THURSDAY'S PSCC MEETING
Posted by JAABLOG at 1/8/2009 9:29 PM 
Categories: Zeller, Bidwell, Forman, Gillespie, ARTICLES, KaplanStanton, KaplanCharles, Tobin
Categories: Zeller, Bidwell, Forman, Gillespie, ARTICLES, KaplanStanton, KaplanCharles, Tobin
The Public Safety Coordinating Council met today. The jail occupancy rate averaged 94% of capacity in October, 92% in November, and 91% in December. There was a steep decline in overall monthly arrests toward the end of the year, dipping below 5000 in December.
Judge Tobin reported that the judges are stretched thin, with a slew in judge school this week, and two more appointments yet to be made on the heels of yesterday's appointment of Ken Gillespie. There are vacancies in Dependency and in Criminal. Judge Tobin would not elaborate, but it seems likely there will be more movement of the existing judges to make way for the new guys and to fill the criminal divisions. There is a meeting of the criminal judges on Wednesday, so the movement issues may be addressed, in addition to ironing out some thorny legal issues regarding the expansion of Magistrate proceedings.
Judge Charlie Kaplan's juvenile division will be moved to the current State Attorney Training Courtroom, while Judge Stanton Kaplan's old division will be relocated to the fourth floor of the North Wing. Stanton Kaplan will be returning to his old courtroom in late January as a senior trial judge. He will share the office space of his old chambers with his son Judge Michael Kaplan, who will utilize the spacious anteroom for his Family Law hearings.
Courtroom space on the civil side remains an issue, although things seem to be running smoothly courtroom-wise on the criminal side. The new courthouse task force has yet to meet, but Judge Tobin is optimistic that a new courthouse can be achieved at reasonable cost to the taxpayer within a four to five year time frame.
On the technology front, Judge Bidwill is set to premiere the new "case overflow system" for the efficient management and monitoring of cases in the trial pool. All Judges, JAs, and other authorized users will be able to easily access the system to effectively clear out the backlog of trial ready cases. The system should come on line within a matter of weeks. Clerk of Courts Forman reported that the digital archiving program is progressing as well, with two million of sixty million archived documents already scanned. With the pilot Probate E-Filing program a success, they are currently writing a paperless program for the Civil side. The finished program will be submitted to judge Tobin, and then to the Supreme Court, who must approve any E-Filing system before implementation. There are currently no programs in the works for criminal.
Wayne Spath is working on a fix for the change of charge bond dilemma relating to upcharges. He hopes to save time for the jail's booking system and help defendants by creating a procedure where defendants can post the new bonds in open court. The judges should be educated, he said, and BSO armed deputies will need to assign arrest numbers in court for the system to work.
The Henderson representative stated that the Broward Delegation to Tallahassee is strongly unified behind the need for the expansion of mental health services. The problem, he stated, is that the rest of the state really doesn't seem to care.
Thomas Sharrard of the Department of Corrections reiterated that "zero tolerance" is dead. He stated that the DOC's focus is the same as the PSCC, namely reducing incarceration. Toward that goal, the Department's Re-Entry Program is heavily involved with local and government agencies to reduce recidivism (agencies include the DMV, Social Security, BCI, OIC, etc.). Probation revocations are the last thing they want, and they are focused on trying to make probationers successful through techniques that include motivational interviewing and individual supervision plans. This new "collaborative approach" is transforming the persona of the Department.
Sharrard also reported that the "Technical Letter" for judges in lieu of warrants is still being developed. As previously reported, Judge Holmes has been working with the Department to stop the practice of automatic warrants being issued on every violation. The idea is to issue a form letter to the trial judge in the event of technical violations. If the judge thinks the allegations are serious enough, he/she could then order the probation officer to submit a warrant. However, if the allegation is not deemed serious or the probationer has been doing well, a reprimand hearing would be set instead.
Judge Zeller spoke of the need to educate police departments on the plight of the homeless. Through better understanding by law enforcement of the wanderlust associated with mental health, drug and alcohol addictions, and veterans related afflictions common among the homeless, she hopes the cycle of incarceration and release can be reduced. She also suggested putting a representative from the Coalition for the Homeless at First Appearances, or implementing more programs along the model of cities like San Francisco or the recently discussed Oakland Park/BSO pilot program.
That's it. It was an abbreviated meeting due to multiple conflicts among the regular council members.
Judge Tobin reported that the judges are stretched thin, with a slew in judge school this week, and two more appointments yet to be made on the heels of yesterday's appointment of Ken Gillespie. There are vacancies in Dependency and in Criminal. Judge Tobin would not elaborate, but it seems likely there will be more movement of the existing judges to make way for the new guys and to fill the criminal divisions. There is a meeting of the criminal judges on Wednesday, so the movement issues may be addressed, in addition to ironing out some thorny legal issues regarding the expansion of Magistrate proceedings.
Judge Charlie Kaplan's juvenile division will be moved to the current State Attorney Training Courtroom, while Judge Stanton Kaplan's old division will be relocated to the fourth floor of the North Wing. Stanton Kaplan will be returning to his old courtroom in late January as a senior trial judge. He will share the office space of his old chambers with his son Judge Michael Kaplan, who will utilize the spacious anteroom for his Family Law hearings.
Courtroom space on the civil side remains an issue, although things seem to be running smoothly courtroom-wise on the criminal side. The new courthouse task force has yet to meet, but Judge Tobin is optimistic that a new courthouse can be achieved at reasonable cost to the taxpayer within a four to five year time frame.
On the technology front, Judge Bidwill is set to premiere the new "case overflow system" for the efficient management and monitoring of cases in the trial pool. All Judges, JAs, and other authorized users will be able to easily access the system to effectively clear out the backlog of trial ready cases. The system should come on line within a matter of weeks. Clerk of Courts Forman reported that the digital archiving program is progressing as well, with two million of sixty million archived documents already scanned. With the pilot Probate E-Filing program a success, they are currently writing a paperless program for the Civil side. The finished program will be submitted to judge Tobin, and then to the Supreme Court, who must approve any E-Filing system before implementation. There are currently no programs in the works for criminal.
Wayne Spath is working on a fix for the change of charge bond dilemma relating to upcharges. He hopes to save time for the jail's booking system and help defendants by creating a procedure where defendants can post the new bonds in open court. The judges should be educated, he said, and BSO armed deputies will need to assign arrest numbers in court for the system to work.
The Henderson representative stated that the Broward Delegation to Tallahassee is strongly unified behind the need for the expansion of mental health services. The problem, he stated, is that the rest of the state really doesn't seem to care.
Thomas Sharrard of the Department of Corrections reiterated that "zero tolerance" is dead. He stated that the DOC's focus is the same as the PSCC, namely reducing incarceration. Toward that goal, the Department's Re-Entry Program is heavily involved with local and government agencies to reduce recidivism (agencies include the DMV, Social Security, BCI, OIC, etc.). Probation revocations are the last thing they want, and they are focused on trying to make probationers successful through techniques that include motivational interviewing and individual supervision plans. This new "collaborative approach" is transforming the persona of the Department.
Sharrard also reported that the "Technical Letter" for judges in lieu of warrants is still being developed. As previously reported, Judge Holmes has been working with the Department to stop the practice of automatic warrants being issued on every violation. The idea is to issue a form letter to the trial judge in the event of technical violations. If the judge thinks the allegations are serious enough, he/she could then order the probation officer to submit a warrant. However, if the allegation is not deemed serious or the probationer has been doing well, a reprimand hearing would be set instead.
Judge Zeller spoke of the need to educate police departments on the plight of the homeless. Through better understanding by law enforcement of the wanderlust associated with mental health, drug and alcohol addictions, and veterans related afflictions common among the homeless, she hopes the cycle of incarceration and release can be reduced. She also suggested putting a representative from the Coalition for the Homeless at First Appearances, or implementing more programs along the model of cities like San Francisco or the recently discussed Oakland Park/BSO pilot program.
That's it. It was an abbreviated meeting due to multiple conflicts among the regular council members.
Wow. These Democratic leaders are starting to act and sound like real Democrats.
Maybe they need another TASK FORCE to tackle some of the stickier problems. Happy to see the Kaplan family sharing plan working so well.
THERE WILL BE NO NEW COURTHOUSE. THE PRESENT COURTHOUSE IS VASTLY UNDERUTILIZED. THERE IS NO NEED FOR A NEW COURTHOUSE. THE VOTERS OF THIS COUNTY HAVE SPOKEN CLEARLY AND LOUDLY ON THIS ISSUE.
I [still] want to bonk Casey Anthony before she is toasted-care to watch?
Our Commissioners will truely act and sound like real Democrats when they start raising our taxes, creating government programs which disincentivise people, pass feel good laws and spend tons of our money on useless government projects.
The legislature is meeting in Tallahassee to cut the budget. The Republican controlled legislature refuses to consider any new sources of revenue. Pacificus agrees that Floridians who lose their jobs and have their incomes decline are forced to cut their spending. However, unless the Floridan is disabled and unable to work to support themselves, they also look for new revenues to bring their incomes back up.
Pacificus believes that the Florida legislature falls into the disabled and unable to work category.
"Judge Tobin reported that the judges are stretched thin..."
Let me go get my box of Kleenex. I feel tears welling in my eyes.
Is support staff supposed to feel sorry about the Judges having to work?
Most SUPPORT staff have had NO increases in 3 years, make under $35,000. We're not only streched, but poked and prodded like cattle.
Go give your tails of woe to someone who doesn't know any better.........
Total BS as to civil judges:
Aleman showed up Thursday at 920am
Eade showed up at 935am
They are really pushing hard!
(to give credit where credit is due:
Rothschild = 8am or earlier
Lynch= 75 plus cases on motion calendar
they forgot about educating the bso and prosecutors. that mental problems are as a result of certain imbalances in the brain, a crime might follow asa a result of such problems, BUT they need to focus on acessing mental problems, and not just jumping to the conclusions that all people are criminals. like an act may occur as a result, but MENTAL CARE AND PROPER ACESSMENT SHOULD BE FIRST, SINCE WHEN DOES POLICE OFFICERS AND PROSECUTORS AND JUDGES KNOW MORE ABOUT A PERSONS PSYCOLOGICAL SITUATION THAN A PROPER PSYCOLOGIST. THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED PROPERLY AND KEEP MENTAL CASES OUT OF THE PRISON SYSTEM AND IN PROPER MENTAL CARE SITUATIONS,WHETHERB AT HOME OR IN INSTITUTIONS. DO YOU THAT A PERSON WHO IS MENTALLY CHALLENGED OR RETARDED IS ALWAYS VERY SEXUALLY ACTIVE WITH THEMSELVES. IT MIGHT LOOK FILTHY TO THE UNLOOKER BUT IT IS NOT A CRIME TO THEM, LETS LOOK MORE INTO MENTAL PROBLEMS, TRY TO HELP POEPLE MORE, THAN TRYING TO FILL UP THE PRISONS FOR PROFIT SAKE.
They fill up the prisons for the prosecutor's sake. No State atty ever got voted out with high incarceration rates. They destroy lives for no reason except to stay in power and keep employing and funding their sycophant friends' pensions.
A new courthouse would reward the overpaid , overly corrupt judges for their years of slithering around broward county BENCH AND BAR graft collection meetings .............. MOMBACH / SPECHLER / JUDGEPIMP ...... 08-61130 SDFL ., USA vs. THE BAR GRAFT MACHINE .
THERE WILL BE NO NEW COURTHOUSE WHEN WE HAVE AN UNDERUTILIZED COURTHOUSE AS IT IS AND THE VOTERS OF THIS COUNTY HAVE ALREADY SPOKEN CLEARLY ON THIS SUBJECT. WE CONINUE TO HAVE MANY EMPTY COURTROOMS THAT ARE RARELY USED BY JUDGES THAT WORK LESS THAN 4 HOUR A DAY.
Lynch works all the time. One of the few in Civil. Always in trial.
smile....nothing is forever, they got MADE,,,OFF didnt they? this nonsense will come to an end too. are they going to build prisons on I95 and the Everglades too because of GREED.and DISHONESTY
GET THE ISSUE RIGHT: The new courthouse ISN'T about what is or isn't utlized. It's about working in an unsafe environment.
When your behind is at the doctor because you're suffering from breathing or other health issues due to mold or other unsafe things in the old building, we'll see how fast your sorry @$$ wants a new courthouse.
I suggest you reexamine the issue. No suits have been filed alleging any such health issues. As such, a new courthouse is not only uncalled for, but an additional burden on tax payers of this county.
Despite repeated attempts at creating "situations" that would shut down the courthouse, the issue remains more a political ploy than anything else.
I sincerely doubt that any "issues" concerning health problems emanating from of occurring as a result of the old courthouse being "unsafe" are both absurd and will fall on deaf ears of we the voters should they be regurgitated from judges or others who will use any excuse they can not to work a full day when they are being paid by tax payer funds.
SAO workers have NOT had a raise in three years we have already cut in our spending in many ways.We don't make money like people think we do. We start any where from 18,000 to 20,000 and everything is a lateral move no raise.How is that?But Renata gets what she wants and has three positions not telling me she received a lateral move!She kissed someones ass for more monies! Then there are supervisors who don't move off thier dead asses and just give orders and keep piling on the work .Should have more like Anna in MM unit who help in the unit and keep track on what is going on not like Tina .She is busy doing other things.But why is it only us "MM" unit they are keeping tabs on .We work next door to juvenile they come and go as they please and LINDA don't reprimand them. Why because no one sees that unit or because Linda has an in with Renata or Monica?WE would like to know because someone said also she has almost thirty years in the SAO office .Does that make a difference if you do your job or not?What is the real story here about juvenile unit?They seem to be very laid back!!!!
1/11/2009 12:30 PM No New Courthouse wrote:
I suggest you reexamine the issue. No suits have been filed alleging any such health issues.
I hope you're not a lawyer with people depending on you to be great in your field, because YOU ARE 100% INCORRECT in your statement.
A law suit was filed by Sun Rentel (a clerk in the Clerk's office) regarding health issues.
Any other false statements that you'd like to make?
I suggest you get your $#!+ together, reexamine your lack of know in what you're talking about.
YES, NEW COURTHOUSE
It isn't just the SAO who has management who comes and goes as they desire.
Have Carmel go to most of the other areas within the courthouse and see how many supervisors/managers/directors come in after 8:30 and leave before 5:00, then have the audacity to say they're overloaded.
It's time an anonymous survey goes out from the State and County HR areas to see how non-management feel about their "higher-ups" and work environment.
Linda has been doing this for years .Why all of a sudden are the juvenile unit in the hot seat.Because other people can't get away with it now!Who is this someone who has been moved or put in another position and don't like it.Maybe Carmel should check this out and see what is happening here.Other people sleep on the job just not Linda!The lady only has a few more years to go.Shes in LA LA LAND let her be. Her day will be here before you know it.I heard she has kissed ass to Monica for years because she is afraid of her,and she tells Monica one thing and she will
tell her co-workers another.So what does that say for her.That is why she made it as long as she did,so she is not going no where,get it!
THE CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTY HAVE VOTED NO ON ANY IDEA OF A NEW COURTHOUSE. ANY LIKE MEASURE TO REVIVE THE IDEA WILL BE SIMILARLY VOTED DOWN. THERE WILL BE NO NEW COURTHOUSE IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE TO FEATHER THE POCKETS OF THE FEW WHO STAND TO GAIN FINANCIALLY FROM SUCH MANIPULATION.
Hey JOJO if it wasn't for Alex Linda would not have a job.He runs the unit.She use to run everything by him first,That's how it was when I was there.Has it changed doubt it. He use to give her the word on how to handle things.When the door closed you knew something was going down or something was bothering her ass!Everything Big secret because her office is in the middle of the office where you can't see it.You have it right though she plays everybody!
Why should Holmes be present? That would mean she cares about diversity. She likes her exclusivity as one of the few.
Yes there has been a lawsuit filed by skip campbell on behalf of (right now) two people that work(ed) in this sick buliding. I'm sure there will be plenty more to come.