Tani Cantil-Sakauye has been California's Chief Justice since Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed her 14 months ago. She was a superior court judge and appellate court justice for 20 years before that, and now presides over a system with 2,000 judges and 20,000 employees. This week, in her first address to a joint legislative session, she said, the judicial branch "must serve as the safety net for a democratic and civil society." But, she called it a "cruel irony" that the same forces that have caused deep cuts in the courts' budget have also increased their workload.