CHIEF Justice Alexandro C. Castro and Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja want to meet with Gov. Arnold I. Palacios anytime soon to discuss the “unprecedented actions that [will] defund and cripple the third branch of the government.”
Variety learned that the chief justice and the presiding judge are scheduled to meet with the governor next week.
In their joint letter, Castro and Naraja said they want to discuss “the decision to cancel the Judiciary’s remaining ARPA [American Rescue Plan Act] grant award, in the amount of $3,907,094.56.”
They said this “defunding” will cripple the Judiciary’s ability to provide needed judicial services to the people of Saipan, Tinian and Rota.
The chief justice and the presiding judge also noted that the cancelation of the Judiciary’s ARPA funds came just days after the enactment of the $117 million fiscal year 2025 budget, which allocated “zero funding” for the Judiciary’s operations.
Public Law 23-36 or the FY 2025 Appropriations and Budget Authority Act appropriates a total of $5.3 million to the Judiciary. Of this amount, over $5 million is for personnel, $300,000 for utilities, and $53,438 for operations. In the FY 2024 budget, $312,804 was allotted for the Judiciary’s operations.
In signing the FY 2025 budget, the governor also approved the Legislature’s proposal to provide the Judiciary with “appropriate flexibility to use other sources to mitigate funding shortfalls in the general fund.”
Castro and Naraja said the lack of funding for operations in the new budget and the cancelation of ARPA funds “severely undermine the checks and balances of the branches of our government, as the Judiciary relied on assurances from the executive branch that ARPA funds would be available for operations in fiscal year 2025.”
“Together, these actions defund the judicial branch, a co-equal branch to that of the Legislative and Executive Branches,” they said.
Moreover, “defunding our ARPA funds for new or existing personnel costs contradicts the very purpose of the American Rescue Plan Act, which is to support local governments until 2026,” Castro and Naraja said.
They said ARPA funds fully supported seven Judiciary employees and partially funded 70 other employees. Losing these positions, they said, would cripple judicial services, delay court operations, and “jeopardize the safety and welfare of Commonwealth residents who rely on timely resolutions, such as victims seeking an Order of Protection.”
They said the Judiciary is “already understaffed and is not equipped to enter austerity.” Such measures will only hurt Judiciary staff and court patrons, they added.
“Abruptly defunding the Judiciary’s ARPA funds without discussion as envisioned in the Secretary of Finance’s letter is inconsistent with assurances from you as recent as this early August,” Castro and Naraja said.
