by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
The challenges of working amidst tight budget constraints and how different parts of the justice system work together to provide “...justice for all” were two of the issues discussed during the annual meeting of the Jacksonville Bar Association Criminal Law Section Thursday.
Section Chair Shawn Arnold moderated a panel discussion that featured panelists including Florida First District Court of Appeals Judge Charles Kahn, Duval County Judge Michael Weatherby, State Attorney Angela Corey and Public Defender Matt Shirk. Kahn was hearing cases in Jacksonville last week and was able to participate in the annual meeting, attended by about 40 attorneys, before heading back to Tallahassee.
As the Legislature struggled to balance the budget earlier this year, both State Attorneys and Public Defenders throughout the state were forced to adjust their budgets when Gov. Charlie Crist decided to hold back a portion of the budget until a balanced budget was passed.
Judge Weatherby was asked how budget conditions were affecting the court system.
“From the court administration position, nobody realizes that we lost something like 17 people in the last go-round of cuts. It would have been more, but we decided that we were not going to let our employees get harmed if we could help it, so drug court was dissolved. That was a hard decision to make; luckily, the Sheriff’s Office, shortly thereafter, stepped in and helped keep the program going.
“It hurt particularly the judges because our legal support staff was decimated. We are supposed to have 14 staff attorneys supporting us, we have six amongst 44 judges. We are supposed to have two in the criminal division, and one of them is supposed to be the lead counsel on death penalty cases and that person is swamped.
Judge Weatherby further discussed the issue.
“(Budget constraints) have hurt us in just the day-to-day operations, not to mention the fact that we know it has hurt Angie (Corey) and Matt’s (Shirk) offices because there are less lawyers and more cases. It just creates a logistical problem.”
Judge Kahn was asked the same question, regarding the appellate court system.
“As somebody outside of the normal trial system, I want to endorse what Mike has said. Because this loss of staff, not just the staff lawyers, but the failure to properly fund sufficient staff lawyers over the last 40 years resonates up and down our system. I think if I could change one thing, funding-wise, in our entire system it would be that we need more prosecutors and defense lawyers. Every circuit judge who wants a staff attorney in this entire state should have one at his literal beck-and-call. It’s fairly inexpensive to do and you walk in and see what circuit judges are having to grapple with in these criminal and collateral cases, this is the thing that would make such a huge impact.”
The discussion moved on to ask both the State Attorney and Public Defender about some of the ethical issues today’s attorneys are facing that they may not have faced when they began their careers.
“Talking about how to maintain a professional relationship, that’s one of the most important things,” said Corey. “We always urge our lawyers to have candor with the opposite side and candor with the court. That doesn’t mean that you show your cards or reveal your strategy, but to adhere to the rules of ethics.”
Shirk’s response focused on the job of being an effective advocate.
“I think there are a couple more common ethical issues we are dealing with in the Public Defenders Office,” said Shirk. “Our case load is increasing as the population increases and our budgets are decreasing.
“Just his year, the Legislature cut two of our full-time positions out, even though we could have the ability to hire two full-time attorneys in the next fiscal year. They have decided we are not able to. Our case loads are rising. They are well over what every association agrees is the limit for what an attorney should be able to handle in a year. We are two- to-three times that. We are trying to do more with less, yet still be effective advocates for our clients.”
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