InsideCourt: December 2009

Friday, December 11, 2009

Think This Can't Happen?

The Fulton County Justice System is under enormous stress to process tens of thousands of criminal and civil cases with its current employees and judges.
Criminal prosecutions and civil litigation will be delayed even further if hundreds of Justice System employees and staff are laid off as a result of further budget cuts.
The county’s latest budget proposal calls for 10 percent across the board cuts in addition to prior reductions in state and county support for the Justice System. But that approach just doesn’t add up.

Here are some examples that show reducing or eliminating court programs that safely remove defendants from the overcrowded Fulton Jail will only add to the budget:

Jailing pretrial defendants: Daily Cost - $72 x 1,300 = $93,600.
Supervised pretrial release: Daily Cost- $ 5 x 1,300 = $ 6,500.
Daily saving: $87,100.

Jailing pretrial defendants: Daily Cost - $72 x 500 = $36,000.
Drug/Mental Health Court: Daily Cost - $23 x 500 = $11,500.
Daily saving: $24,500.

What You Can Do:

Come inside Georgia's Superior Court

The Superior Court was Georgia’s first court.
After the American Revolution, Georgia’s first constitution in 1777 established the legislature and provided for a Superior Court in every county.
Until legislation creating the Georgia Supreme Court in 1845, the Superior Court was the highest court in the state.
The Superior Court has jurisdiction over divorce, equity, title, appeal of Municipal and Magistrate court decisions and any criminal cases where the sentence involves incarceration or possible loss of life.
Each county has its own Superior Court. These courts are organized into 49 Judicial Circuits, created by the General Assembly. The number of Superior Court judges per circuit ranges from two to 20 judges. A chief judge handles the administrative tasks for each circuit.
Superior Court judges are elected to four-year terms in nonpartisan, circuit-wide races. To qualify as a Superior Court judge, a candidate must be at least 30 years old, a resident of Georgia for at least three years, and have practiced law for at least seven years. Superior Court judges who have retired may hear cases in any circuit at the request of a local Superior Court judge, an administrative judge or the governor.
Superior Court judges preside over civil and criminal trials to make sure both sides have a fair hearing.
They also hold hearings prior to trials, including those where they decide the merits of requests by attorneys in civil and criminal cases, accept pleas in felony cases, receive indictments from grand juries, and set bonds in more serious criminal cases.
Judges hear divorce cases, validate adoptions and name changes and issue protective orders in family violence cases.
They also have the authority to commit the mentally ill to treatment, perform marriages, certify a person’s residency for school registration, passports, etc.
Judges appoint and swear in jury commissioners and Juvenile Court judges. They also oversee Grand Juries which return criminal indictments and review county government operations.

InsideCourt

Friday, December 11, 2009

Think This Can't Happen?

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