Courts and the Economy, How Fiscal Constraints Affect the Judiciary and Access to Justice

Abstract

The recession of 2008 put pressure on nearly every sector in society to do more with less. Unemployment and constrained investment by the private sector reduced economic output, which led to declining tax revenues for state and local governments. As with previous recessions, as the number of people out of work increases, the demand for government services tends to increase just as the money collected to provide those services declines. Elected officials face the difficult task of determining how to allocate increasingly scarce public dollars for essential services.