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Tallahassee Democrat, editorial, http://www.tallahassee.com, March 30, 2008.The editorial states: “Florida’s state court system is already a lean, hardworking justice machine. It operates with roughly half as many trial judges per citizen as other large states — 4.5 judges per 100,000 citizens compared with Texas with 10, for example, or the national average of 7.3…

Five regional legal offices the state has created to represent poor defendants in special circumstances can stay open, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday [March 13]. The justices reversed a judge’s ruling that the offices, which opened their doors in January, were unconstitutional because they are headed by appointed rather than elected officials. The…

Remove shackles unless offenders pose a clear threat As they consider ways to make juvenile offenders safer in state custody, lawmakers should seize the opportunity to clarify state policy on one controversial practice — slapping leg irons and belly chains on youthful offenders, regardless of their age, physical strength or offense. Lawmakers never officially…

A 24-year-old Fort Myers man jumped about 70 feet off of the Caloosahatchee Bridge to avoid Lee County sheriff’s deputies this morning, after trying to run over a deputy and then fleeing in what became a lengthy high-speed chase, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.Lorenzo Dean Hood was quickly arrested after his leap…

The Sun Sentinel website now includes a searchable database of all Homocides that occured in 2007. Interesting.. Here is the link: http://www.sun-sentinel2.com/homicide_database/broward_homicides_2007_01.html

This is pretty sad.. Police detectives are looking for burglars who broke into the Gulf Coast Humane Society building on Arcadia Street in Fort Myers and took more than $7,000 worth of computer equipment and drugs. According to police reports:Burglars broke down the front gate of the building, scheduled to open next month, and…

From the Sun-Sentinel: The business of justice in courthouses across Florida could be dramatically altered in coming weeks, with Broward Chief Judge Victor Tobin warning of a “catastrophic” impact. Under a proposal that would meet a demand from the Legislature to cut nearly $17 million from the state courts budget by June 30, courthouse…

I just returned to my office from the courthouse and witnessed the courthouse falling apart before my eyes; water was all over the place and dripping with no end in sight. The ceiling tiles were becoming waterlogged and falling onto the floor one by one making a loud crashing sound as they fell. The…

Sun-Sentinel, http://www.sun-sentinel.com, Feb. 8, 2008.Florida’s rules designed to prevent racial discrimination in jury selection will stand after a sharply divided state Supreme Court refused Thursday [Feb. 7] to change them. The 4-3 decision let stand a 1996 Supreme Court decision on peremptory challenges of prospective jurors. Those challenges typically are when prosecutors and defense…