David
02-27-2009, 05:14 PM
Meriden’s courthouse
By John Lombardo
As the Clinical Case Manager of the Rushford Jail Diversion Program (JDP) for Meriden and Wallingford, I strongly oppose the closing of the Meriden Courthouse. The Meriden Courthouse currently has jurisdiction over five Connecticut towns: Meriden, Wallingford, Hamden, North Haven and Cheshire. The towns that produce the most judicial business in the way of arrests are Meriden and Hamden.
Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell’s budget proposal outlines a plan for all of these communities to be served in other districts, with jurisdiction of Meriden and Wallingford being assigned to the Middletown Courthouse. Although physically smaller than the Middletown Courthouse, the Meriden Court has a much higher volume of judicial traffic.
With bus lines being relatively infrequent between Meriden and Middletown, and with many defendants having little or no access to funds for alternative means of transportation, it seems very likely that many defendants will not be able to make it to Middletown for their court appearances, as required.
This will result in a greater number of lengthy continuances, Bail Commissioner's Letters being ordered, the issuance of re-arrest warrants due to defendants being charged with Failure To Appear, and subsequent motions to vacate these warrants as defendants cite ongoing transportation issues as barriers to meeting their obligations at court.
Criminal dockets in Middletown will be flooded not only with all the cases from two entirely new communities over which they would now have jurisdiction, but with a tidal wave of aging cases that will burden their dockets for extended periods of time before reaching disposition. New Haven will be burdened with two new communities as well — Hamden and North Haven. It is well known that the case loads of the public defenders and state prosecutors in all of these courthouses is already at their maximum limit.
Approximately 250 individuals are referred annually to the Rushford JDP for court-ordered substance abuse and mental health treatment, and hundreds more are referred to Rushford's Alcohol Education Program (AEP) and Drug Education Program (DEP) for rehabilitation. Many of our JDP clients live within walking distance to the Meriden court, and transportation is provided for them to attend treatment; this will not be the case if the Meriden Courthouse is closed. If the courthouse is dosed, these individuals will most likely be referred to treatment in other towns.
The lack of transportation will make treatment inaccessible and lead to a large number of our clients dropping out of treatment prematurely, and thus facing prosecution that they otherwise could have avoided if they had successfully completed their court-ordered program. Undoubtedly, this will result in a greater number of incarcerations. The state already recognizes the burden that our overflowing prison population places on the budget — this is why the Jail Diversion Program was created in the first place.
Any budget savings that the state hopes to gain by closing the Meriden courthouse will surely be lost in additional expenses incurred at The Department of Corrections as well as the Judicial Branch via the Middletown and New Haven courts.
Finally, the Meriden Courthouse is a hub of the local economy. Downtown businesses are able to survive in no small measure because of the courthouse, which employs hundreds of people, if the courthouse closes, I believe that the Meriden Office of Adult Probation may be next on the governor's list — it may be merged with Middletown as there would no longer be any strategic or practical reason to allow it to remain in Meriden. Private attorneys located in close proximity to the courthouse will no longer have any incentive to keep their practices here and many will probably move to Middletown, Waterbury and New Haven, as well.
John Lombardo is the Clinical Case Manager of the Rushford Jail Diversion Program for Meriden and Wallingford.
By John Lombardo
As the Clinical Case Manager of the Rushford Jail Diversion Program (JDP) for Meriden and Wallingford, I strongly oppose the closing of the Meriden Courthouse. The Meriden Courthouse currently has jurisdiction over five Connecticut towns: Meriden, Wallingford, Hamden, North Haven and Cheshire. The towns that produce the most judicial business in the way of arrests are Meriden and Hamden.
Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell’s budget proposal outlines a plan for all of these communities to be served in other districts, with jurisdiction of Meriden and Wallingford being assigned to the Middletown Courthouse. Although physically smaller than the Middletown Courthouse, the Meriden Court has a much higher volume of judicial traffic.
With bus lines being relatively infrequent between Meriden and Middletown, and with many defendants having little or no access to funds for alternative means of transportation, it seems very likely that many defendants will not be able to make it to Middletown for their court appearances, as required.
This will result in a greater number of lengthy continuances, Bail Commissioner's Letters being ordered, the issuance of re-arrest warrants due to defendants being charged with Failure To Appear, and subsequent motions to vacate these warrants as defendants cite ongoing transportation issues as barriers to meeting their obligations at court.
Criminal dockets in Middletown will be flooded not only with all the cases from two entirely new communities over which they would now have jurisdiction, but with a tidal wave of aging cases that will burden their dockets for extended periods of time before reaching disposition. New Haven will be burdened with two new communities as well — Hamden and North Haven. It is well known that the case loads of the public defenders and state prosecutors in all of these courthouses is already at their maximum limit.
Approximately 250 individuals are referred annually to the Rushford JDP for court-ordered substance abuse and mental health treatment, and hundreds more are referred to Rushford's Alcohol Education Program (AEP) and Drug Education Program (DEP) for rehabilitation. Many of our JDP clients live within walking distance to the Meriden court, and transportation is provided for them to attend treatment; this will not be the case if the Meriden Courthouse is closed. If the courthouse is dosed, these individuals will most likely be referred to treatment in other towns.
The lack of transportation will make treatment inaccessible and lead to a large number of our clients dropping out of treatment prematurely, and thus facing prosecution that they otherwise could have avoided if they had successfully completed their court-ordered program. Undoubtedly, this will result in a greater number of incarcerations. The state already recognizes the burden that our overflowing prison population places on the budget — this is why the Jail Diversion Program was created in the first place.
Any budget savings that the state hopes to gain by closing the Meriden courthouse will surely be lost in additional expenses incurred at The Department of Corrections as well as the Judicial Branch via the Middletown and New Haven courts.
Finally, the Meriden Courthouse is a hub of the local economy. Downtown businesses are able to survive in no small measure because of the courthouse, which employs hundreds of people, if the courthouse closes, I believe that the Meriden Office of Adult Probation may be next on the governor's list — it may be merged with Middletown as there would no longer be any strategic or practical reason to allow it to remain in Meriden. Private attorneys located in close proximity to the courthouse will no longer have any incentive to keep their practices here and many will probably move to Middletown, Waterbury and New Haven, as well.
John Lombardo is the Clinical Case Manager of the Rushford Jail Diversion Program for Meriden and Wallingford.