Judges' and Lawyers' Full Employment Act

There must be a couple of areas of employment that are not suffering in this country's current depression, and those areas are portions of the legal field. (Not all, because some lawyers are hurting - believe it or not.)

When a case is continued time after time and nothing happens between court dates, shouldn't the public be hammering on the courthouse doors, demanding action? Of course, then all those courthouse security officers, who have little to do during most hours, would have to move into action.

But what I'm thinking about here is a case on the third floor of our McHenry County Courthouse yesterday, over in the civil section this time.

Back in October 2010 a case was filed to collect past-due child support. A man in California filed a legal action against his ex-wife, who lives in McHenry County. He claims that she owes him a bunch of money. The State of California is involved, and the Illinois Attorney General is prosecuting the action. Well, it's supposed to be.

What has happened so far?

October 22, 2010 Filed
December 17, 2010 - Continued - status
January 28, 2011 - Continued - status
March 11, 2011 - Continued - status
May 13, 2011 - Continued - status
July 8, 2011 - Continued - status
September 2, 2011 Status

Instead of horsing around with a case like this, on the first court date the Illinois A.G. should have demanded income records, income tax returns, rent and major expense receipts, and canceled checks for any child support claimed paid, and asked the Court to order those produced within 30 days.

When those weren't produced, the AG should have asked the Court to order them produced within two more weeks, under threat of contempt and jail. When it didn't happen, the judge should have found the woman in contempt and given her three days in jail. And an order to produce within two more weeks.

It's beyond me why prosecutors and judges don't try to move cases through the courts faster. By the time a past-due child support case reaches court, the child support has already gone unpaid for far too long.

Yesterday I sat in a courtroom from 9:50AM-11:20AM (10:00AM hearing), only then to learn that the continuance was granted before I arrived (to watch the proceedings). Should attorneys be allowed to "agree" to continuances before the scheduled time of a case?