Ala. Jury Trials to Stop Amid Feud
The Constitution guarantees the right to trial by jury, but that isn’t stopping Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore from halting jury trials Monday to save money.Holy crap on a stick! So, here’s the deal, the justices and other judges are getting yet another pay raise while suspending the Constitutional rights of the citizens of Alabama. Hmmm…. If administrative costs are 94% of that budget, then something’s messed up there.Moore, known for his fights to post the Ten Commandments in public buildings, is now sparring with the governor and Legislature over funding for the courts.
With no resolution in sight, Moore ordered an end to jury hearings in civil court until Oct. 1 and restricted criminal jury trials to two weeks. His decision has forced delays in everything from million-dollar lawsuits to a long-awaited murder trial from a 1963 church bombing.
“It’s going to be devastating,” said Circuit Judge Charles Price, who predicts a rapid backlog.
Sheriffs are worried about jails, many already overcrowded, overflowing with defendants who can’t go to trial. Police fear judges, seeking to relieve the backlog, will reduce bonds for defendants who pose a serious risk to the community. And crime victims are angry about waiting longer for justice. . .
. . . In Alabama, defendants are already filing legal papers saying they are being denied their constitutional right to a speedy trial before a jury.
“Without jury trials, I know of no way these rights can be guaranteed to the public we serve,” Circuit Judge Ferrill McRae said.
It wouldn’t seem that money for trials would be a problem: Appropriations for Alabama’s trial courts have gone up 31 percent since 1998. But part of the increase went to pay raises for judges. Alabama’s Supreme Court justices rank among the highest paid in the country and trial court judges finish near the middle in a state that ranked 44th last year in average annual income, at $23,471, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The budget fight involves only 2 percent of the state appropriation for the trial courts. The Legislature gave the trial courts $122 million for this fiscal year, but that’s $2.7 million short of what the chief justice and state court administrator Rich Hobson say is necessary.
The Legislature ended is annual session last week without appropriating more.
Legislators argue that the court system hasn’t done enough to cut expenses and hasn’t justified the need for more money.
“It’s wise business that before you appropriate more money, you want to see what they are doing with the money they’ve got and that they are tightening their belts,” said state Sen. Wendell Mitchell, a Democrat and dean of Jones Law School in Montgomery.
Rich Hobson, court administrator for the Republican chief justice, said there’s not much that can be cut because personnel costs take up 94 percent of the budget. In addition to stopping jury trials, the courts are laying off employees and curtailing travel and supplies, he said.
Anyways, $114.68 million dollars in administrative costs? What kinda system are they running out there? If 94% of the budget goes to the admin people in the judicial system, I’m sure they can cut that back to, oh, 91% and, wow, look at that extra $3.7 million in the coffers!
And I’m sure the loss of a pay increase won’t hurt their pockets more than the law suits their about to face over this deal. Of course, the Chief Justice doesn’t have to worry about that. As this is a government thing, the government will cover the costs and the Judicial branch will be unscathed. It’s like a bastardized throwback to the federal government shut down of the mid-’90s only here it’s directly effecting the people by robbing them of their Constitutional rights.
Ah, politics. And I think they elect their judges in Alabama too.
