
The suit relied on the state constitution’s right-to-a-remedy language, which says everyone is entitled to a certain remedy for injuries, to be obtained “completely, and without any denial; promptly, and without delay.” Each year, 230,000 court cases were filed in New Hampshire, and some had to be heard on deadlines set by law. In 2009, 5,300 domestic violence cases and 1,470 stalking cases required hearings within five to 30 days of filing. Landlord-tenant cases had to be heard within 10 days of service, and involuntary emergency admissions to New Hampshire Hospital were filed 1,700 times in 2009.
The judicial branch lost $3.1 million of a budget of about $65 million the previous year and another $2.2 million in May. Court administrators kept 71 full-time nonjudicial positions vacant.
Courts around the state cut services. Concord District Court, a three-judge court, was operating with one full-time judge, and a form letter went out over the summer canceling all civil trials there. Manchester District Court canceled all small claims cases for an indefinite period, and on July 22, Merrimack County Superior Court began closing to the public daily from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The clerk’s office in Concord was closed to the public Monday through Thursday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and the Nashua clerk’s office planned to close at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning Oct. 5.
Peter Hardin reported this story for Gavel Grab on Sept. 29, 2010, when the site was a project of Justice at Stake. His original post is preserved by the Internet Archive. This account of the same events was written from the public record.
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