THE LIMITED REGISTRY IS DEAD

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

"Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that."  John Donne (1572-1631), Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions.

OR, SAID ANOTHER WAY: "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead".

Which old witch you ask?

Well, none other than the Limited Registry.***

The 2012 Florida Legislature passed SB 1960 which created the infamous LR.  And for the past two years, the Private Court Appointed Counsel (PCAC) program was in limbo while the new law was under attack from all sides.  Litigation abounded throughout the State, most particularly in South Florida.  The train was driven by the local Miami Chapter of FACDL, and they deserve much credit for derailing the LR train.

Finally, after 24 months, on July 1, 2014, the LR will be no more.  And, amazingly, the 2014 Florida Legislature went several steps further.

***Before 2012, there was only a General Registry of PCAC attorneys.  LR attorneys contractually agreed to take all court appointments with the understanding that they could not, under any circumstances, file a Motion with the Court, (under Makemson), requesting they be paid above the cap, when they handled extraordinary cases.  Only LR attorneys received court appointments during the past two years; General Registry attorneys were, for the most part, left out of the appointments process; (except in capital cases).

For years, FACDL has been lobbying the issue of the statutory fees and the caps on those fees.  Those caps were last increased the year Ronald Wilson Reagan was sworn into office. (That's 1981 for those of you under the age of 33).

Under the Appropriations bill passed by both chambers late Friday night, the Maximum Fees on criminal cases will look like this:

CASE TYPE     CURRENT MAX FEE    NEW MAX FEE

Noncapital nonlife felonies
                            $2,500                                             $6,000

Life felony cases                         
                            $3,000                                             $9,000

Capital cases                           
                           $15,000                                           $25,000

Appeals cases                   
                           $2,000                                             $9,000

There are other changes that the bill addresses, but those other changes do not have any effect here in South Florida; YET.  In the Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, and Thirteenth Judicial Circuits, they have created a "cross-circuit conflict representation pilot project".

Currently, when the PD conflicts, the case goes to the Regional Counsel's office.  When the RC conflicts, the case then goes to the PCAC Registry.  Under the pilot project, in the above Circuits, when the PD and RC conflict in the 6th Circuit, the case will go to the PD in the 13th Circuit.  When the same thing happens in the 10th Circuit, the PD's office in the 9th will be assigned the case.  And vice versa.

If this pilot project works, you will see an eventual phase out of nearly all PCAC cases in those Circuits.  Only when four different offices conflict would there then need to be a PCAC attorney ready to take the case.

If we look at history, pre-RC, in the 11th Circuit, the PD was conflicting on about 3,000 cases each year.  That's 3,000 cases that were then being assigned to PCAC attorneys.  Since the inception of the RC, about 75% of the PD conflicts now end up with the Office of the RC.  That leaves about 750 cases annually that are handled by the attorneys that are on the PCAC Registry.

If the legislature likes what they see with the pilot project, will Miami-Dade and Broward be next in cross-circuit representation?  If that happens, the 750 case figure would likely drop by 90% or more.

So, there you have it.  The new law is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2014, absent a veto by the Governor.

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

ONCE YOU BEAT EM, JOIN EM.

"From the very beginning, our state and national constitutions and laws have laid great emphasis on procedural and substantive safeguards designed to assure fair trials before impartial tribunals in which every defendant stands equal before the law. This noble ideal cannot be realized if the poor man charged with crime has to face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him."

           

JUSTICE HUGO L. BLACK

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Dear colleagues,

Yesterday I met with FACDL-Miami's 'limited registry task force' to discuss our next steps in the fight against the government's efforts to institutionalize ineffective assistance of counsel.  We talked about fundamental rights, procedures, plans of action and bottom lines.  I could not help but think of the above quote and the reality that the financial limits imposed on attorneys by thelimited registry effectively forces a poor man charged with a crime to face his accuser with something far worse than no attorney: one who is either unwilling or unable to actually defend him.  Fifty years after Gideon, the legislature has created a system that intentionally or otherwise, operates to ensure that effective assistance, in most cases, is impossible.   It rewards attorneys who will not provide meaningful assistance and worse still, it ensures that those who would are unable to do so.  

Some of you have asked whether our efforts have resulted in potentially greater rewards for those who would not stand with us when we refused to join the limited registry; the short answer is yes.  In a perfect world, after our victory, each member of the limited registry would transfer back to the general registry. In this, the real world, our recommendation for those of you who havestood firm is this: join the limited registry on Monday.  Use the surrender stipulation that JAC signed as your sword and shield.   We are encouraging FACDL Miami members to join and to demand compensation above the cap each and every time you deserve it as dictated by your time, efforts, and ethics.  Accept cases and provide the meaningful representation that you, as a defense attorney have sworn to deliver to all of your clients.  When you find a case that isn't complex or unusual or extraordinary, accept the flat fee.  In every other case, file for what the JAC has stipulated Makemson demands: actual effective representation of every defendant and fair compensation for their attorney, even in limited registry cases.  

Everyone at FACDL is keenly aware of the economic situation that each of you has dealt with during the last year.  We, along with all those who believe in the vital role of the defense attorney, appreciate the sacrifice that has been made for the greater good.  As long as the limited registry exists, we pledge to continue working toward its dismantling even if protecting the ideals we hold dear comes at a financial cost.  For now, we hope that you will join us in diluting the systemic flaws of the limited registry by ensuring that every defendant stands equal before the law, something that will never happen without a quality attorney by his side who demands to be compensated for protecting his client and in doing so, the Constitution.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or if you would like to help in fighting the limited registry at the next level, please feel free to contact me directly.

Best regards,

Eddie Pereira

President FACDL-Miami

A STORY ABOUT HUMAN NATURE

It's a story about a government acting irresponsibly and its representatives acting stubbornly and in violation of the law. 
The federal government shutdown? 
No. 
We speak of the Limited Registry, and FACDL Super lawyers Michelle Estlund, Jude "The Hammer" Faccidomo, Carmen Vizcaino and Roy Wasson,  have put a stake in its head as it slithered through the mud like some parasitic slug feasting on the carcass of Gideon v. Wainwright 372 U.S. 335 (1963), and the Due Process Clause. 

Recall that the State of Florida decided that in the scheme of due process and criminal justice, the role of the defense attorney was nearly valueless. To that end the State enacted a payment scheme wherein attorneys (having sold their seemingly worthless "Vichy -stained-souls") signed a contract to "defend" clients at rates so ridiculously low that the top fee of $2,000.00 was reserved for murder cases. To be eligible for this "windfall", the attorney had to sign a contract agreeing to "never ever ever ever" seek compensation above the cap. 

Of course no lawyer can defend a client at such rates. All a lawyer can do is meet the client, shake their hand, convey a plea offer and then stand next to them and nod solemnly as they take part in the farce of a plea colloquy in which they pretend that if the client had so decided, they would have investigated the case, taken depositions, subpoenaed witnesses, and gone to trial. In reality these lawyers were and are nothing more than overpaid stock boys, hauling the bodies of their clients on to a criminal courthouse conveyor belt that runs to the state prison. 

Confronted with the law, see, Makemson v. Martin County, 491 So.2d 1109 (Fla. 1986) the State lawyers waived the white flag and entered into the below stipulation, effectively killing the limited registry. 




For those lawyers to whom taking a stand for a principle at personal cost is an anathema to their very being (you know who I am talking about- the type of lawyer who wouldn't have defended Rosa Parks; the type of yellow coward who would be the first to turn in their neighbors when the storm troopers knocked on their door) and who have in fact joined Vichy France/The State of Florida and signed up for the Limited Registry-it is these lawyers who will unfortunately benefit the most from the work of the unpaid FACDL lawyers of whom these limited registry collaborators are unworthy to sharpen their pencils, much less be members of the same Bar. 

Such is the nature of the law in general, and criminal defense in particular, when the very best work, done by the very best lawyers, benefits the very worst among us. 

See You In Court.