Chief Judge Corrects The Record

Thursday, 17 June 2010 08:55
By Don Plummer

On Wednesday Chief Judge Cynthia Wright corrected several mischaracterizations of the status of cases being heard by the Superior Court of Fulton County.

During an interview on WSB TV Chief Judge Wright said the recent dismissal of a murder case due to the length of time it had been pending was because of the specific facts in that case.

“The length of time a case is pending does not necessarily require dismissal because cases can grow old due to a variety of reasons, including incompetency to stand trial, appeals, motions and other case-related issues,” Chief Judge Wright said.

In fact, Judge Wright said, the Fulton Superior Court has continued to make significant progress in reducing the number of pending murder cases by completing 57 cases since January, leaving the Court with a total of 179 active murder cases.

Overall, felony caseloads have been reduced in the past four years, Judge Wright said.

One reason for the reduction: the Court instituted a Felony Fast-Track case-management program.

This joint effort of the Court, the Fulton District Attorney, and Fulton Public Defender deals with all nonviolent drug and property crimes – which comprise more than 70 percent of all felony indictments in Fulton - in nine weeks from arrest to conclusion. And, less than 1 percent of those cases require trial, further saving court time and tax dollars. Since Felony Fast-Track began in 2006, the court’s inventory of these type cases has been reduced by 40 percent.

A new pilot project agreed to by the DA and Public Defender will expand the rigid case management standards of Felony Fast-Track to new felony cases has been in development for several months, Wright said.

The case management plan was the result of a two-day seminar last fall organized by the Court and led by national case management experts. The seminar, attended by the Fulton County District Attorney, Fulton’s Public Defender, Superior Court Judges, Clerk of Court and members of their respective staffs, led to creation of the case management plan being implemented.

The plan will include 10 of the Court’s 20 judges and will operate under a memorandum of understanding agreed to by the District Attorney, Public Defender and other justice system partners. Under the expanded case standards plan murder and other serious violent felonies will be concluded within 48 weeks of indictment. All other crimes against persons felonies will be processed within 36 weeks of Indictment, Wright said.

The Fulton judicial system does face challenges due to a lack of funding that affects every agency, Wright said. A new unified computer system, a 10-year campaign that was approved this year, will go a long way toward streamlining the state’s largest judicial system, but more has to be done to bring the system up to the demands of civil and criminal cases, she said.

More money must be allocated for all justice agencies so they have adequate staff to process the large volume of civil and criminal cases in Fulton, she said.

The Superior Court must not focus exclusively on criminal cases because the Court has other Constitutionally mandated obligations to process civil cases, including domestic litigation involving families and children, Wright said.

Balancing those multiple responsibilities and increasing coordination with other justice agencies to achieve maximum efficiency is a goal that Wright has set for her two-year term as Chief Judge.

Judicial Leaders Work Until Last Minute to Save Public Safety Improvements from Fulton Budget Axe

Leaders of the Fulton County Georgia judicial system on Tuesday continued their effort to get county officials to restore $4.2 million cut from the system’s 2010 budget. The cuts include $2.4 million in operating costs and $1.8 million in staff vacancies for the Superior Court, Clerk of Superior Court, District Attorney, Public Defender, State, Probate and Juvenile courts, Solicitor General and Marshal’s office.

If these cuts are restored judicial system leaders told county officials they will be able to:

• Continue the Fast Track felony case management system that has cut the time it takes to complete non-violent property and drug cases to just 45 days.

• Continue the current number of participants in the county’s successful Drug and Mental Health Courts.

• Continue the highly effective, cost-saving pretrial supervision program that gets 97 percent of felony defendants to all court hearings without new charges.

• Continue a new intensive pretrial supervision program that reduced jail expenses by $3.5 million from April through December 2009.

• Prepare for a major anticipated increase in criminal cases from hundreds of new Atlanta Police Officers being hired through a federal COPS Grant.

• Drastically reduce the Fulton Jail population by July 1, 2010.

• Prepare a plan to increase revenues and collections from fines and fees.

• Prepare a plan to consolidate duplicative judicial system offices.

The Fulton justice system cannot control its incoming “inventory” of murder, rape, robbery and burglary cases so justice system leaders must be allowed to continue programs that out-produce the offending population to keep the county safe.

Judicial system leaders are working together to coordinate prevention, protection, restoration, correction and punishment efforts but cuts prevent them from keeping up with incoming cases, much less the increase anticipated from deploying additional Atlanta Police Officers.

Judicial leaders say restoring these funds will produce immediate savings by reducing the number of defendants in the county jail.

Failing to adequately fund the judicial system will swell the county’s jail population, greatly increasing the cost to taxpayers for housing, feeding and caring for pretrial defendants.

Key Points of the Judicial System Plan to enhance public safety and increase access to justice for families, children and businesses.

• Fast Track Felony Case Processing

• Pretrial Release Supervision

• Jail Population Reduction Plan

• Elimination of Duplicated Services

• Increased Fee and Fine Revenue

Fulton County budget cuts may add to county expenses

Fulton County Commissioners on Wednesday are set to adopt a budget for 2010 that may cut cost-saving programs that will add to overall expenses for the county, according to Fulton’s Chief Judge.

A 10 percent across-the-board cut on top of a 4 percent employee pay decrease tentatively approved by Commissioner in December will force reductions or elimination of diversion programs that will funnel more than 1,000 defendants back into the county’s already overcrowded jail, said Chief Fulton Superior Court Judge Doris L. Downs.

“If we must eliminate or drastically reduce our Drug and Mental Health Courts and our supervised pretrial release programs we cannot allow the defendants in these programs to remain on the street unsupervised,” Downs said Monday during a meeting of program administrators. Up to 30 Superior Court employees could be fired to meet the county goal, she said. Other equally large numbers of employees could be fired from the District Attorney, Public Defender and Clerk of Court.

Upwards of 1700 defendants are currently supervised by these programs at a drastically lower cost per day than incarceration in the county jail. For example, defendants on supervised pretrial release cost the county $5 a day. Drug and Mental Health Court defendants are supervised for $23 a day. Jailing inmates costs a minimum of $72 a day.

Superior Court Administrator Judy Cramer said every cost saving effort has already been taken and all that’s left to cut are jobs.

“Wednesday is the last chance for the Commission to take into account the true impact of cuts of this magnitude,” Cramer said. Layoff letters are being readied in case the Commission holds fast to the 10-percent cuts. “We must deliver the letters by Monday in order for our employees to have time to explore other positions within the county and receive assistance from human resources with filing for unemployment and other benefits,” she said.

Downs and Cramer have met with individual commissioners and county executives and laid out an alternative plan that would cut the jail population in half by July, but that plan requires funding the judicial system at its current level. The extra personnel to process additional cases would be paid for by an existing federal stimulus grant received by the court last year, Downs said.

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Keep up to date on official Fulton Superior Court news at: http://fultoncourtinfo.blogspot.com/

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Funding cuts threaten public safety and access to the courts for businesses, families and children

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Justice Plan Would Slash Jail Population

Faster Case Processing Key to 54 Percent Reduction


ATLANTA – The Chief Judge of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit has proposed that Fulton County Commissioners approve a cost-saving plan that would greatly reduce the population of the overcrowded Fulton County Jail.

“Our strategy is to dramatically reduce the jail population from 2606 (outsourcing and main jail population) to 1200 by July 1st of 2010,” Chief Superior Court Judge Doris L. Downs wrote in an email sent Tuesday to Fulton Commissioners.

The Fulton County Jail, which is under federal court order to reduce the jail’s population to some 2200, is the largest single item in the Fulton County Justice System budget. Each day an inmate is held at the jail costs the county a minimum of $72. The county also must pay to house excess inmates above the court-ordered maximum in other Georgia jails.

Fulton justice system officials were notified on Nov. 18 that their portion of the county’s 2010 budget, which begins Jan. 1, would have to be cut by 25 percent or some $55 million. Chief Judge Downs and Fulton County District Attorney Paul L Howard Jr. and other justice system officials responded by saying that absorbing cuts of that magnitude would devastate each agency individually and have unacceptable systemic repercussions.

On Dec. 9, County budget officials returned with a proposal that the criminal justice system be cut by 11.7% or $25.4 million. Meeting almost daily since then justice system officials fashioned a plan that Judge Downs said will meet the county’s goal, if the justice system is allowed to retain current funding levels.

“We are proposing expediting the processing of the criminal cases in the next 6 months so that the jail population is reduced to 1200 inmates by July 1st of 2010. We believe that this goal is attainable but only if we are able to retain our employees and re-engineer the way we work together,” she wrote. “In short, we are prepared to run a marathon to achieve the savings needed through the jail budget. This is the only way we see to achieve savings without crippling our justice system. We cannot run the marathon without our legs---our employees!”

Fulton Commissioners are expected to consider the justice system proposal at a 10 a.m. Wednesday meeting.

Following is the full text of Chief Judge Down’s letter to Commissioners and the justice system’s jail reduction strategy:

As the Administrative Judge of this State's Fifth Judicial District as well as the Chief Judge of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit, I am proposing on behalf of the Fulton County Justice System that we be allowed to present a plan for achieving the budget cuts required of our justice system. Our plan is attached. Our strategy is to dramatically reduce the jail population from 2606 (outsourcing and main jail population) to 1200 by July 1st of 2010.

We are aware that Fulton County is facing a serious budget shortfall. At present, it is my understanding that all County budgets are facing a cut of approximately 1.7% consisting of the unpaid holidays for all employees in 2010. At present, the justice system partners have been asked to cut an additional 10% from their budgets.

The Clerk of the Superior Court will have to eliminate 33 temporary positions and 18 permanent positions ($1.5 million). The District Attorney will have to eliminate 20 temporary positions and 30 permanent positions OR take 48 furlough days (one day each week) which amounts to a 25% pay cut for all DA employees. ($2.2 million) The Public Defender will have to eliminate 15 positions ($1.57 million).The Superior Court will have to eliminate at least 15 employees and as of yet an undetermined number of additional layoffs. We will lose employees in programs that save the county money such as Pretrial, Drug Court, Mental Health Court ($2.475 million).

As you are aware each of the justice agencies are closely connected in that an impact on any one of our budgets impacts our ability as a whole to move the business. We are truly all part of the same pipeline with no control over the numbers of cases coming in. If the 10 percent cuts are taken from each budget in January of 2010, our ability to process the criminal, domestic and civil cases will be significantly affected. This will no doubt result in a sharp increase in the jail population and a sharp increase in costs to the taxpayer. This will certainly not achieve the savings that are needed in the coming year's budget.

We have been meeting non-stop since we learned of the budget shortfall in order to present a plan that will save the county significant money without dismantling our justice system. We are proposing expediting the processing of the criminal cases in the next 6 months so that the jail population is reduced to 1200 inmates by July 1st of 2010. We believe that this goal is attainable but only if we are able to retain our employees and re-engineer the way we work together. If we are forced to eliminate critical employees, the cost to the County will increase with the resulting increase in the jail population.

In short, we are prepared to run a marathon to achieve the savings needed through the jail budget. This is the only way we see to achieve savings without crippling our justice system. We cannot run the marathon without our legs---our employees! Please carefully consider our proposal. We are continuing to meet to improve the proposal. All of us are available if you should have any questions.

Jail Reduction Strategy Guiding Principles

 The Fulton County Jail, when built, was widely criticized as being too small for the Fulton County criminal population.

 Overcrowding at the jail has led to several lawsuits including the current consent decree.

 The inability of the system to dispose of cases has exacerbated the jail overcrowding problem.

 The Justice Management Institute, a leading criminal justice system consultant, identified as one of the key elements to lasting system improvement, the need to set goals regarding the Fulton County jail population and composition.

 On November 18, 2009, the Fulton County Budget Commission announced that for FY2010 it was expected that current expenditures would drastically exceed expected revenue (-$146 million) requiring an across-the-board 25% reduction in county budgets.

 Collectively, the Criminal Justice System was asked to reduce budgetary expenditures by $55 million — translating to 980 positions.

 Absorbing cuts of this magnitude would devastate each department individually and have systemic repercussions.

 Through exploring other cost-saving mechanisms, the Budget Commission announced on December 9, 2009, the criminal justice system portion of budget reductions would amount to 11.7% or $25.4 million.

 This current financial crisis has inspired a willingness among all Fulton County criminal justice agencies to identify systemic ways to save money without adversely impacting individual departments and the criminal justice system.

 What follows are the Fulton County Criminal Justice System cost-saving recommendations and strategies.

Jail Reduction Strategy

 Remove inmates convicted of state crimes from the Fulton County Jail after a maximum period of ten (10) days.

 Eliminate the outsourcing of inmates by February 1, 2010 (savings of $8 million).

 Establish jail case processing standards such that each category of inmate has a time frame for housing which cannot be exceeded (see Case Processing Standards).

 Implement a Temporary Emergency Court to reduce the jail population by 1,300 inmates by July 1, 2010 (savings of $15 million through food/health contracts and the elimination of vacant positions).

 Support the acquisition of the City of Atlanta Jail so that the facility can be used as the initial screening location for defendants and a portion of the facility can be used to create a restitution center where all low-risk Fulton County Jail inmates could be transferred.

 Establish a multi-departmental jail reduction team to work with the Sheriff’s staff to monitor the jail population on a daily basis in order to maintain the jail population at 1,200 inmates.

 Failure to reduce the jail population as outlined will result in a 10% across-the-board budget reduction for all Fulton County criminal justice agencies beginning July 1, 2010.

Jail Case Processing Standards

 Death penalty – 2 years

 Maximum Complex Felony Cases – 365 days

 Medium Complex Felony Cases – 280 days

 Mildly Complex Felony Cases – 120 days

 Non Complex Felony Cases – 60 days

 Misdemeanor Maximum Complex Violent Cases – 60 days

 Misdemeanor Medium Complex Cases – 30 days

 All other Misdemeanor cases – 48 hours

Fulton County Criminal Justice Agencies

Doris (Dee) Downs
Chief Judge, Superior Court

Ted Jackson
Sheriff, Fulton County

Cathelene “Tina” Robinson
Clerk, Superior Court

Paul L. Howard, Jr.
District Attorney

Vernon Pitts
Public Defender

Albert Thompson
Chief Judge, State Court

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Resolution to Declare an Economic State of Emergency

The following statement is issued by the Fulton County Justice System elected officials:

Less than one month ago, the criminal justice departments met with the Budget Commission and were informed that the 2010 budgets would be fully funded. Last week, we unexpectedly received word from the County Manager and his staff that this is no longer true. Because of a severe reduction in both the commercial and residential tax digests, Fulton County will be forced to reduce expenditures by at least $146 million. The County Manager also informed us that every county department must participate in the reductions--the criminal justice system’s share being $55 million with individual criminal justice departments asked to reduce budgets by around 25%.Today, the County Manager informed us that a new proposal would place the criminal justice departments’ share closer to $25 million.

At this time, the Board of Commissioners has made no final decision regarding the size of budget cuts that will need to be made. However, it is certain that the large decrease in revenue will result in a drastic reduction to Fulton County department budgets and the criminal justice departments will not be exempt. After careful considerations of the impact to the criminal justice system were a drastic budget reduction enacted, we the members of the criminal justice system have determined that the results would be disastrous. Not only would it result in the immediate loss of between 445 and 980 jobs, it would also, in our opinion, raise serious questions regarding public safety. Over the past decade, working together as a system, we have achieved numerous accomplishments such as:

• The jail population has been reduced from 4,300 to 2,500;
• We are now able to charge defendants within 30 minutes of arrest;
• The number of criminal cases pending in Superior Court has been reduced by 61%;
• As a result, although the Fulton County’s population has increased, and continues to increase, the violent crime rate has declined by 43%;

Despite these significant system improvements, there is more to be done. Not only does the proposed budget reduction threaten every system improvement made to date, if implemented as outlined, it could slow criminal court case processing to a near halt and eliminate all existing treatment court alternatives. This is not an acceptable outcome for our community. Therefore, we, the below signed criminal justice agencies, have decided to declare an Economic State of Emergency within the Fulton County criminal justice system. As a part of this Economic State of Emergency, our plan is to work together to implement system wide strategies that take into account our precarious financial situation while focusing all our attention and resources upon the primary tasks of maintaining public safety, i.e., the protection of citizens and the Fulton County community. Furthermore, our goal is to do so while maintaining employees and the integrity of the criminal justice system.

Signed by:
Doris L. Downs, Chief Judge, Superior Court
Albert Thompson, Chief Judge, State Court
Paul L. Howard, Jr., District Attorney
Vernon Pitts, Public Defender
Cathelene Tina Robinson, Clerk, Superior Court
Ted Jackson, Sheriff