HAS ANYBODY SEEN CAROL LEE ORTMAN?
It's a bird...it's a plane...it's Carole Lee Ortman!"I'm not a statistician, that's the Clerk's job."
"File a public records request...and I will investigate to determine if they exist."
-Alexandra Rieman
General Counsel
Court Administration
Our query from last night seems to have caused a bit of a stir. Our phones haven't stopped ringing all day. We are now rich in information, but still without a copy of the judges' caseloads.
One thing has become crystal clear. The information we seek is generated and distributed by Court Administration.
By statute, case management is the responsibility of Court Administrator Carol Lee Ortman. Case maintenance is the responsibility of the Clerk of Courts, Howard Forman. We learned today that the Clerk's Office could, if asked, generate the information we seek, since it already tracks the open caseloads of the civil judges. They also monitor traffic and misdemeanor cases. They do not, however, currently track on a judge by judge basis open circuit criminal caseloads. That's done by Ms. Ortman's office.
It turns out one of the primary functions of Court Administration is to collect and analyze data reflecting the performance and accountability of Broward's court system. Ms. Ortman is supposed to measure efficiency and implement improvements through comprehensive performance measurement, resource management, and accountability programs. You can read all about it on the Florida State Courts website, or even the local 17th Circuit site, which clearly states:
"The Court Administrator's office is responsible for all research and statistical analysis
required by the Chief Judge, State Court Administrator and the Florida Supreme Court."
Alexandra Rieman, General Counsel for Court Administration, might need to "investigate" whether the data exists, or whether her office is currently supplying the information to the judges and Tallahassee, but we're plum tuckered out with her shenanigans. It's just not fun anymore, and flies in the face of what our courts stand for. We want Carol Lee Ortman herself to start answering questions. Enough is enough.
A little background is in order. Ms. Ortman has been Court Administrator forever. She serves at the pleasure of the Chief Judge. Her tenure predates Victor Tobin, Dale Ross, and Miette Bernstein, going all the way back to Chief Judge Ferris. We're not good at math, but that was many, many years ago.
While chief judges have come and gone, Ms. Ortman has remained firmly rooted on the eighth floor. Miraculously, while Broward's justice system has been run into the ground, she has escaped any blame or oversight. While Ross, Satz, and Schreiber have taken the heat for the stultification of the last thirty years, she has barely garnered any attention at all, all the while racking up impressive air miles. It's time for that to change.
To be fair, she is beholden to the chief judge. If she makes someone angry, she could be fired. By example, if a particular chief judge was hellbent, say, on expanding his power base by constantly appealing to Tallahassee for more and more judges, she would feel pressure to go along. If a chief judge wanted to stay in power by protecting inept judges or by giving his judges a "made in the shade" lifestyle, the same thing. One way to achieve both of these goals would certainly be to make statistics hard to find, eliminate oversight, and obliterate any traces of transparency from Court Administration. To keep her job she would have to go along. Even if it's not good for Broward.
Whatever has happened to get us to this point, Broward deserves better. Court Administration is part of the justice system as a whole, which exists solely for the benefit of the public. The statistics are public records, and they should be made readily available to anyone who asks. These numbers need to be studied and analyzed, whether or not judges will be embarrassed, or whether the numbers can be used by opponents come election time. With the crushing budget cuts causing widespread layoffs that could very well impact public safety, it is now more important than ever to have a Court Administrator who is open, eager, and excited to discover the problems plaguing our courts, and to work hard to correct them.
Why are cases staying open so long? Why is it taking so long to get cases tried? Why are there so many empty courtrooms? Why does so much time pass between scheduled events? Why are cases being continued? Why aren't judges' performances being compared to each other so they may be properly assigned according to their abilities? What are the administrative judges doing with the data they receive? Based on the numbers, are the administrative judges implementing changes, exercising leadership, and motivating their judges? Why isn't the whole system being dissected and analyzed? Are we really working efficiently and effectively?
If Ms. Ortman is not willing to open up, she should step down. Energy and hands on management is needed, not back room politics as usual, or telling us what we want to hear without making any changes. The time for laissez-faire, secret management ended a long time ago, long before the first courthouse worker was laid off. The fact that these numbers are available and apparently being kept from the public, their rightful custodian, is simply disgraceful.
"INVESTIGATION" OVER
*BrowardBeat.com: Judge Cowart’s Son Joins The Fighting Irish*
*DBR: Crist to appoint replacement for Abramson*
*Federal Circus Trial*
*Ginsburg Has Surgery for Pancreatic Cancer *
*NYT: Science Found Wanting in Nation’s Crime Labs *
*Contra Costa judge rejects challenge to jail call recording*
*Springfield, IL alters prosecution of certain marijuana, drug offenses (ATL)*
Hats off to you on this article. Interestingly jaablog or you Mr. Gelin will get what has happened to everyone else that makes a request...an estimate of approximately (oh well let's all place our bets on this one) $90,000.00 or so to get what you want-no problem they will say.
Reeman will be steemin' tomorrow
hey, to save some cash:
how about all attorneys who want SPD cases, must agree to have a mailbox there at the courthouse - so the Clerk's Office and SAO don't have to pay Taxpayer Money on the postage (YES - it adds up to thousands each year). Holy Shi-ite Batman, the discovery packet sent to me by Satz' office the other day cost almost $5 to send!
i would like to know how many times judge renee goldenberg has appointed her lesbian lover anne alper as a guardian ad litem when no GAL was needed, and how much alper has recieved in fees for her bogus appointments. indeed u r on to a really huge scandal that pervades all divisions of the courthouse. i tried to find out in Palm Beach County the schedule of a judge how often he actually worked as opposed to being on vacation, and of course was jerked aroung just like u. please keep after this stuff.
"Holy Shi-ite Batman, the discovery packet sent to me by Satz' office the other day cost almost $5 to send!"
In Palm Beach we must pick up Disco.
nice idea
For those who are senior, we remember that Ferris and Ortman enjoyed a very very intimate relationship
And the frequent flier miles she so amply piles up racing back and forth to Tallahassee go where? Are public officials flying on state business then using the frequent flier miles for their own personal use, or turning them back over to the State?
You can bet we already know the answer. But I'm going to get the definitive answer and the stats tomorrow from Tallahassee and see just where Ms. Ortman has been applying those miles and for what purpose. Ortman has played a large part in keeping this judicial circuit's business in the back room of whomever was the chief judge without being answerable to public record requests to provide transparency for entirely to long.
It's time for a change in Court Administrators and time for more transparency to shed some light on a process that could be vastly improved without any more of her lame excuses as to why she can't provide it.
That's when you can find her when she's not in Tallahassee asking for more money for a bunch of people that don't provide any benefit to the tax payers of this circuit or to improving the efficiency of our courts in general.
Isn't this going to be as costly to the state as Finkelstein said it be for him to hand over the records that were needed from the public defender's office? hand over the records from the pd's office too
Worthless as a Court Administrator. Just another politician that's been ensconced in the position until retirement, which couldn't come to soon. Ask her how she got the job to begin with. Don't think it had a thing to do with merit.
i would like to know how many times judge renee goldenberg has appointed her lesbian lover anne alper as a guardian ad litem when no GAL was needed, and how much alper has recieved in fees for her bogus appointments. indeed u r on to a really huge scandal that pervades all divisions of the courthouse. i tried to find out in Palm Beach County the schedule of a judge how often he actually worked as opposed to being on vacation, and of course was jerked aroung just like u. please keep after this stuff.
I love it. A new ray of sunshine in one of Broward's darkest corners. Would one of you gadflys please forward this to the
the Sun Sentinel or New Times reporter most likely to piss of the greatest number of jurists? Thank you.
I have a few questions that relate.
How is that a child custody case can be file in Dec of 2006, and has still yet to see the inside of the court room for a ruling?
4 judges later and still no court hearing, seems crazy right? Well I have a front row seat to this living nightmare.
The case get assigned to a mediator. Who does not have the first clue as to what her actual function is. Despite the mother being arrested on 3 felony charges. The idiot, still thinks there should be more sessions before going back to the judge. I think C Harald should be out and out fired for stupidity. But hey that is only coming from a family member that has become the collateral damage of the 17th district judicial system.
Re Arreaza. He never figured out how to amend his PRR. He asked for the kitchen sink instead of specific names and salaries. Stoopid roookie.
Court Administration can only charge 15 cents a page. Since those reports already exist and are provided to judges, the cost will be minimal. If Ortman won't fork over the records, Mandamus will do. Or, make the request of Holmes. She is in charge of criminal and she probably gets a copy. Once she gets them, she too has an obligation to turn them over upon request for the same 15 cents a page. This is a no brainer. As for Arreaza, like the last blogger said, when you ask for everything, you must pay the piper.
Amazing how insane anti-Howard guy disappeared from this blog right after Arreaza's humiliating defeat in the election.
As for Rieman, how did she even get that job? Is it true Mel Grossman helped her? Weren't there a lot of people ahead of her in the line?
why did fed moreno cover up for the sale of ORDERS to edward nekritz , gene moss , kuuntraag hamaway , meyer lansky mombach and petunia hollander .
Ferris and Ortman sitting in a tree...
is KUUNTRAAG HAMAWAY related to puglytwat hamaway , mickilicki mombach or JAY SPECHLER .......ASK BARRY SELTZER .
The best way is to mandate EMCM filing, just like in the federal system. Stop wasting paper and stamps. Adobe pdf filings. Perhaps the clerk could also stop charging the general public to download court forms --that is plum ridiculous and I might add that Broward seems to be the only Florida county that needs a credit card payment to get a form from the courthouse. Let us consider the Paperwork Reduction Act as a guide for state courts.
If you've ever had any dealings with Court Admin. you'll know that the moment you ask them a question they're supposed to know, they scatter like birds. Bird Brains, that is.
heard it eas "screamin' rieman" today
Tobin should have thrown Ortman out with the rest of the Ross cronies the day he took over.
Why is everyone so afraid of her??
Grossman "helped" Rieman...GOD has a way of "helping" himself or his friends to whatever he wants. As for Rieman and the god -- they have the same personality (or lack thereof). Pleasant? NOPE!
For your information --- Ortman works for OSCA NOT for the chief judge. They are independent of each other. In fact, they make it VERY clear in the inside that the judges do not have any right to interfere with the Clerk or Court Administration. As for all her travel -- well -- Tally is where her bosses are.....
This sounds just like the SAO office.You know someone on the inside you have it made,that's for travel and every other thing that goes on with out Satz knowing what his attorneys do all day! Half of them are never in the office and still sucking up to him,and then they say no money in the budget while they get paid for doing nothing or leave for most of the day or days.WAKE UP Satz and start doing something about it!There are plenty of people who need a job and would do well
for your office.
"Are public officials flying on state business then using the frequent flier miles for their own personal use, or turning them back over to the State?"
And if they aren't turning them back to the State, are they reporting them to the IRS and paying taxes on them as income? I seriously doubt it.
I bet when someone runs against an incumbent and if someone has a video camera that they will get to record the case count.
The data you seek is simply stored in the Clerk's database. Think about it, you look at a case see the judge assigned and whether is open or closed. The judges know there balance each month from the new randomly assigned cases, recusals, closed. It's all in the data.
Yes, 10:10, the raw data is all in the ancient system that sits underneath Docket-Track. Whether that data can actually be turned into anything useful is another question: good luck with "state-of-the-art" technology circa 1978.
Ortman's only real responsibility has been to run and hide for as long as I can remember; as for the people that work in an office whose only job is to perpetuate itself, their jobs are similarly oddly without definition. Ortman's office serves absolutely no purpose whatsoever that I can determine except to stand as a roadblock to progress and reform in a system that just wants to bury its head in the sand while they can enjoy the benefits the tax payers of this state provide. That's provided they can keep it secret long enough to retirement time.
Sadly, she's just another inefficient lifer of the old regime whose mantra has always been "do as little as possible, stay under the radar as much as you can, for as long as you can".
How Ortman first got the job is an entirely different matter, but it's still the way things seem to work around here with the example of Grossman and Rieman standing out most conspicuously.
Recap on Ortman's Frequent Flier Miles tonight @ 8:00.
Why are cases staying open so long? and why is it taking so long to try cases???
Hmmm could it be the numerous continuances that are requested by attorneys who wait to the last minute or perhaps are walking courtroom to courtroom keeping track of the judges rather than taking depositions.
Of all people to questions the length of a case on a docket -- I assure you it is the author of this article (signed by JAABLOG - we know who you are) who continues cases without working them up only to wait for the best plea from the state. The person who gets an offer then begs the judge for a lower offer? Hmmm who could that be?
Be very careful who you blame for the backlog of cases. Other than Diaz, rarely is there a judge with outstanding trials on a list that is not continuously calling them to trial. It's not the lack of trials, its the lack of cases announced ready for trial.
Thanks for sharing the views no doubt derived from your vast experience, A-Turd. BARF. On a more interesting note: Ortman has been called the Court Obstructionist for years. If she ever actually did anything involving something that resembled an actual job, scores of people would keel over from the shock.
And as far as your take on Diaz, I'll bet he's not around that much longer to blame for doing such a poor job.
Part of the problem is continuances forever but part is an unreasonable state attorney's office. There is no question the policies and overcharging around here are unmatched anywhere in the State. The judges job is difficult and they should be cut slack. They have to perpetually balance the needs of the defense and bewildered defendants with the utter rigidity of the upper level management in the state attorney's office that stops the hardworking and fair asa'a from working out the lousy cases before them. The judges can't resolve every case via open pleas so what you get instead is gridlock.