INC NEWS - House Bill 1066 would aid courts (Herald-Sun editorial)

[Caleb Southern]

See:
http://www.durhamroundtable.org/

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House Bill 1066 would aid courts 

The Herald-Sun
Editorial
May 17, 2005 

There are some glimmers of hope amid the doom and gloom scenarios in this
year's budget-making process in the state Legislature. The flickering light
comes from the state House in the form of House Bill 1066. Sponsored partly
by Durham representatives Mickey Michaux and Paul Luebke, the bill would
help Durham by providing funding for two new District Court judges, three
more assistant district attorneys and a new magistrate. 

That sounds wonderful when contrasted with a state Senate budget proposal
that would hurt Durham by cutting $4 million from its judicial system to
help close a $1-billion budget shortfall. That proposal was especially hard
to swallow at a time when a community consensus is growing that our court
system desperately needs more funding, not less. 

The Senate proposal would strike at the heart of two innovative Durham
programs -- drug treatment courts designed to help addicts overcome
addictions, and a sentencing program that tries to find alternatives to
prison for non-violent offenders. Cutting these programs would be
short-sighted in the extreme. It would wind up costing more over time, since
it's much more expensive to have an inmate in jail than in an alternative
program. And addicts who don't get into recovery will continue to strain our
criminal, judicial and social services systems. 

You could hear the desperation as court officials talked about the
situation. District Judge Jim Hill likened Durham's case overload to a dam
about to burst. 

"The situation in Durham is extreme," echoed District Judge Marcia Morey.
Six judges just can't keep up with the demand, she said. 

Don Overby, a roaming Wake County judge who often fills in in Durham,
likened the caseload growth here to termites eating your house. "You don't
know it's a real problem until the house caves in," he said. 

Choose your own metaphor, but the reality is that Durham's judicial system
is in a dire situation. A recent report by the Durham Roundtable, a group of
citizens that has been studying crime in Durham, concluded that the judicial
system needs help if we ever hope to reduce crime and its impact on
citizens. 

We agree, and so we're keeping a good thought for House Bill 1066. The
state's lawmakers need to live up to their responsibility to provide
adequate funding for local court systems, and they must be persuaded that,
even at current levels, Durham's funding is woefully inadequate.