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Monday, March 22, 2021

GOING GREEN THE CLERK'S OFFICE DILEMMA

 We start with a problem that has an easy solution. How many millions of dollars does the Miami Dade County Clerk's Office spend on these?  


What to do? What to do? Hmm....it's 2021....what could help solve this problem and disrupt the way the Clerk's office has been doing things since 1919?

WAIT! The internet might just help....AND WAIT.....THIS THING CALLED EMAIL MIGHT BE OF ASSISTANCE and hang on....(slight interruption with the phone ringing) AND WHAT DO PEOPLE HAVE IN THEIR HANDS 16 HOURS A DAY? THEIR PHONES !

Now let's try and put all the pieces of the puzzle together and fix this ornery problem. The internet, and email and phones...hmmm... people get arrested and have to give out their information including their phone number. Can we ask for their email? Don't see why not. Now, with that email and phone number could we create a database on the internet and add those valuable pieces of information into the system?  It seems doable. NASA put a robot on Mars. Georgia managed to hide several million Trump votes and not get caught. The technology seems feasible to do it better, faster.... (Cue 6 Million Dollar Man opening below). 

With an email alert to a court date AND a text message, could we save millions of dollars in postage and acres of landfill and make our postperson's job a bit easier? Why by Jove I think we'e got it. 

The feds do not send out little postcards that take engineers with doctorate degrees twenty minutes to open and they seem to have no problem with failures to appear. 

And this is even WORSE for us to admit- our cousins north of the border provide a written notice of the next court hearing whilst the defendant is in court. What does this save?....anyone....Bueller?.....anyone? POSTAGE - with written notice received in court, the Clerk's office doesn't have to mail notice to the lawyers and clients. 

We have spent a year mostly not issuing bench warrants and ACs and the world is still spinning. Bondmen now routinely use text messaging APPs to alert clients of upcoming court dates, why can't the clerk's office do the same?

BUT WAIT the naysayers are naysaing. What about those .0001% of cases where the defendant does not show and the bondsperson contests the forfeiture?  We cannot update the system, save millions of dollars in postage, save on greenhouse gases and help cool the planet because in ten cases next year the court will not be able to estreat the $5,000 bond for the defendant who is charged with possession of marijuana and resisting with violence. Sorry, good idea, but we might lose that estreature case on a notice issue,  and we need that five grand so keep spending those millions and filling those landfills. 

(They may also say the Rules of Judicial Administration and Dead Sea Scrolls require notice to be mailed. We have searched the elusive ROJA-DSS and not found any such rule, but then again the ROJA-DSS are constructed to prevent a logical search and reading of the document.) 

There will be a workaround to the notice issue. Defendant's will sign a paper before release affirming their contact information. If they change it and miss a court date they lose their bond, pure and simple. 

So let's recap. There is a problem that costs a lot of money. Technology can solve it and save money, save landfill, save on greenhouse gasses and in general make the whole thing better and more efficient. And therefore the reason this giant inefficient bureaucracy has not changed is because...drum roll please....

THAT'S THE WAY WE HAVE ALWSYS DONE IT. 

Oh. Sorry we brought this up. 

WHAT SAY YOU HARVEY RUVIN? 

We suspect Mr. Ruvin will say that if attorneys go on the clerk's website they can sign up for electronic notice. We have seen that that  function DOES NOT stop the clerk from mailing those evil little notices no one can open without tearing the actual information. At the very least Dade should transition to in-court written notices AND STOP spending money on those ridiculous mailers. 


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Most defendants are semi-transient anyway. How many defendants even have permanent reliable mailing addresses? How many of those notices end up getting returned to sender because the defendant hasn't lived at that address for years and never bothered updating his suspended license?

the trialmaster said...

I have been trying to find an easy way to open those damn notices for decades without success. Its harder than trying to obtain a bond on a first degree murder case.

Anonymous said...

Judicial Elections are fast approaching. Thus, the question, who will have to run a campaign and who will get a pass. I often say that Judges have no appreciation of the political import of their actions and zero understanding of the political arena. Lawyers do not elect Judges, no matter how much they project themselves as “Judge makers,” fact is some of the real political power players work to stay of the radar much like the Wizard, behind the curtain. Based on a conversation I overheard recently, I predict Sayfie may possibly get a challenger and have to run a campaign. From what I overheard, Sayfie allegedly has covered up questionable conduct of an ex-judge. As the Sun Tzu said “The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.” More to come soon

Anonymous said...

A long overdue change that is needed.

Anonymous said...

Pepe Herrera, you are such an asshole. You got rightly disbarred for your unethical conduct. The Florida Supreme Court upheld Tunis' recommendation twice. Judge Sayfie covered nothing up but now you threaten to run someone against her. Like I said, asshole.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...


The Captain Reports:

COVID-19 ADVISORY #76

SELF-MONITORING NOTICE

Two individuals who worked in the locations and on the dates listed below have tested positive for COVID-19.

Persons identified as having been in close proximity to the confirmed individuals are being notified and will be asked to take all necessary precautions.

Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center, 175 NW 1st Ave.:
Room 2926 on March 9, 11 and 16, 2021

Last date worked: March 16, 2021


Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building, 1351 NW 12 St.:
Room 510 on March 8-12 and March 15-18, 2021

Last date worked: March 18, 2021


Persons who were in these locations recently should follow self-monitoring steps for the next 14 days as outlined in the Centers for Disease Control website at:

Anonymous said...

Dude are u serious with this ?

Anonymous said...

The Clerk's Office mails notices to every address they have on file even if they are the same address with slight differences such as, for example, 12 ST and 12TH ST.