THE DEFINITION OF INSANITY

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Like calling a Broward JA and asking to put a case on calendar,  or showing up for certain judges' 9 am calendars when they never wander into the courthouse before 9:45 am. 

For most of his career, Judge Steve Leifman has made how courts treat clients with mental health diseases his life's work and passion. A documentary tonight on PBS, The Definition of Insanity covers how Miami- admirably under the leadership of Judge Leifman- has successfully addressed the problem. 

Despite our frequent criticisms of our courts and judges in Miami, Miami has led the nation in innovative solutions to societal problems. Our Drug Court, founded by the late Judge Stanley Goldstein, was the first in the nation to address the problems of drug abuse and to treat defendants as people with a disease. Hundreds of other jurisdictions have followed Miami's lead, and tens of thousands of lives have been saved- including some prominent attorneys in Miami who faced the struggle of alcoholism and drug abuse. 

Judge Leifman took that blueprint and applied it to a disease with even more stigma than drug abuse- mental illness. After the scandals and financial crises  of the 1970's the justice system became the dumping grounds for the mentally ill. Judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys were ill prepared to handle clients who, having committed crimes, were mentally ill. For misdmeanors, the local jails became a revolving door for arresting the same mentally ill people over and over again for the same crimes of panhandling, loitering, and disorderly conduct. 

There had to be a better way. 

The documentary, which shows how Miami -under Judge Leifman's leadership- addressed the problems, is must-see TV.  

RED LIGHT CAMERAS - THIRD DCA SPEAKS .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT ..... IT'S A GREEN LIGHT FOR THE COUNTY IF YOU RESIDE IN MIAMI-DADE, FOR RED LIGHT TICKETS .....

So, for now, if you see this:

 

Then, you can expect to see this:

 

That's because, today, the Third District Court of Appeal, finally issued their long awaited opinion ruling on Judge Leifman's Order that dismissed a red light citation.  The case was heard before Judges Wells, Emas, and Logue, with Logue writing the opinion, that can be found here. (go to page 29 of the 36 page opinion to read the three certified questions).

In their opinion ruling against the driver and for the City of Aventura they "distinguish City of Hollywood v. Arem, 154 So. 3d 359 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014), in which the Fourth District dismissed a traffic citation on the grounds that a city’s process of using red light cameras gave unfettered discretion to a vendor."

But, "because of the broad public and institutional interest in red light cameras", they certified three issues to the Florida Supreme Court as having great public importance.  Judge Wells did not agree that the matter was of great public importance but she did agree to certify the case as being in conflict with the 4th DCA.

h/t DBR and they cover the story here.

CAPTAIN OUT .....
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

LICENSE SUSPENDED ??? - YOU ARE NOT ALONE

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

MY DRIVER'S LICENSE IS SUSPENDED YOU SAY ..... TIME FOR A CHANGE, WE SAY .....

There are approximately 1,800,000 drivers that are licensed to operate a motor vehicle in Miami-Dade County.  Of that number, 550,000 have a SUSPENDED LICENSE.  You did not read that incorrectly.  Nearly 3 out of every 10 drivers on the road are breaking the law everyday in our "Magic City".

The Miami Herald wrote a story and you can read all about it here.

What can we do about this problem?  Change the law. What is causing all of these suspensions?  Is it because of unsafe driving?  NO.  Amazingly, 77% of all those persons that have a suspended license, have it because they failed to pay a ticket or a fine on time.  Traffic tickets, court costs, and child support payments are the main culprit of this disease.  The remaining 23% of the suspended drivers' licenses' are because of actual bad driving issues.

Judge Leifman said it well: “We’re putting an additional tax burden on a group of individuals that can’t afford it,” Leifman said. It’s “criminalizing their behavior when all they did was commit a civil infraction and didn’t have the money to pay it.”

The cycle begins when someone gets a traffic citation and then does not pay that ticket within the thirty days as required by law.  They get pulled over at some later point, (usually for something as minor as a burnt out tail light) and the result is that they can be arrested for Driving With a Suspended License (DWLS).  Now the arresting officer is going to spend the next several hours of their shift booking someone who essentially is being jailed because they couldn't afford the original citation.  So, now the person has a new court date for that DWLS, (there license is still suspended), and now the Judge piles on by adding fines and court costs to the no contest plea of the defendant for their DWLS.  And the cycle continues. 

What to do?

According to the Herald story, other states have moved away from suspending licenses for not paying traffic tickets.  Why not Florida, why not in Miami - because it's all about the Benjamins, of course.  In 2014, four collection agencies contracted by the Clerk have the job of attempting to collect the outstanding fees and costs due to the Clerk.  These four companies get a 40% vig on top of what was originally owed.  Last year the four collection agencies collected a whopping $19 million dollars for the Clerk's office, providing these four companies with $7.5 million in fees.

Because of the large amount of money coming in like it does, the State Legislature funds the Clerk's office with less money.  So there is no way that the Clerks' offices want to change the system and forego having a license suspended when someone fails to simply pay a traffic citation.  It is a vicious cycle.

It seems like FACDL's statewide lobbying group should get together with an elected legislator, say maybe State House Rep Katie Edwards, and get a bill through the legislature that can effect positive change.  It is simply insane to keep doing the same thing over and over and not try something new and different when there are more than a half-million drivers in Miami-Dade County alone who have a suspended license.

RED LIGHT CAMERA UPDATE ......

Judge Leifman informs us that he hopes to have an ORDER prepared by the end of the month - I assume he meant August - of 2015.
.......
JUDGE LEIFMAN WINS ANOTHER AWARD .....

And, speaking of Judge Leifman, according to crack reporter Julie Kay at the DBR, Leifman is moving on up in the world.  You can read the entire story here.  Congrats to Judge Leifman - well deserved.

"Steven Leifman, associate administrative judge of the Miami-Dade County Court criminal division, has been named the National Center for State Courts' recipient of the William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence.  U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. will present the award to Leifman during a ceremony at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Nov. 19."

"Leifman is being recognized for his groundbreaking work helping mentally ill people in the criminal justice system."


Congrats to Judge Leifman - well deserved.


 It's just way too hot outside - time for a dip in the:

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

THEY'RE CRAZY.

UPDATE: Floods, now fire.  One would think they're marching their way through the biblical plagues North of the Border. Check out the Broward Blog. Karma baby. Karma. 

Slumdog Millionaire best picture? Not in our book. 

The Herald ran a disturbing article about the "new" crisis for the treatment of the mentally ill at the Dade County Jail. The article is here. We were never told that the original crisis had ended. 

Quote from the article:

The sickest of the men are housed on the ninth floor, a psychiatric wing that is often so disturbing that a former DCF secretary, Lucy Hadi, quietly cried after leaving the building two years ago.

''What I saw this morning is inhumane,'' said state Sen. Nan H. Rich, a Sunrise Democrat who is vice chairwoman of the Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee and a long-standing mental health advocate who appeared visibly upset after the visit.

Rumpole says: Welcome to the party. Any defense attorney who has visited a client on the ninth floor (otherwise known as the precursor to hell- the link is for our robed readers) can tell you that Florida's treatment of the mentally ill is our State's biggest shame. 

Judge Steve Leifman noted that Florida needs to build 19 (nineteen!!!???) new prisons in the next five years to keep up with the inmate population. Leifman also noted that with the mentally ill untreated, half return to prison based on violations associated with their illnesses. Leifman said  "If we could just deal with the mental health population in prison, we would not need to build a new prison every year.''

Rumpole ponders: Lets see: spend hundreds of millions on new prisons, with fixed costs (staffing, food, maintenance, etc) for generations to come, OR spend less, and deal with the mentally ill humanely.  

What do you think our politicians will do? Unfortunately we think the answer is all too obvious. 

When we titled the article "they're crazy" it wasn't the inmates on the ninth floor we were talking about. 

See you in court.