SECURITY IN THE COURT

For years the state’s chief judge has told lawmakers that Maine courthouses are unsafe and that legislators needed to set aside money to improve security. Each year, lawmakers say they agree with the justice, but when it comes time to fulfill her funding requests, too little money has been forthcoming. If Chief Justice Leigh Saufley were a prosecutor, she would need a new argument to convince her jury. That argument may come in the form of better data about the risks of violent incidents in the courts and how to avert them.

In 2002, Justice Saufley told lawmakers the state’s courthouses were “flatly unsafe.” It is a message she has repeated every year since. This week, she said, “the time has come to stop talking, stop hoping for the best, and do the right thing.” She requested up to $3.7 million to hire personnel to operate metal detectors and do other screening at courthouse entrances.

Last year, the Marshal’s Office recorded 32 incidents of outbursts and violence, four attempted escapes and 29 weapons-related incidents. What lawmakers need to know is how these numbers compare with the past and with other states. In another incident related by the chief justice, a domestic violence advocate in Cumberland County was knocked to the ground and suffered a concussion. While this should not have happened, it is unclear that court screening would have prevented it.

In 2002, voters approved a $540,000 bond issue to buy court security equipment. The money was used to buy metal detectors and X-ray machines, devices that often sit idle because not enough people have been hired to operate them.

To remedy this, Justice Saufley said lawmakers could appropriate $3.7 million to offer entry screening at the state’s 40 court facilities. Providing 50 percent coverage – meaning some of the courthouses some of the time – would take $1.8 million. Manning the equipment during high-conflict proceedings, or about a third of the time, would cost $1 million.

Gov. John Baldacci acknowledges that the court system needs more funding, but his office pointed out that funding for the court system has increased by more than 25 percent since 2004.

In the last two budget years, lawmakers have approved funding to hire 19 additional security personnel for the courts. Many of them replaced county sheriffs who used to provide security in courtrooms. The money also allowed screening for 5 percent of court days. With this limited screening, 27 guns or bullet clips and 5,000 knives were found. More than 250 people saw the security and left the court house.

One reason lawmakers may not have allocated more money for court security is because they rarely hear from domestic-violence victims, divorcing parents or defendants who are frightened by being in a small courtroom or a courthouse hallway with the person they are accusing of violence or attempting to get away from.

It should not take a shooting or other tragedy to prompt action on Justice Saufley’s request. But, it likely will take objective data so that lawmakers have a better sense of the problem and how to fix it.