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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Ind. Courts - FWJG Editorial: Courts, by the numbers

This Fort Wayne Journal Gazette editorial today is an excellent review, I wish I'd written it. I've reproduced the entire piece below, and added emphasis in one spot:

The major conclusion in last week’s comprehensive report showing trends and statistics surrounding Indiana’s court system was that cases are up, forcing judges to juggle more – hardly a surprise. But the study of the state’s courts over the past decade produced numbers that not only reflected what is happening with society but also offer guidance on the future of Indiana’s judicial system.

Among the numbers and their stories:

40,905

The number of mortgage foreclosures filed in 2009 – up 19.8 percent from 2005 but down 8.7 percent from the previous year, suggesting that 2008 was the peak for foreclosures. Most of the cases represent a dream vanished and lives upended.

To the credit of Chief Justice Randall Shepard, the Indiana Supreme Court last year began requiring creditors to notify homeowners of their right to a settlement conference.

Judges – including Allen Superior Court’s Nancy Eshcoff Boyer – have become more aggressive in seeking settlements and alternatives to foreclosure. The report estimates that each time a foreclosure is prevented, it saves the community $40,000.

$1.80

vs. $64.31

The first number is the cost of supervising a convicted criminal on probation for one day. The second is the cost of holding a convicted criminal in a state prison for one day.

Legislators, judges and other officials will likely be mindful of the contrast as they address Indiana’s increasing rate of incarceration, especially contrasted with other states.

12,625

The number of Child in Need of Services claims filed in 2009. Each of those children is the victim or potential victim of abuse and neglect, requiring government intervention and forcing the courts to make gut-wrenching decisions that include whether children should live with their parents, other relatives or foster homes.

Changes in state law have resulted in wrongly moving some power over decisions from local judges to state welfare workers.

16 percent

When considering courts, most attention surrounds criminal cases, particularly the most serious – including the 225 murder cases filed last year in Indiana. But of all new cases, only 16 percent are criminal, while 30 percent are civil or small claims matters. The biggest category: Infractions, which are violations of traffic laws and other non-criminal laws, which make up 43 percent of cases.

1,956,749

The total number of new cases filed in Indiana courts last year, up 16.5 percent from 2000. Supreme Court officials say that the courts really need 597 judicial officers, 155 more than the current number.

Don’t expect lawmakers to hire 100 new judges in this fiscal climate. But legislators should examine recommendations of a court study commission that courts be streamlined – in addition to judges, Indiana has a system of referees, magistrates, hearing officers and commissioners with inconsistent authority that should be streamlined. Allen County alone, for example, has nine Superior Court judges – three hear criminal cases, two hear juvenile cases, four hear civil cases. Is that mix still the best? Are their caseloads equitable?

$400 million

The annual cost of operating the court system – though taxpayers foot the bill for less than half, with the remainder coming from user fees, fines and assessed court costs.

In contrast, Terre Haute's WIBQ has this story today, headlined "State Criminal Court Cases See Huge Increase":
Two million new court cases were filed in Indiana last year! That's from a report that was released yesterday by the Indiana Supreme Court’s Division of State Court Administration. The report indicates a nearly 17 percent increase in the number of criminal cases filed in the state since 2000.

The census shows the state's population has only gone up by six percent in that same period of time. Court officials say its not that there are more criminals or that people in Indiana are behaving badly, but that they're using the courts more. Many times, court watchers say, the courts have had to step in to protect children from violence, thus increasing the number of criminal cases.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 30, 2010 11:02 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts