INC NEWS - As the Legislature takes the ax to court funding... (H-S)

[Newman Aguiar]

As the Legislature takes the ax to court funding, one proposal would
increase it

By John Stevenson, The Herald-Sun
May 14, 2005   9:28 pm 

DURHAM -- When it comes to court funding, there has been much dismal news
out of the legislature recently. 

Two weeks ago, for example, the state Senate came up with a proposed budget
that would scrape $4 million from the judicial system's already depleted
coffers. 

Among other losses, the Senate proposal might shut down three trend-setting
drug treatment courts in Durham and diminish staffing for a heavily used
family court. 

Still, there is a ray of hope amidst the doom and gloom: House Bill 1066. 

While most legislative initiatives threaten cutbacks for the court system,
Bill 1066 holds out the prospect of additional resources. It would increase
the number of local District Court judges from six to eight and give the
Bull City three more assistant district attorneys and a new magistrate. 

Court officials concede that the bill, sponsored partly by state Reps.
Mickey Michaux and Paul Luebke of Durham, has a long way to go. They
acknowledge it might be gutted or killed before making its way out of the
House. 

Still, local judges and court administrators are delighted to see a rare
positive indicator on the legislative horizon. 

"We desperately need this," District Judge Jim Hill said Friday. 

"Every courtroom in this courthouse has crowded dockets," he added. "We
can't give enough time to each case. Sometimes we have to rush through
things. Durham has grown tremendously, but our court resources have not kept
pace. We stick a finger in the dam to stop a leak at one place. Then another
leak happens somewhere else. We're about to run out of fingers." 

The numbers speak for themselves. 

Between 1988 and last year, the caseload in Durham County Superior Court
grew by 39 percent, while District Court traffic cases mushroomed by 63
percent. 

Overall, more than 50,000 criminal and traffic matters are filed here each
year. 

On any given day, there are likely to be as many as 500 cases in district
criminal court and hundreds more in traffic court. Some courtrooms are
packed to standing-room-only capacity, in violation of the city's fire code.
Security officers often are hard-pressed to deal with the crowds. 

"The situation in Durham is extreme," District Judge Marcia Morey told the
state's chief Supreme Court justice in a recent letter supporting House Bill
1066. 

"Six full-time judges simply cannot effectively meet all the demands of our
expansive jurisdiction," said Morey. 

The chief justice, I. Beverly Lake Jr., replied that he was "certainly in
support" of the House bill. 

"I am well aware of how overloaded you are, and I will specifically support
this bill in my report to the General Assembly," he said. 

Don Overby, an elected District Court judge in Wake County from 1988 until
1996, now fills in for sick or vacationing judges across the state and often
presides in Durham. As a result, he has a wider perspective on court
resources than most local judges do. 

"The caseload growth in Durham is like termites eating away at your house,"
he told The Herald-Sun last week. "You don't know it's a real problem until
the house caves in. Durham is now paddling as fast as it can, but the
resources just aren't there. 

"Unfortunately, I don't think the General Assembly is going to be very
generous," Overby said. "Durham, as much as any judicial district in the
state, keeps getting hurt. ... Our legislators have no reservations about
slashing and burning the judiciary. How can we continue to run a judicial
system that year after year is cut and cut and cut?" 

"We are in desperate need of help," agreed Durham's chief District Court
judge, Elaine Bushfan. 

"We are battling to stay ahead of the curve," she said. "If we don't get
help, we will lose the battle. We're doing all we can, but we've got to have
another judge. We need two, but we must have one. Please. At least one." 

State Rep. Michaux had little to say about House Bill 1066 last week. 

"Hopefully, we're going to make some progress on it," he said in a telephone
interview. "I'm privy to a lot of information I don't want to share with the
public right now. Let's just say this bill is in the pipeline and has a good
chance of something coming out of it." 

Rep. Luebke said he was "working hard on it." 

However, Durham is not the only judicial district crying out for more
resources, Luebke acknowledged. 

"Our need is clear," he said. "We are well-deserving. It's just a matter of
competing with other jurisdictions that also want help." 

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