Celebrity Justice: Taxing a burdened system

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – How in the world can you keep "Order in the Court" with so many celebrities suddenly behaving so badly? And all those famous faces, showing up in court, are putting a big strain on legal systems already stretched thin by budget cuts in many states.

"Just in this last year we have had Conrad Murray with Michael Jackson, Roman Polansky," said former Los Angeles Prosecutor Robin Sax-Former. "We have Lindsey Lohan; we have Charlie Sheen. These cases are keeping us busy. We have Mel Gibson ... it is seemingly out of control."

And it's costing a lot.

With California $20 billion in debt, the Los Angeles court system has been forced to lay off more than 300 employees. These cutback  come as the courtrooms are overflowing with celebrities. And many say our system of justice is being short changed.

"You're seeing hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars, just for the security when a celebrity
comes in to court," Sax told ABC News.

Both media and legal experts agree that the costs began spiraling with the gavel-to-gavel coverage of O.J. Simpson from 1994 to 1995. They say that trial gave the public an insatiable appetite for courtroom drama.

"In a weird sort of way the courtroom has replaced the red carpet," said TMZ Managing Editor Harvey Levin. "When Lindsey Lohan was in court we broke records in terms of people watching the blow-by-blow action."

The New York Times reports an army of 75 cameras and 300 reporters routinely stake out celebrity court dates.

"When you mix people's interest in law with people's interest in celebrity," Levin said, "it kind of becomes the perfect storm."

The courthouse steps have become an expensive blur of cameras, lights and microphones that feeds the media firestorm. However,  no matter how famous the celebrity, once inside the theory goes that no one is above the law.