by Monica Chamness
Staff Writer
The Jacksonville chapter of the Federal Bar Association hosted its monthly meeting at the Omni Tuesday with U.S. District Court Judge Harvey Schlesinger discussing the new United States Courthouse at Jacksonville.
According to Schlesinger, the new courthouse will be equipped with many new technologically advanced devices.
“What you [referring to attorneys] would appreciate in the building are hollow floors in the courtrooms,” said Schlesinger. “Under the bench and in the rooms with jury boxes are four inch hollow-core floors so you can run wires anywhere underneath those floors. They’re steel plates covered with carpet that have junction boxes so you can move the wires around.”
Custom-made tables are another amenity lawyers will see. The table legs will be hollow and will sit over a junction box. Telephone and electrical wires can be accessed via two boxes right at the table to plug in laptop computers or the like.
In the rear of each courtroom will be an alcove for a projector. A large drop-screen will be situated near the bench that can descend for viewing by the jury.
To date, only the U.S. Attorneys have moved into their new location. Mold contamination in the old building has prevented anything from being transferred into the new building without a thorough cleaning by a certified public health hygienist.
“In Tampa, we’ve had people put on disability, permanent disability, because of the problem we had in the courthouse,” said Schlesinger. “GSA [Government Services Administration] tells us that the contractor says it’s going to take 10 weeks to move everybody. They’ve allotted three days per [judge’s] chamber — one day to pack, one day to move and one day to unpack. With the first person that goes, I’m sure we’re going to hear from the contractor about miscalculating because it’s taken X [amount of time] to clean. That’s the answer we don’t know.”
The U.S. Marshals are scheduled to be the next group to move into the building.