- MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The
Constitution guarantees the right to trial by jury, but that isn't stopping
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore from halting jury trials Monday to save
money.
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- Moore, known for his fights to post the Ten Commandments
in public buildings, is now sparring with the governor and Legislature
over funding for the courts.
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- With no resolution in sight, Moore ordered an end to
jury hearings in civil court until Oct. 1 and restricted criminal jury
trials to two weeks. His decision has forced delays in everything from
million-dollar lawsuits to a long-awaited murder trial from a 1963 church
bombing.
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- "It's going to be devastating," said Circuit
Judge Charles Price, who predicts a rapid backlog.
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- Sheriffs are worried about jails, many already overcrowded,
overflowing with defendants who can't go to trial. Police fear judges,
seeking to relieve the backlog, will reduce bonds for defendants who pose
a serious risk to the community. And crime victims are angry about waiting
longer for justice.
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- "It's as upsetting as all get-out," said Bobby
Hilyer of Chilton County. The woman accused of killing his son was supposed
to go on trial May 6, but the case has been postponed indefinitely.
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- "I don't see how you can shut down the courts in
the whole state," Hilyer said.
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- Moore says the courts are caught in a "fiscal crisis"
and the cutbacks will get worse after Oct. 1. That's when Alabama's judges,
already among the highest-paid in the nation, get a new pay raise.
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- Gov. Don Siegelman calls the halt to trials "outrageous,"
but he refuses to provide more money when most of state government, including
the public school system, is coping with shrinking tax revenue.
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- "All branches of government are under tight fiscal
constraints," he said.
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- Court systems in several other states are grappling with
financial problems due to the national economic downturn, but others have
found ways to keep the wheels of justice turning. In Kansas, the Supreme
Court imposed emergency fees, including a $50 increase in the $25 marriage
license. In Florida, jobs went unfilled and construction projects got delayed.
In South Carolina, the Legislature is considering raising fees to prevent
cutbacks.
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- In Alabama, defendants are already filing legal papers
saying they are being denied their constitutional right to a speedy trial
before a jury.
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- "Without jury trials, I know of no way these rights
can be guaranteed to the public we serve," Circuit Judge Ferrill McRae
said.
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- It wouldn't seem that money for trials would be a problem:
Appropriations for Alabama's trial courts have gone up 31 percent since
1998. But part of the increase went to pay raises for judges. Alabama's
Supreme Court justices rank among the highest paid in the country and trial
court judges finish near the middle in a state that ranked 44th last year
in average annual income, at $23,471, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic
Analysis.
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- The budget fight involves only 2 percent of the state
appropriation for the trial courts. The Legislature gave the trial courts
$122 million for this fiscal year, but that's $2.7 million short of what
the chief justice and state court administrator Rich Hobson say is necessary.
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- The Legislature ended is annual session last week without
appropriating more.
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- Legislators argue that the court system hasn't done enough
to cut expenses and hasn't justified the need for more money.
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- "It's wise business that before you appropriate
more money, you want to see what they are doing with the money they've
got and that they are tightening their belts," said state Sen. Wendell
Mitchell (news, bio, voting record), a Democrat and dean of Jones Law School
in Montgomery.
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- Rich Hobson, court administrator for the Republican chief
justice, said there's not much that can be cut because personnel costs
take up 94 percent of the budget. In addition to stopping jury trials,
the courts are laying off employees and curtailing travel and supplies,
he said.
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- Moore wasn't the first to hatch such a plan: In 1977,
then-Chief Justice C.C. "Bo" Torbert planned to halt jury trials,
but the governor and Legislature gave more money. "It was a cooperative
effort," Torbert recalled.
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- Cooperation has been difficult this time.
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- Moore began sparring with the governor while campaigning
as the "Ten Commandments judge" in 2000, when he released a secret
tape recording of Siegelman that disputed public comments he had made about
judicial pay.
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- The fighting continued after Moore took office, with
his court administrator suing Siegelman over funding. The suit was withdrawn
before a hearing, but feuding continued and spilled over into the Legislature.
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- Last year, Moore rejected a request from the Legislative
Black Caucus to put a Martin Luther King memorial next to the Ten Commandments
monument the chief justice placed in the State Judicial Building.
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- "That clouded this thing," said Rep. Bryant
Melton (news, bio, voting record), a Democratic caucus Member.
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- He said dissension grew in February when Hobson refused
to provide budget information to a legislative committee, citing separation
of powers. The chief justice eventually provided the information.
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- The governor has $1.7 million in emergency funds, but
he isn't releasing the money. "We just have to find ways to live within
the tight budget constraints," Siegelman said.
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- The budget crunch is expected to get worse " Hobson
estimated a shortage of $8 million for the new budget year beginning Oct.
1.
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- "It's unfortunate, but it's not a game," he
said.
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