COURT SECURITY, AGAIN

Chief Justice Leigh Saufley is new on the job as head of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. In her first State of the Judiciary address to the Legislature Tuesday she sounded like a seasoned veteran.

Actually (and no offense meant to Justice Saufley), she sounded like a broken record.

The theme of the day was the lack of effective security in the state’s courthouses. It is one previous chief justices have sounded repeatedly to previous legislatures.

Take your pick – Leigh Saufley in 2002 or her predecessor, Daniel Wathen, in 2001, 2000, 1999 or as far back as 1995 – and the observations and arguments are the same. Whether it’s a criminal trial, a child-custody dispute or a hearing on a protection order, the 43 buildings that house Maine’s superior and district courts are where upset, often very angry, people come together yet little has been done to prevent heightened emotions from turning to violence. Security staffing to maintain order, to quell disturbances and to deter intimidation remains low; metal detectors and X-ray machines to keep weapons out are largely nonexistent or, where they do exist, often unused due to a shortage of trained personnel.

After years of carping from Justice Wathen, the Legislature last year did take a small step: Gov. King’s $1.5 million proposal to improve court security was given full consideration before it was cut in half. The half left in the budget will be used to replace the private security guards now used in six counties with state employees, resulting, it is believed, in a more stable, better-trained and accountable force. The half that was cut – to improve screening of those entering courthouses – is, of course, the half those who best know the subject say is the most urgent need.

Why an issue of such importance as providing for the safety of citizens when they go to court was neglected during years of budget surpluses and taken up, though only partially, in a year of approaching revenue shortfall

is one of those perplexing Augusta mysteries. Now, with a large shortfall here, the issue remains and lawmakers must find a way

to deal with it.

The half of the court-security proposal left undone would have put more people on the job. In many courthouses, there is but one officer assigned to the courtroom. With about 100 serious security problems reported each year, and many more incidents court workers say go unreported, the need for additional guards to screen entry to the courthouse itself is obvious. The equipment part – several million dollars worth of metal detectors and X-ray machines – must come later, but Justice Saufley already has taken the commendable cost-saving step of seeking out used but serviceable equipment from airports undergoing security upgrades.

Now – again – it’s the Legislature’s turn. New revenue projections are expected to reduce the shortfall considerably. If so, and some funding of projects recently cut can be restored, Justice Saufley told lawmakers they’ll be hearing from her. Again.