First Appearance on the Scales of Justice

Well I just got off the scales and I have lost five pounds. Campaigning involves the proper balance between banquets, exercise and energy. I experienced all of the above this past week.

When I last wrote, I had just left a luncheon with Jim Davis, a recent candidate for Governor of the State of Florida. I left Anna Maria Island in the far north-western portion of the circuit, stopped briefly at home to post on this blog, then headed one hour south to North Port to speak to the Democratic club there. North Port is a place where the voters are energized and ready to turn out and be heard this fall. I plan on spending a lot of time there.

A lot of people don't realize that the Public Defender's Office shows up for Court 365 days a year in Manatee and Sarasota County. After a person is arrested, they have a hearing called "First Appearances" within 24 hours. At this hearing, the Judge decides if the person can be released, has to be supervised, should have to post bond, or should be held in jail. I did First Appearances on Tuesday, partly to remind myself how much reform needs to take place in these hearings. Today the Sarasota Herald Tribune ran an important article about how scarce jail resources are being used to incarcerate the homeless. The article may be found by cutting and pasting the following link into your browser: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080225/NEWS/802250460

On Wednesday, I attended the ceremony put on by the Wilson-Wood and Community Foundations to honor the unsung heroes of our area. This was an inspirational evening because these folks demonstrated how much positive impact an individual can have upon others. Lunch on Thursday was spent at Tiger Bay watching a debate between the candidates for Supervisor of Elections, probably one of the hottest races in the area this year.

The Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce celebrated their first anniversary with a lovely banquet at the newly opened Arosa restaurant on First Street. Things ran a little slow but the food was worth the wait. We had to duck out before the speeches, however, because we were due in Venice early the next morning to participate in a walkathon to benefit the United Way of South Sarasota County. In the picture above you can see Regina, my legal assistant Linda, and myself, as we set out on our four-mile walk. Our little team raised $300 to benefit the local charities supported by the United Way.

Following the walk, I had to make a mad dash up to Tampa to be interviewed by the West Central Florida Federation of Labor. Then it was back home to get cleaned up in time for a meet and greet between Democratic candidates and voters in my local precinct. There was just enough time to walk the dog before we headed to the Hyatt for the annual banquet to benefit the Westcoast Center for Human Development School. Bishop Henry Porter was in rare form, singing and dancing with the Love Campaign. If you don't know about and support Westcoast--you should. On Sunday I joined the Reverend James Golden and his congregation at Ward Temple AME for a celebration of Black History month. Is it any wonder that I was too tired to make it to the Rubonia Mardis Gras?

I just walked back from the League of Women Voter's lunch at the library presentation on global warming. Maybe this week I will see you at the Rotary banquet in Arcadia, the Manatee County Bar Association lunch, or the Kennedy-King dinner on Sunday evening. Hopefully those banquets and pounds will continue melting away!

The Sarasota Public Defender’s Office

What follows is an article that Elliott Metcalfe and I collaborated on for publication by the Sarasota County Bar Association in the late 1990's.

"Equal justice under the law" is the maxim that guides the attorneys of the Public Defender’s Office of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. Until the early 1960’s, indigent persons charged with non-capital crimes had no recognized right to a court-appointed attorney. The United States Supreme Court changed that in 1963 in the case of Gideon v. Wainwright. Gideon, a Florida inmate, successfully argued that his conviction was constitutionally infirm because he was not given an attorney at trial.

As a result of the Gideon decision, the State of Florida quickly established the first state-wide public defender system. Governor Ferris Bryant appointed Walter Talley to be the first public defender of the twelfth judicial circuit. At that time the Twelfth Circuit was comprised of Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties as well as Charlotte, Lee, Collier, Glades and Hendry.

The public defender position was initially considered to be “part-time.” Joanne Miller, who has worked here since the beginning, recalls that “we were flooded with mail from every jail in the circuit and didn’t know where to begin.” Jim Gardner was elected as the second public defender and took office in 1972. Elliott Metcalfe, who had worked for both Talley and Gardner, was elected as the third public defender in 1976 and continues to serve in that position today.

The “part-time” public defender position has now grown into four offices, eighty employees, forty attorneys and an extensive law library. The budget for the office has increased from a few thousand dollars initially to a current expenditure of 4.2 million dollars. (Note: the budget and the size of the staff are now considerably larger) The office is now responsible for the defense of all indigent persons who are threatened with a loss of liberty. This includes felony offenses, misdemeanors, juveniles and those facing commitment to a mental hospital. The office has also assisted in providing CLE training for local attorneys with the assistance of the Sarasota County Bar Association and the local chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Attorneys from the office have frequently been on the cutting edge of criminal law developments. Elliott Metcalfe personally argued some of Florida’s first capital cases after the death penalty was reinstated in 1973. Other note-worthy battles have included the fight against the “DUI bumper-sticker.” Presently, one of our felony attorneys may have a hundred or more active cases at one time. It is our goal to provide high quality legal services to every client that the Court appoints us to represent.

An Honorable Man

Jim Davis spoke at the Anna Maria Democratic Club today. This was one of his first public appearances since losing the Florida Governor's race in 2006. Now working as an attorney with the law firm of Holland and Knight, Jim has recently turned 50, and has just returned from the Middle East. He has not endorsed any of the Democratic candidates for President but seemed satisfied that either Obama or Clinton would represent a major improvement for the country.

Davis served as a Congressman from Tampa for a decade, and has a keen grasp of substantive policy issues. He used his talk to stress the necessity of energy independence for this country. He believes that a new administration will help reclaim the respect American once received from the other nations of the world. Jim also addressed the issue of health care. During his campaign for Governor, Davis had encountered children in Florida who needed dentures because of having no access to dentists.
He argued that improving this access was an imperative for us all.

The large audience at the Beach House greeted Jim warmly and was left inspired by his thought. Jim Davis was an honorable representative of the people of Florida. When asked about his plans for the future, he would look no further than getting lunch for his son Peter who accompanied him. I will remain hopeful that we have not seen the last of Jim in the governmental arena. He would make a fine candidate for Florida Democrats to run against Mel Martinez.

Trolling for Votes

I spent most of the weekend at the wonderful Fish Festival in historic Cortez, Florida. Cortez is just about the last remnant of old Florida that can be fund on the southwest coast. Lovely and functional homes are found on the tree lined streets that lead to the docks. As you enter the festival you are greeted with a line of vendors selling every variety of seafood. As you make your way down the crowded street you come across the artists and the stage area where people ate while they listened to bluegrass. A little farther down was a petting zoo that contained quite the menagerie including a large tortoise. And next to the injured birds of prey, the Manatee County Democratic party had a booth.

Quite a few people dropped by to visit us at the booth. I collected over 150 petitions over the course of two days. There is a lot of excitement over the Democratic presidential candidates, but there is no consensus yet. Both Obama and Clinton had a lot of supporters, and we quickly ran out of buttons and bumper-stickers. The snow birds down from Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin were delighted with the weather and eager to talk politics, but couldn't help me with the petitions. I met voters from every corner of Manatee County, as well as quite a few from Sarasota. It was great to discuss criminal justice with people, and hear everyone's concerns and suggestions for improvement.

It had already been a busy week, beginning last Sunday when I attended a reunion of local New College alumni. Monday morning was the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce kickoff breakfast with more then 400 people in attendance. On Tuesday evening I went to the Bayou Oaks neighborhood association and met the 50 or 60 folks who had turned out on a rainy night.
Wednesday morning was the Sarasota County Civic League meeting in the morning, and the Democratic Executive Committee meeting and candidate forum that lasted until 9:30 in the evening. On Valentine's Day Regina and I were delighted to see The Limelighters in concert in a benefit for WSLR community radio, the Suncoast partnership to End Homelessness, and Family Promise. Finally, on Friday, I attended a talk about HISA, a Jewish organization that assists immigrants and refugees throughout the world. It was an excellent presentation by Mark Hetfield and I learned more about the situation in Darfur.

I hope to see you this week, as I visit the Democratic Clubs in Anna Maria and North Port, attend the Puerto Rican banquet Friday night, the United Way walkathon in Venice Saturday morning, and the Westcoast showcase and banquet on Saturday night.

The University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee

I have a long history with the University of South Florida. Growing up in Tampa, I remember being driven onto the campus as it took shape not far from Busch Gardens. My mother worked there for many years as an academic advisor and occasional teacher and when she retired a tree was planted to honor "Mother USF." During her tenure, she alerted me to an obscure branch campus of the University in Sarasota that had taken over a struggling liberal arts school called "New College." The diploma that I just took down from my office wall confirms that I graduated from New College of the University of South Florida.

I must admit that back in the day the younger New College students were not always polite to the commuter students who attended U.S.F and shared our campus. On the other hand, the administration in Tampa never knew quite what to make of the intelligent yet erratic students who populated the Pei dorms in Sarasota. A few years ago, New College finally became independent again, and U.S.F. constructed a new campus on the grounds of the Crosley estate. Many fine people were upset with this choice of a location that abuts a residential area and resulted in the development of one of the last semi-wild areas along the bay-front. Now that the campus is complete, and has been open for two years, the contribution of U.S.F. to Sarasota and Bradenton is becoming clear. I had the pleasure of teaching there in the fall of 2006, and this past week had four contacts with the campus, the students and the faculty.

The Academy for Lifelong Learning has found a home on the new campus. On Monday I had the pleasure of lecturing to a group of twenty-five students of the silver haired variety. We covered the intersection of mental health and the law and I found myself peppered with questions over the course of the lively 90 minutes I spent with the class. Wednesday night I gave a talk on the death penalty at the Friends Meeting House. Prior to my talk, Professor Brooke Butler and a group of her research assistants asked me to join them at Carrabbas for dinner. They then surprised me by turning the dinner into a "retirement" party for me, shown in the photo at the top of this page with Dr. Butler in the bottom center of the picture.

Another important development at the U.S.F. Sarasota/Bradenton campus is the Institute for Public Policy and Leadership. A wise decision was made to hire David Klement, longtime editor at the Bradenton Herald, to head and develop the Institute. Klement hit the ground running, using his influence and connections to bring in Senator Bob Graham a few weeks ago, and partnering with the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice on their civility initiative. On Thursday night they presented a campaign school that was attended by 120 political hopefuls. We received presentations from the Supervisors of Elections, political consultants, and representatives of the print, mail, and television industries. Interestingly, much of what we heard on Thursday evening was called into question during a talk by Yale political scientist Gregory Huber on Friday afternoon. Entitled "A Skeptics Guide to Election Media Coverage," Huber argued that political science involves more than a close reading of newspapers. His thesis was that we should be skeptical of cause and effect analysis unless other contributing causes can be conclusively ruled out. And despite the political consultants, influence of money, and negative advertising, the most effective way to persuade a voter is good old face to face contact between the candidate and the voter.

Along those lines, I will be in DeSoto County Monday evening for the Democratice Executive Committee meeting, at the Sarasota County Civic League on Wednesday morning, attending the NAACP breakfast in Manatee County on Saturday, and soliciting petitions at the Cortez Fish Festival next weekend. Hopefully I will see you soon!

Pulling Diplomas off the Wall

I started at the Sarasota Public Defender’s Office on December 28, 1984. I had just turned 23 on December 7, than graduated from F.SU. Law on December 18. Due to my previous experience as a certified legal intern, there was already a crowd of clients waiting for me when I walked in the door, I walked over to Court with them trailing behind me, and found Judge Becky Titus on the bench. “Go easy on me Judge,” I said, “it’s my first day.” “Well it’s my first day too,” she replied, “let’s get to work.”

Back then we occupied a one story building right on Main Street and still practiced in what is now known as the historic courthouse. I had an office right off the reception area with a big glass window that allowed me to see the comings and goings of everyone on the street. Later that first week, a client vomited on my desk, and then passed out on the floor, and I never did quite get the odor out of there. I slept in my AMC Pacer the first two nights until Cyndi Berry found out and insisted that I stay with her until I found a place of my own.

That place turned out to be Halton Court, just one block north of the office, which was good because the Pacer soon stopped running. I could walk home for lunch, and soon my apartment became the unofficial after work stopover. Jon Weifenbach, Katie Kirwin and my future wife to be, Regina, would drink Busch beer because it was permanently on sale for $1.99 a six-pack. On May 22, 1985, during a long day in Court, I went back to the apartment during a break to find my notice from the Florida Bar that I could be sworn in as an attorney. I raced back to Court and had Judge Titus do the honors before we moved on to the next case.

We had one more move at the office before finally relocating to our new building. Weiffenbach and I had to share an office that had apparently been a restroom in a previous incarnation and still had plumbing fixtures coming out of the walls. Regina was in a back closet that was truly only big enough for two people at a time to enter. Either Jon or I would have to leave when the other had a client appointment, and Regina would kick us both out when she needed to do depositions. But our physical closeness built a strong sense of camaraderie and dedication to the cause.

In 1988, we moved onto the 5th floor of the Criminal Justice building on Ringling, where we remain to this day. My office had a panoramic view of north Sarasota, and from the other side of the building we could see a portion of the field at Payne Park where the Chicago White Sox were still playing. I remember the hallways and offices being thick with cigarette smoke, my friend David Blount would sometimes have two or three Marlboro 100s going at once. When the County announced that nobody was allowed to smoke in the building I thought Blount was going to quit.

This week I started sorting 20 years worth of case law, newspaper clippings and old photographs in preparation for my departure in early March. Memories of old clients, trials, and co-counsels have been overwhelming me all week. Fortunately I have been staying busy, giving talks to the Sunrise Rotary Club and the downtown Kiwanis on Friday. Maybe this week you will come here me speak about the death penalty on Wednesday night at the Sarasota Friends Meetinghouse, or I’ll see you at the U.S.F. campaign school on Thursday.