I FOUND $10,000,000 to $20,000,000 and guess who is keeping us from it??

In a Press Enterprise piece recently run, Ramos said there are 20,000 backlogged misdemeanor cases--you know the cases that eventually get dispositioned for fines of $600.00 to $1,800.00, restitution is ordered to victims that are out of pocket and 2-3 years probation. Since the DA's office is over budget, why don't they move some of those cases for terminal dispositions (no probation), restitution and a higher fine? Imagine if you only did that to half of the cases and the average fine was $1,000--guess what, you just found $10,000,000. It's called moving cases. The backlog is not only lost economic opportunity, but it forces clerks to continue handling the files which increases support staff costs per file (by putting them on calender, pulling files, typing minute orders, etc) and by re-assigning them to Deputy DA's that should be spending their time working on felonies, you decrease their efficiency and available time to handle more important cases. Give a good prosecutor more time, they can do a better job. Imagine the idea of improving major case handling and quality, reducing support staff time per file and actually bringing some money in (as opposed to wasting it on special investigations on Ramos affairs with County workers)