An updated version of this story will appear in the print edition Wednesday, June 21.
District Attorney Faye Peterson says she's at her wit's end on trying to finance two new judges coming into Hinds County at the behest of Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice James Smith Jr.—a move she called political. "Right now I'm sitting here writing a letter to Hinds County (supervisors) asking for almost $400,000 so I can hire some folks to help with this supplemental docket. That's what it's going to cost, because I do not have enough folks," Peterson said last week. "We already do not have enough people. They just doubled the workload but they basically didn't even ask me about it." Peterson delivered that letter today to the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.
Peterson accused Smith of using the court order to push his campaign for re-election next year. "This ain't nothing but an election-year thing, and I've said over and over that nobody should be campaigning on the backs of the citizens of Hinds County like this. This is wrong," she said today.
In response to Smith's wishes, the Mississippi Supreme Court announced May 30 that it was continuing the temporary appointment of retired Hinds County Circuit Judge L. Breland Hilburn, but adding retired Hinds County Circuit Judge William F. Coleman to hear cases for a period of five months between July 10 to Dec. 31, 2006—which overlaps with prime campaign months for judges up for re-election.
In a letter mailed to legislators in February, Smith noted what he considered an "excessive backlog of cases," and labeled the Hinds County court system "deplorable, unacceptable and in need of a major overhaul." Smith said a new judge would help mitigate the amount of legal paperwork facing the Hinds County justice system.
The Mississippi Supreme court approved the new judges via a Supreme Court order, giving circuit court judges little room for argument. Gov. Haley Barbour tapped into newfound FEMA appropriations money intended for law enforcement in hurricane-damaged areas to pay the salaries of the two judges.
The district attorney points out, however, that the new judges would represent new costs that are not adequately addressed by FEMA, the Mississippi Legislature or Hinds County.
"Normally, when you add a judge, through the Legislature we get two more assistant district attorneys, an investigator and a financial addition to our office to cover the expenses with state credit. I'm a state office. They circumvent that by appointing judges, an finding some FEMA money … for their salaries, but who is supposed to pay for the assistants, the investigators and the office allowance," Peterson said. "If your idea is to supplement, then just supplement everything. Supplement the public defender, the prosecutor, and the investigator. You supplement the whole process. You can't just add two judges."
Today, June 19, Peterson submitted a letter to supervisors asking for four prosecutors, two investigators, office space and equipment for each of the new required employees. "[T]he salary (of the new attorneys) would have to be commiserate with that of an experienced prosecutor at no less than $67,000, excluding fringes for each attorney and no less than $40,000 for each investigator," she wrote in the letter. Peterson said the new employees will also require furniture, computers and other necessities at an estimated cost of $15,000.
Supervisors did not offer an immediate answer at the June 19 county board meeting, but Peterson said she did not expect supervisors to be able to comply with the request.
"I haven't got my hopes up, but I had to tell them what I need to make this work," Peterson said.
County supervisor Doug Anderson backed up Peterson's pessimism.
"I would say the chances of her getting this money looks bleak," Anderson said. "I understand we've already got some requests from judges coming up … asking for salary increases for some of their staff."
Smith, ultimately the source of Peterson's recent stress, was on hand at the June 19 county board meeting to request those staff pay increases for judicial staffs.
Money is tight in the county for a number of reasons. Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin asked for a $90,000 increase in his fuel allowance to combat the rising cost of gas for his department vehicles, and estimated that another $80,000 may be necessary before the end of the year. Some of his vehicles are in need of serious repairs, with many patrol cars logging in more than 300,000 miles on their odometers.
Also, the county is living on borrowed money already, having authorized a bond issue of more than $7 million to plug holes in the budget.
"We're doing whatever we can to make ends meet," Anderson said. "Now the city (of Jackson) has promised that it would share in the additional costs for the D.A.'s office and the public defender's office too, but I don't know if they have the money. All I hear from them is they don't have money. I just don't know, but I think it's going to be difficult for the county to pay the full cost of all these additional people that we need."
City administrator Robert Walker did not return calls regarding the city's willingness to support Peterson, but Peterson said Walker told the board on June 19 that the city did not have the money to help.
Mayor Frank Melton said during the legislative session that the city would do whatever it could to help the county loosen any bottlenecks in the justice system but council President Marshand Crisler, a sheriff's deputy, made no bones about the city's faltering money supply.
"To be honest with you, I think our city budget is in the worst shape I've seen it in since my time in office," Crisler said recently.
Peterson asked Attorney General Jim Hood to supply two assistants (at least one on a full-time basis), but Hood's office is also stretched thin and frequently has to outsource case files to private firms. Hood was not reached for comment by press time.
The district attorney and some circuit court judges say they are alarmed by other facets of Smith's order. Peterson took particular issue with Smith's order to randomize the caseload between judges.
Smith directed circuit court judges in a May 30 order to "establish and put into effect a criminal case assignment system which randomly assigns all criminal cases (regardless of case type) among the four judges on an equal basis, rather than continue to use a category assignment system."
Peterson called that order "outrageous."
"This means that the attorneys have got to know how to do everything, but they can't be in all four courtrooms. I have two attorneys on who I have spent a lot of money training how to do sex crimes and child abuse cases. That's all they know how to do. Now you want to divvy all the sex crimes up just randomly between the judges? Everybody can't do a rape case; everybody can't do a child abuse case," Peterson ranted.
"On 'Law and Order' what crimes does the prosecutor try: nothing but murders. Know why? Because that's his expertise. We have prosecutors who do drugs, prosecutors who do sex crimes, and prosecutors who do DUI. They don't jump around."
Peterson railed that Smith's unfunded order was destined for failure and could successfully paint her office to be the weak spot in the breakdown. Circuit Court Judge Tomie Green said this move could be an intentional way to discredit Peterson's office.
"Anybody that would deny this has had their heads stuck in the sink," Green said. "Hinds County has never had a black D.A., and it certainly has never had a black woman D.A., and people don't understand that and don't accept that. That Wood Street case (which won no convictions) got blown out of proportion in the press, but that next week she successfully tried a capital kidnapping murder and attempted murder and aggravated assault and got convictions, and the papers didn't even carry it."
Green added that Smith's decision could be an election-year ploy.
"Next year is Smith's election year, and this year the senior judge has opposition and the governor has his own election next year, so call it what you may, but I certainly would have not allowed the sheriff and Frank Melton to set the priorities for the judiciary in Hinds County," Green said.
Smith did not return calls from the Jackson Free Press regarding this story.
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