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Under-Water Court

Posted in Courthouses on Tuesday June 01 2010 @ 7:50pm

We've heard of drug court, DUI court, veterans' court, etc., but now Dallas apparently has an under-water court.

Flooding has wreaked havoc on the Dallas County records building, causing civil and criminal courts, procedures, etc., to go back in time to pre-computer days.

See Basements Flood at Dallas County Records Building, AP (June 1, 2010), and Flooded Computers Will Cripple Dallas County Government for Days, Kevin Krause and Jana J. Martin, Dallas Morning News (June 1, 2010).

The latter notes that Before Monday's accident, county officials had been working on a plan to connect to a backup site in Tarrant County. Known as a 'fallover site,' it's a remote location where daily operations can be run until the primary site is repaired and brought back online. But [...] the Texas Department of Transportation would not give the county the right of way it needed to lay fiber optic cables.

See also the ahead-of-its time State of Emergency: What's New for Courts' Preparedness Plans? Mary Alice Robbins, Texas Lawyer (August 3, 2009). CourTex's Carl Reynolds (aka the Texas court administrator) is quoted at length.

Oh my, CourTex, we just got the cranial reference a moment ago. (Guess we're gonna have to tell 'em, court-o-rama's got no cerebellum, sang Anne Ramone!)

Courthouses By Design

Posted in Courthouses on Wednesday February 24 2010 @ 3:01pm

Is your courthouse state-of-the-art? Let the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) know.

NCSC is collecting courthouse designs from 2001-2010 for its new Retrospective of Courthouse Design. According to NCSC's call for entries, Special project categories will include facilities for small rural courts, juvenile courts, and family courts. Federal, state, and international projects also welcome.

Submissions are being accepted through April 15, 2010. Jury review (G. Thomas Munsterman will conduct voir dire -- OK not really) begins in May, and publication is set for September.

Free Soap and Continental Breakfast Included

Posted in Courthouses on Sunday February 21 2010 @ 8:47pm

Relax...it's a municipal court!

The Mansfield Municipal Court may have a new slogan when it moves into its new digs at...you guessed it, a Holiday Inn.

This is what happens when courts are firebombed: broken windows, fire and water damage, etc. While the building is repaired, court must go on.

See the creative solution to the problem: Mansfield Municipal Court Moving to Holiday Inn, Linda Martz, Mansfield News Journal (February 20, 2010).

We wonder how many bonus points they can get for this?

For the Defense

Posted in Courthouses on Sunday February 21 2010 @ 8:12pm

To thine cell phone be true!

Like a Richard Stern syllabus, the Manhattan federal courthouse is introducing modernity.

See Now, Cellphones for the Defense, Too, John Eligon, NY Times City Room blog (February 19, 2010).

Why do we care? Because the trend thus far in most courts has been to collect all electronics at the door, as though those entering were fourth-graders who stayed up too late playing DS. (Ha, you thought you were too smart for your mom!) Now, the Blackberries and iPods are being seen as tools for working people.

Staying Warm

Posted in Courthouses on Tuesday February 09 2010 @ 3:39pm

Here's a bit of comfort blogging for those of you who are snowed in -- courthouses without heat!

See the self-explanatory Pa. Courthouse Closes Because There's No Heat, AP (February 8, 2010).

A worn Nebraska courthouse stayed open anyway: Hall County Courthouse Without Heat, Tracy Overstreet, Grand Island Independent (February 2, 2010).

In Kentucky, one county sheriff's office will leave a building with faulty heat to share the warmth of the local courthouse. See Sheriff's Office Moves to New Courthouse, Melinda Charles, Ledger Independent (January 15, 2010).

Justice unheated is justice delayed is justice denied!

Meanwhile, a Colorado court stays toasty with the help of sunflower pellets: Southwestern Colorado Turns to Sunflowers for Energy, Nancy Lofholm, Denver Post (February 7, 2010).

Remember it's summertime Down Under. Judge Coolahan of Newcastle is experiencing an entirely different set of issues. See REVOLTING: How a Dead Rat Brought Justice to a Halt in Newcastle Courthouse, Stephen Ryan, The Herald (February 2, 2010), if only for the fabulous digitally altered photo (which we believe was done by a different Tracy Peters).

Tock Tick

Posted in Courthouses on Sunday December 06 2009 @ 8:13pm

We once possessed a Kit-Kat clock that broke when it leapt (we swear!) from the kitchen wall onto the floor.

One courthouse's clocks have not been so rash, but are malfunctioning. Apparently, the chimes cause a short. Now somebody has to climb up there to fix them. See Western Pa. Courthouse Clock Causing Confusion, AP (December 6, 2009).

Alas, the clocks in Mercer, Pennsylvania, may be in better shape than the clock tower from the Back to the Future movies. That part of the set was almost destroyed by fire last year (but it was saved!). Struck by a bolt of lightning precisely at 10:04 pm, no doubt...

Sunday News

Posted in Courthouses on Sunday November 22 2009 @ 8:05pm

Yes, Virginia, there *is* still a court-o-rama! We've just been busy, jetlagged, overextended, etc., etc.

But that doesn't mean the court news stops! Far from it. Here are a few courts in the news this week:

What Maine's new justice center lacks in charm, it makes up for in state-of-the-art-ness. See New Courthouse Provides Judiciary 21st Century Stage, Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News (November 22, 2009). Maine's rural courts, OTOH, are suffering. See New Budget Woes May Shut Down Rural Courthouses, Kevin Miller, Bangor Daily News (November 19, 2009).

New Jersey bids goodbye to two of its law libraries. See Law Libraries in Morris, Sussex, State Courthouses Will Close, Jim Lockwood, Star-Ledger (November 22, 2009). Connecticut is losing six. It's OK, though, because everything's online, right? WRONG! (And even if it were, could you find it without assistance?) Fun fact: a real librarian helped us with this.

Don't shoot! A journalism learned the hard way not to photograph jurors after, well, photographing jurors. See Student Journalist Barred from Boone County Courthouse, AP, Kansas City Star (November 21, 2009).

The news of Judge Dennis Sweeney's retirement is greatly exaggerated. He's been back on the bench for the trial of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon. Thank goodness for that! He's trying to ease the lengthy deliberations for jurors, even getting a clerk to bake them chocolate chip cookies (and requiring a unanimous verdict on their tastiness!), allowing cell phones, and generally being a fabulous judge during this difficult time for the community. See Judge Acts to Put Jury at Ease, Annie Linskey and Julie Bykowicz, Baltimore Sun (November 22, 2009).

Picture Book

Posted in Courthouses on Tuesday October 06 2009 @ 6:37pm

Pictures of courthouses, taken by a courthouselover not so long ago: County Courthouses on flickr.

Thanks to Jim for the tip, and to The Kinks for inspiration!

Bee Plus

Posted in Courthouses on Monday September 28 2009 @ 7:56pm

There are many different theories regarding the decrease in U.S. honeybees.

We have our own: they all congregated in a South Carolina courthouse.

See Thousands of Honeybees Make Home in Dillon County Courthouse, Jamie Rogers, News Reporter (September 26, 2009). See also the video about the beekeeper just above the text of the article.

Floored

Posted in Courthouses on Monday September 28 2009 @ 7:12pm

The Westmoreland County Courthouse is a work of art in itself. And like most things aged, it is in need of repair.

Temporary tiles have been installed over a buckling floor. But they're not just any tiles -- they're in the shape of a W! For Westmoreland, get it? Another theory is that the W is in honor of Westmoreland County's engineer, Mel Wohlgemuth.

See New Tile Logo Perplexes Westmoreland County Courthouse Employees, Rich Cholodofsky, Tribune-Review (September 28, 2009), which inexplicably lacks a photo. Fun fact: the Westmoreland County Courthouse floor is the one thing that does not have its picture posted on the Internet.

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