GOP: "Justice isn't just blind, it's deaf & dumb, too." -- What do you say? The first thing we do in 2006 is introduce a bill to kill all the lawyers.
Do you remember the movie Ben-Hur? Messala, mangled and dying following the greatest chariot race ever filmed, summons Judah Ben-Hur to where Messala is being treated. After informing Ben-Hur that his mother and sister are not dead after all, but even worst, in the hideous Valley of the Lepers, Messala in his dying breath utters:
"It goes on. It goes on, Judah. The race, the race is not over."
So it seems with the judiciary and the lawyers. It goes on. The match, the match is not over.
Round 1: Gov. Perdue v. The Judiciary. In the last hour of a prolonged regular session, Perdue calls a special session of the legislature to be held in May over a relatively obscure budgetary item could have been solved by the Governor or held over to the next legislative session, but the Governor wanted to teach the General Assembly a lesson in "It's My Way or the Highway Boys and Girls on the Supreme Court."
The problem: In the last hour of a prolonged regular legislative session, the Gov. refused to authorize a judicial agency to administer $57 million (most of it to be raised from court fees) to run a legal-defense fund for indigents.
The winner: Not the people of the state of Georgia who paid for the special session for sure. Between the combatants? A draw.
Round 2: The $3 million dollar man Howard Mead v. The Lawyers. Howard Mead, a Harvard law graduate and former legal counsel to Govs. Zell Miller and Roy Barnes, decides to appeal to Georgia voters by attacking lawyers and the profession despite having rarely stepped inside a courtroom himself and never having tried a case. Bobby Kahn, Chair of the DPG and a professional media consultant, advised Mead's campaign on strategy and placed much of Mead's advertising.
In the early phases of his $3.2 million campaign consisting of TV advertising, direct-mail brochures and computerized phone calls, Mead incurred the wrath of the bar, something money could not overcome. The overwhelming sentiment of attorneys was that it was ironic that someone seaking to be elected to one of Georgia's highest legal offices would attempt to attain such office by engaging in conduct that was misleading, improper, unethical and possibly in violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct.
The winner: The state of Georgia in that the election showed that judgeships are not for sale. The losers: Besides Mr. Mead, Roy Barnes and Bobby Kahn.
Round 3: Gov. Perdue & the state GOP leadership v. The Judiciary and those who prosecute criminal cases in Georgia. This round has just begun, and you can get the details yourself in today's ajc.
Excerpts from the ajc:
"Justice isn't just blind, it's deaf and dumb, too," said Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah).
[Our hats are off to you Senator; a most intelligent comment. Aren't you proud of yourself for having said it?]
The state's growing population brings more crime, but [Rick Malone, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia] said there haven't been new prosecutors funded for five years. "If we furlough lawyers, the work doesn't stop, the crime doesn't stop," he said.
[The situation:] Schools, parks and public health care face budget cuts next year, but the state's judicial branch is requesting a 29 percent increase in funding.
About half of the increase would go to pay for Georgia's new indigent defense system. But it comes at a time when other areas of state government — from colleges to prisons — had to offer budget cuts again this year.
Heading into the 2005 legislative session, lawmakers may have to consider another round of cuts to schools, public health care and other programs to balance the state's $16 billion budget.
Perdue and lawmakers have cut about $1.7 billion since the governor took office in January 2003. Then, in August, Perdue notified state agencies that they would have to make $179 million in addition reductions.
Under state law, governors set revenue estimates — deciding how much the state can budget for the year — and recommend spending for most agencies. One of the few exceptions is the judicial branch, which recommends its own spending. Governors must send that proposal on to lawmakers to consider without making any changes. Legislators can then cut, increase or simply approve the recommendations.
Malone contends that Perdue's criticism of judicial budgeting is unfair because the governor is lumping every part of the court system together, rather than pointing to individual problem areas. In some case, the state doesn't even foot the full bill. For instance, he said, the state pays only 30 percent of the cost of prosecuting suspects in Georgia. Counties pay the rest.
(End of excerpts.)
_______________
The Bard had the solution to the foregoing problem figured out 400 years ago, and it didn't involve furloughing anybody. "The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers." -- William Shakespeare, Henry VI.
"It goes on. It goes on, Judah. The race, the race is not over."
So it seems with the judiciary and the lawyers. It goes on. The match, the match is not over.
Round 1: Gov. Perdue v. The Judiciary. In the last hour of a prolonged regular session, Perdue calls a special session of the legislature to be held in May over a relatively obscure budgetary item could have been solved by the Governor or held over to the next legislative session, but the Governor wanted to teach the General Assembly a lesson in "It's My Way or the Highway Boys and Girls on the Supreme Court."
The problem: In the last hour of a prolonged regular legislative session, the Gov. refused to authorize a judicial agency to administer $57 million (most of it to be raised from court fees) to run a legal-defense fund for indigents.
The winner: Not the people of the state of Georgia who paid for the special session for sure. Between the combatants? A draw.
Round 2: The $3 million dollar man Howard Mead v. The Lawyers. Howard Mead, a Harvard law graduate and former legal counsel to Govs. Zell Miller and Roy Barnes, decides to appeal to Georgia voters by attacking lawyers and the profession despite having rarely stepped inside a courtroom himself and never having tried a case. Bobby Kahn, Chair of the DPG and a professional media consultant, advised Mead's campaign on strategy and placed much of Mead's advertising.
In the early phases of his $3.2 million campaign consisting of TV advertising, direct-mail brochures and computerized phone calls, Mead incurred the wrath of the bar, something money could not overcome. The overwhelming sentiment of attorneys was that it was ironic that someone seaking to be elected to one of Georgia's highest legal offices would attempt to attain such office by engaging in conduct that was misleading, improper, unethical and possibly in violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct.
The winner: The state of Georgia in that the election showed that judgeships are not for sale. The losers: Besides Mr. Mead, Roy Barnes and Bobby Kahn.
Round 3: Gov. Perdue & the state GOP leadership v. The Judiciary and those who prosecute criminal cases in Georgia. This round has just begun, and you can get the details yourself in today's ajc.
Excerpts from the ajc:
"Justice isn't just blind, it's deaf and dumb, too," said Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah).
[Our hats are off to you Senator; a most intelligent comment. Aren't you proud of yourself for having said it?]
The state's growing population brings more crime, but [Rick Malone, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia] said there haven't been new prosecutors funded for five years. "If we furlough lawyers, the work doesn't stop, the crime doesn't stop," he said.
[The situation:] Schools, parks and public health care face budget cuts next year, but the state's judicial branch is requesting a 29 percent increase in funding.
About half of the increase would go to pay for Georgia's new indigent defense system. But it comes at a time when other areas of state government — from colleges to prisons — had to offer budget cuts again this year.
Heading into the 2005 legislative session, lawmakers may have to consider another round of cuts to schools, public health care and other programs to balance the state's $16 billion budget.
Perdue and lawmakers have cut about $1.7 billion since the governor took office in January 2003. Then, in August, Perdue notified state agencies that they would have to make $179 million in addition reductions.
Under state law, governors set revenue estimates — deciding how much the state can budget for the year — and recommend spending for most agencies. One of the few exceptions is the judicial branch, which recommends its own spending. Governors must send that proposal on to lawmakers to consider without making any changes. Legislators can then cut, increase or simply approve the recommendations.
Malone contends that Perdue's criticism of judicial budgeting is unfair because the governor is lumping every part of the court system together, rather than pointing to individual problem areas. In some case, the state doesn't even foot the full bill. For instance, he said, the state pays only 30 percent of the cost of prosecuting suspects in Georgia. Counties pay the rest.
(End of excerpts.)
_______________
The Bard had the solution to the foregoing problem figured out 400 years ago, and it didn't involve furloughing anybody. "The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers." -- William Shakespeare, Henry VI.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 5:00 PM
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