Georgia's judges, prosecutors and public defenders were already groaning under budget cuts they blamed for backlogs, deferred civil cases and furloughs when the state's fiscal year ended last month.
Now they're bracing for more pain after Gov. Sonny Perdue called for another 5 percent reduction. And some are reviving talk of drastic measures - such as challenging the cuts in court - if judicial leaders can't persuade the governor to back off.

"We may well look at shutting down courthouses or pursuing litigation,'' said Fulton County Superior Court Judge Melvin Westmoreland, the head of Georgia's Council of Superior Court Judges. "And neither of those is what we want to do.''
Judges on the council have said in recent interviews they've reached a consensus that the governor's call could jeopardize their constitutional duties. They say funding cuts could risk public safety and infuriate business leaders seeking legal remedies.
"I think it's becoming more and more difficult all the time for the courts to perform what really is a constitutional mandate: Access to justice,'' said Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Carol Hunstein.

Added Yvette Miller, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals: "If we make any further cuts, justice is going to be damaged. And I don't feel that justice can be rationed.''
The comments raise the specter of another constitutional showdown about a month after a last-minute compromise between judicial leaders and Perdue appeased infuriated court leaders.

Westmoreland and other judicial leaders threatened legal action in June after Perdue ordered 25 percent cuts to all state agencies to end the 2009 fiscal year. Westmoreland contended Perdue didn't have the legal authority to include the judiciary in his order, as it is a separate and equal branch of the government.
The crisis was delayed after Perdue reached a compromise with judicial leaders that allowed them to defer some of the cuts to the current fiscal year that began July 1, but it may prove a temporary solution.

Perdue's latest call for cuts comes as the state works to close a projected $900 million deficit for the current fiscal year. The governor said last week that state government has to share the burden amid plummeting tax collections, and even issued a rare call for Georgia's public school teachers to take three days of unpaid leave.
Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said budget officers will pore through proposals submitted by the judicial branch and state agencies next month to determine where to slash the budget, but he stressed government groups will likely have to play their part.
"There is no agency in the state where it is easy to make cuts, and no agency has found a way to make cuts that do not have some impact on the services provided to our citizens,'' Brantley said.

Brantley also suggested the cuts may not grind the courts to a halt. After all, he said, judges warned that the budget cuts in June would lead to a two-week shutdown of the courts. Ultimately, he said, "I don't remember courts shutting down for two weeks.''
The judiciary's budget has steadily inched up as the state's population has grown. A 5 percent cut this year would amount to about $8 million of a $160 million budget this year.

Judges are again arguing that the judiciary should be treated differently because it's an independent branch of government that has to uphold constitutional requirements that other government groups - say, the parks department - are not required to meet.
It's a particular threat to the judiciary because its budget is dominated by personnel costs, said Alan Essig of the nonpartisan Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. He said state lawmakers should return for a special session to hash out spending issues.
"We are getting to the point in the state where there's some fundamental decisions on what we need to do,'' Essig said. "The judicial branch is potentially reaching that point.''
Westmoreland said further cuts could risk public access to the legal system.
"We've cut spending. We've cut travel. We've cut training,'' Westmoreland said. "We're continuing to try to do what we can to contain costs, and we're using it up, wearing it out, making due without. We've been cut to the bone. Eventually it becomes a public safety issue.''

He said Georgia's 202 superior court judges are handling a workload that calls for 267. Until last year, a corps of retired judges called in on a contract basis helped tackle growing caseloads. But funding for most of those judges was axed last year.
The mounting caseload poses a problem for many judges.

Superior Court Judge Amanda Williams said her southeast Georgia district had to stop hearing civil cases for a six-month span to deal with a criminal backlog that had grown to 30 murder cases by late last year.

She also said it's become more difficult to keep criminal cases on track because defense attorneys contracted to be public defenders are having trouble getting paid by the state, she said.

The state's "first responsibility is protecting its citizens,'' she said. "Everything else comes second. And you can't protect your citizens unless you fund the third branch - the judicial branch.''

The Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia and the public defender system may have to order more unpaid leave. And the Court of Appeals may have to furlough its staff - months after Miller had to slash nine jobs and a vacant position to meet budget cuts.
Hunstein said she isn't quite sure how the Supreme Court will meet the 5 percent cuts, but she said she knows it will be "exceedingly difficult.'' In the meantime, she said she will try to stress to Perdue that access to the courts keeps the entire state running.
"It really does filter down to everyone,'' Hunstein said. "And if you don't have your court personnel, it's difficult to move through the system.''