California's court system, which like all other state-supported activities is strapped for cash, is on the verge of making a big mistake.

It's ready to accept a questionable $20 million donation for its very expensive and much-troubled computerized case management system.

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a South African medical tycoon of Chinese descent who lives in Los Angeles, made the offer last week to the state Judicial Council, which sets policy for the state's trial and appellate courts and is headed by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.

Legal media have reported that members of the council were practically giddy at the prospect of receiving money to shore up the computer system, which has been the subject of very critical analyses and whose costs have far exceeded initial estimates.

The offer was reportedly brokered by Joe Dunn, a former state senator from Orange County who heads the State Bar and has been running interference for the court system with the Legislature.

Supposedly, the money would come without strings from his foundation, but skeptics, including many judges, worry that it's a forerunner of efforts by Soon-Shiong to exploit court records for profit by selling access. That's happened in other states, and commercial data banks have made no secret of their desire to control access to California's huge trove of legal records.

Fueling suspicions about the offer's potential strings is that it would include use of Soon-Shiong's data center, which he has developed for a medical records system similar to the legal records system that the Judicial Council and the Administrative Office of the Courts have been trying – so far unsuccessfully – to install in California.

Soon-Shiong is a very controversial figure in the medical field for how he has exploited expensive treatments. He's also a part owner of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and has been lauded by politicians, especially in Arizona, for investing heavily in medical technology.

The only member of the Judicial Council to express skepticism about the offer was Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Burt Pines, who noted that the $20 million is a relatively small amount.

Pines, according to Courthouse News Service, pointed out that the computer project is now expected to cost $1.9 billion.

"We spent $500 million so far," he said, "whatever it is. There's at least a billion left. I've got a real question whether in the end this is affordable."

It's high time that someone got a handle on this bottomless money pit, and if the court hierarchy is incapable of doing it, the governor and the Legislature should step in.

Until that control is established, the courts should certainly not be accepting questionable offers of money from someone who may have ulterior motives.

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