Every year since she became Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court a decade ago, Leigh I. Saufley has told legislators that money was needed to secure the state’s courthouses.
She will deliver a similar message Feb. 9 in her annual State of the Judiciary speech and tell lawmakers if they want to ensure the safety of Mainers who access the court system, it will cost an additional $3.1 million a year. Saufley has requested that amount in the supplemental budget, she said last week in a phone interview.
“The last couple of years, the Legislature and the governor have paid a lot of attention to court security,” she said. “The good news is that in last year’s budget, we received baseline funding and were able to fill a couple of marshal positions, but we need more to secure all 39 courthouses around the state.”
That has allowed the court system to increase entry screening from 21 percent of the days the courts were open in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2011, to 28 percent for the first six months of fiscal year 2012, according to Michael A. Coty, director of Marshal Services. That number includes entry screening at the Penboscot Judicial Center, which is the only courthouse in the state to have full-time entry screening, and courthouses where entry screening rarely happens. Information on the percentage of screening days excluding the Bangor courthouse was not available over the weekend.
The judiciary contracts with the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office to staff the entrance at the judicial center at a cost of $90,000 a year, Coty said.
Statewide, 463,046 people were screened between July 1, 2010, and June 30, 2011. Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2011, slightly more than 127,000 people went through entry screening at the Bangor courthouse.
If those numbers were for the same 12-month period, people screened at the Penobscot Judicial Center would represent about 27 percent of those screened statewide. Those numbers also do not account for repeat visitors to courthouses, such as local attorneys who may go in and out of a courthouse several times in one day.
“The most telling factor is the number of turnarounds we have,” Saufley said, referring to the 1,416 people who left a courthouse when they saw entry screening was being conducted. “We aren’t able to determine the number of those who went to their vehicles, left a weapon or contraband in it and came back into the courthouse, and those who left.”
But Saufley believes that the things confiscated from people when they enter courthouses that feature metal detectors and X-ray machines makes the best case for spending the money for full-time coverage.
In fiscal year 2011, five guns; 100 rounds of ammunition; 24 “ammo clips;” 13,019 sharp objects, including knives, scissors, box cutters, razors and nail files; and 1,296 miscellaneous items, such as pepper spray, martial arts weapons and tools, were confiscated from people entering the courthouse, according to Coty. Many of the items, such as pocket knives and scissors, were returned to people when they left a courthouse.
Contraband, however, was not returned, he said. In the year that ended June 30, 2011, 115 items, including illegal drugs, pipes and prescription drugs that had not been issued to the person in possession of them, were seized.
The court system does not track the number of arrests or summonses issued as a result of entry screening, Coty said.
“Officers have discretion on who they charge based on several criteria,” he said. “Not all cases are reported to outside law enforcement agencies.
Some are charged by the marshals. It depends on geographics, the specific factual situation and human resources.”
The judicial center in Bangor has been a model for new courthouses under construction and in the planning stages, Saufley has said. All new courthouses will be designed with a single public entrance and space for full-time entry screening. The renovation and addition to the courts in Piscataquis County, which combines the Superior and District courts as the judicial center in Bangor did, is scheduled to open next month. A modern addition to the Kennebec County Courthouse is in the design phase.
Whether there will be money to staff entry screening at the new buildings full time will be up to lawmakers, Coty said.
Since Saufley delivered her last State of the Judiciary address, there has been a major change at the State House. Last week, full-time entry screening was implemented in the capitol at a cost of $546,000.
Legislators and State House workers have been issued cards that allow them to bypass the checkpoint but visitors, including state Supreme Court justices, will have to got through it. It’s too early to tell whether that will affect lawmakers’ views on the need to increase security in Maine’s courthouses.
Despite the increase in the number of days entry screening takes place, Maine still lags far behind other states in making courts more secure, Saufley said.
This woman’s greatest talent is lobbying for money. Without fail, the legal system is always the first to be funded, sometimes at the expense of other priorities. Last year they received “baseline funding” while every other State agencies took cuts. She’s good.
She hasn’t lobbied for anything. I would love to compare the Executive’s and the Legislative expenditures to the Law Court. I’m referring to salary, benefits, travel and non discriptive. The Law Court’s budget, is under and has always been under control, by the Law Court itself.
Talk about the fox guarding the hen house.
ya well, people tend to forget about the Judiciary as one of the three branches. I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t hear from them more as Penguin’s term continues.
If you are trying to cry poverty on behalf of the legal industry, you can give me a break. Lawyers are among the most highly paid professionals in the world.
Secondly, she has and does lobby often and loudly. Look above at the ‘similar articles’ box – virtually everything this paper has reported about her has to do with money.
I’m not crying poverty on behalf of the legal industry. All I’m saying is that people deserve to be protected. Check out the “items found” next to the picture. The court systems are not part of the legal industry, it’s where they play the games that they do.
Like it or not, courts are necessary. She doesn’t lobby often and loudly. If she lobbied 1/2 of one percent of the time you post, she would appear in the headlines everyday and twice on Sunday (even though the BDN isn’t available on Sunday!)
You need to give it a break. There is absolutely nothing wrong with providing protection to everyone who has to deal with the court system. No one wants to be there, and believe it or not, emotions often run high.
The money just isn’t there right now. Not until they make cuts in other areas, at least. The DHHS has a lot of fat to still be cut out, as well as other areas, in order to help balance the books.
the money is there, it’s just all in the wrong hands. Have the rich pay their fair share and social services wouldn’t be suffering. The ill, poor and elderly deserve to live too. Yes, I work and haven’t had any social services in my lifetime. I’m just smart enough to know that the rich want the focus to be on the poor so that it isn’t on their own greed and theft.
thank you mmlllddd. this is well said. not everyone can work and thinking that society does not have to take care of those how can’t take care of themselves is just wrong. the sad part of it is, is that everyone knows it, but still want to make it sound as if the poor are just lazy and don’t want to earn a living, or woman have children just to be able to live off the state. It’s just BS.
Ya, another smoke screen. Blame it on the welfare.
Take the focus off places that can be cut. Like programs and benifits for the weathly and special interest friends.
They want 3.1 million to service the entire state, how much was LePage going to give the plane manufacturer that was only going to put people to work in a small area?
The Legislature found enough funds to pay to have screening by full time security personal and metal detectors put in at the Statehouse for the first time this year. If they do not do at least as much for the buildings where criminals are brought in for trials, so by definition dangerous people enter every day, they will be exposed as a bunch of self serving cowards.
I thought we already knew they, and the governor with his enhanced security and personal trooper at his office door, were a bunch of self serving cowards. I don’t think anyone is naive enough anymore to think they’re there to serve us.
Presumably the criminals that they bring in for trial will have been disarmed by the police escort that they arrive with and actually, since they are coming directly from jail, one would have to believe that they are already unarmed. Is there something about that thought process that has you stumped?
There are 3 branches of government. The Law Court is often taken for granted, yet it’s authority equals that of both the executive and legislative branches.
I’m not saying give her what she want’s, but with a single stroke of a pen, she and the other justice’s can wipe out anything that the other two create. You have to be able to protect the environment.
How often does the Law Court ask for funding? Not very. Court security protects everyone and there is no reason why we can purchase an environmental swamp (Dolby) loan a private corporation a million for start up and not give just one million to get the court”s started on the security that is necessary. As mentioned above, the Legislature and the Governor’s office’s are protected, why aren’t the courts protected. You have to start somewhere, how many pi$$ed off people go to court, and how many go to the State House?
Imagine that Rusjan…you and I are on the same page. I will drink to that:)
LOL, I’m not drinking. Have one for me.
See, there is always a common ground, what they don’t do in Augusta is look for it. Peace, be safe. :)
How many instances are there that justify this kind of expense? Its not worth the cost!
The Gub-nah has extra protection…the legislators have extra protection…and the courts have extra protection…but the rest of us are left to our own devices…
Hey, some animals are more equal than others. Shut up and pay your taxes.
Unless you go into a court house or some other government control property, then you are depending upon the protection by others.
Behave yourself and you won’t have to go to the court house.
in went to penobscot court once and watched as two elderly ladys got waved thru and i was searched i forgot something in my car and i was searched again after lunch the two ladys were alowed to go right on thru but not me i guess older ladys can not carry guns or bombs so they must profile people upon entry so really i say the securty will be a big waste of money unless there are smarter people operating it … wise up anyone can get a grudge any age, race,male or female
I agree that the court facilities shuld be secure, but do we really need 39 courthouses? It seems to me that we should have a maximum of one courthouse in each county. I would also question the need for a $40 million courthouse such as we have in Bangor.
did we need the monster expensive court house depicted? no do the courts need more money no way
We do actually need 39 courthouses. Many rural residents of this state already have to drive close to an hour to reach a courthouse. These people have issues, contracts, children, debts, and they deserve to have a venue in which to appear that does not create a hardship. The judicial budget was essentially flat funded for twenty years, while the Legislature expanded and re-doubled its staff time and time again. Preventing a murder in a courthouse is not a lot to ask, particularly where the vast majority of people with pending crimes or prior convictions enter unaccompanied on their own two feet.
How many murders have happend in a courthouse to support this kind of spending. Get Real.
Someone is makeing big bucks from all this. Check out who. Wonder if it could be friends of family in high places?
“In fiscal year 2011, five guns; 100 rounds of ammunition; 24 “ammo clips;” 13,019 sharp objects, including knives, scissors, box cutters, razors and nail files; and 1,296 miscellaneous items, such as pepper spray, martial arts weapons and tools, were confiscated from people entering the courthouse”
Agreed, without all those courthouses, many people would be paying more for gas to have their day in court than just paying their ticket. Moderation is also needed, do we need cathedral-like courthouses? No, but considering that a courthouse has a lot of “criminals” in and out everyday, security is something we need to spend money on. The costs could be split between the courts and the county sheriff’s office. The courts buy the medal detectors and the sheriff’s office puts the person there to run it.
Im suprised that there hasnt been a tragedy in a Maine Court Room already.
What do you mean! … there are tragedies every week with some of the rulings! lol
I mean it is only a matter of time when something happens that is violent. A divorce hearing goes wrong in district court and one spouse shoots the other. Someone is so enraged that their family member is a crime victim that they try to shoot the defendant. Things such as this.
Some rulings dont make a lot of sense, that is true.
You must be on the recieving end of the money pit.
No, I am not employed in the justice system. I actually am a professional chef who also owns a wholesale shellfish business.
Court Rooms are high drama places. Husbands divorcing wives. Defendants being arrainged for sexual charges. The list goes on. It does not take much imagination to think that one day, sooner or later someone is going to bring a weapon to court and kill thier soon to be ex spouse or try to shoot the person who is being arrainged for abusing thier child or whatever. Or some person who just served a sentence is coming back to blow away the judge. Evena guy who is in District Court being sued for not paying a bill has the opportunity to go beserk.
The fact that it has not happened yet is very suprising.
What the system really needs is more judges. She should know this.
We don’t need more judges. We need the judges to throw the book at all these criminals.
we need both.
The most cost effective screening is very large castles. And pots of boiling oil from the ramparts. Moats with alligators would help too.
no money for c0urts let them cut salaries and find efficiencies
no money cut salaries and benefits, cut staff
sawfly is a beggar – lok at the phony stats they put out scissors and nail files
She just want the money to be secured in her pockets…..
Can you imagine asking for money like this when the state is in the financial mess so noted in hundreds of articles in the news media. How can anyone even consider such a request when discussions and threats are being made to cut welfare and people are being put out into the street. Homless shelters are over full, food pantrys are begging for food. Now some lame brain comes along and has a request like this. This is someone who needs to be thrown out into the streets and live like a lot of people on welfare truly need help. Damn!
Watch and see, it will be approved.
SOMEBODY SAVE US FROM THE SPOONS!!!
Maybe, just maybe if that money was spent on enlarging the jails in Maine, we would get more criminals put behind bars where they belong instead of just running them through the court system (at our expense) and turning them back out into society.
What a waste a money, but I guess this is the price we pay for freedom. Freedom for idiots to think they need to take guns, knifes, razors, etc. with them into places like courthouses. So ridiculous.
Hear is a novel Idea. Don’t screen people and we can save 3 million dollars.
This is a judge that does not support the 4th amendment of the US Constitution.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
The spoon and tweezers are a reminder that *anything* can be considered “drug paraphernalia” if The Man decides so. Just like a cell phone can be a “bomb component” . . .
Are those box-cutters supposed to be “switchblades”?
The Justice is begging for money because she doesn’t feel safe. Why is that? Maybe it is because of the fraud that is perpetrated by the courts and the judges and the lawyers et al in the drug war, which they are aware of. 90% of their business and income comes from the fraud of the war on drugs which is a war on poor people, expanded Jim Crow laws. This is a welfare program for the united lawyers of Maine. Without the welfare subsidy of the drug war lawyers would be forced to find an honest living, which is an oxymoron for attorneys. Cops can enter the court with a loaded weapon and testify under oath with their hand on their weapon and this acceptable. We need a civilian review board to look at these matters but alas this jusicial system is insane. Do you know any family that does not have someone considered a criminal because of the drug war? I do not.
In regards to the unauthorized articles found in Courthouses, I would believe that if the information came from a disinterested source, but of course it did not, so i do not believe it.
Also, if that were my department, i would first insure that it provided ‘Equal Justice for all’, as required by our Constitution, which it does not. If it did, they might not need all that security.
I hope our Governor cuts their budget, rather then giving them more.