Miscellaneous

Cat-Herding 101

By Anne Skove, Esq.

You might remember the New York justice courts debacle. There, a snoopy NYT reporter got all up in arms about rural justice. They weren't reined in! They were out of control! Truly, it was the end of western civilization. See In Tiny Courts of N.Y., Abuses of Law and Power, William Glaberson, NYT (September 25, 2006).

Then-Chief Judge Kaye responded with her trademark scalpel action, even though the story was of the mountain-turned-molehill variety (hey, even the big papers are suffering!).

Now a similar story is unfolding in South Carolina. The magistrate system is being upgraded to a bond court system. Under the magistrate system, officials were on call for arraignments. Defendants could be released immediately. Under the bond court system, defendants would spend time doing time until bond is set.

The hoped-for results include more consistent bond amounts, and (counter-intuitively, in a way) a quicker system. Proponents believe the bond court will be quicker because more defendants will be able to meet the bond amount and spend less time petitioning for a reduction.

The new system also lays down the law for municipal court judges, avoiding instances such as this public reprimand. This way, everyone is on the same page.

Both aims promote public trust and confidence in South Carolina courts. Good job, CJ Toal!

See Greenville Revamps Bond Court System, Ben Szobody, Greenville News (November 26, 2009).

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on November 30, 2009 (boomark / email).