12-28-2009 California:
With sensitivity dialed up on the courthouse metal detector, Shasta County's attorneys - prosecutors in particular - are complaining that they now have to take off their shoes more often when they enter the courthouse.
"For people who have to go to court several times a day, it's a little bit humiliating," said Stew Jankowitz, the county's senior deputy district attorney and homicide prosecutor.
"For a prosecutor to appear to be a security risk in front of jurors, in front of witnesses and in front of defendants ... it's inconvenient and humiliating for us. It's also inconvenient for the public."
Jankowitz isn't alone.
His boss, District Attorney Jerry Benito, is also complaining that the machine has been turned up to the point that even small amounts of metal in a person's shoes sets it off and prosecutors now have to strip down to their socks to pass through the Shasta County Superior Court weapons screening station.
The shoe issue has caused a rift between Benito, his prosecutors and court administrators and the Shasta County Marshal's Office.
Benito and Assistant District Attorney Robert Maloney skipped out on a meeting in October to discuss pedophile treatment programs with Court Executive Melissa Fowler-Bradley and two judges.
In an e-mail exchange obtained by the Record Searchlight, Fowler-Bradley e-mailed Benito to ask why he and Maloney hadn't shown up.
Benito responded that it was because the prosecutors had to take off their shoes.
"Neither of us will enter the courthouse under those types of conditions, especially when my own staff (investigators) can enter without the same type of scrutiny," Benito wrote. "We will try to attend the next meeting, but won't enter if we are subjected to that type of search. Maybe a different location could be arranged."
Benito said in a recent interview that the security screening matter is still under discussion, but the talks have been amicable.
"We'll have disagreements from time to time, but we'll work them out," he said.
Prosecutors contend they should be allowed to walk around the weapons screening station like badge-carrying law enforcement officers.
Prosecutors note that the investigators at the District Attorney's Office, who are sworn law enforcement officers, are able to bypass the weapons screening.
But court administrators say that allowing prosecutors through would amount to special treatment, since defense attorneys wouldn't share the same privilege.
Administrators are quick to point out that all lawyers can cut into the front of the weapon screening line in front of jurors and other members of the public.
Even so, Benito also notes that recently retired public defender Neal Pereira also had expressed his attorneys' frustrations at the screening requirements.
Other attorneys have likewise complained, Fowler-Bradley said.
In response to the complaints, Shasta County Marshal Joel Northrup in October posted a letter at the courthouse that was addressed to all the attorneys in the Shasta County Bar Association.
The letter says sensitivity was turned up on the court's metal detectors to meet factory-recommended settings.
The adjustment caused the detector to pick up on small amounts of metal that had previously not registered, Northrup wrote.
He wrote that other courts in California don't give attorneys a free pass through their screening stations, either.
"Although the Marshal's Office does not expect an attorney to bring a weapon into the court facilities, you are well aware that the foundation of our court system is fair, unbiased and equal treatment of all citizens," Northrup wrote.
Even so, Fowler-Bradley said that there has been some discussion about opening up a second screening station at the West Street side of the courthouse.
But to do so would cost around $300,000.
With budget cuts forcing the courts across the state to impose employee furloughs once a month and plans to move the court to a new building in a few years, that option is looking less and less likely, Fowler-Bradley said.
In the meantime, between 1,400 and 2,200 people each day will continue to pass through the courthouse metal detectors, she said.
Of them, about 28 percent will have to go back through because the detector beeped.
In 2008, 307,548 people entered the courthouse. That year, even before the metal detectors were turned up, deputy marshals confiscated 10 guns and 5,089 knives, Fowler-Bradley said.
Jankowitz, Benito's homicide prosecutor, said he understands the point of the screening, but he's never heard of a time when a prosecutor smuggled a weapon to court and hurt someone.
A prosecutor for nearly three decades, Jankowitz says he knows the deputy marshals on a first-name basis.
He said he doesn't know how much longer he can handle the degradation of having to strip down to his socks.
"It's easier to get into a transatlantic flight than it is to get into the Shasta County Courthouse," he said. ..Source.. Ryan Sabalow
1 comment:
Removing shoes does not seem like a terrible ordeal to me.
Post a Comment