Senate Journal: Page 45: Wednesday, January 10, 1996

         Its a privilege to visit with you each year about the condition of
    Iowas courts. This address is an opportunity for me to review with you
    the significant activities of our courts, to evaluate whether were
    meeting our citizens needs for justice, and to recommend improvements as
    necessary. I hope this review helps you with some of the tough decisions
    youll face in the months to come.

         Providing Iowans with a fair, effective and efficient court system
    is a mission we share with you. Our roles may be different, but our
    goals are not. The strength of Iowas justice system depends, in large
    part, on the strength of our partnership. And we, in the judiciary,
    recognize the importance of communication in maintaining a good
    partnership.

         We understand the cost of poor communication, as did former FBI
    director, J. Edgar Hoover. He learned that even the simplest message,
    when not clearly communicated, can have a major impact. Years ago in an
    effort to cut costs, the FBI reduced the size of memo paper. One of the
    new memo sheets ended up on J. Edgar Hoovers desk. He disliked it
    immediately and wrote on the narrow margin, watch the borders.

         His message was misinterpreted. For the next six weeks, it was
    extremely difficult to enter the United States by road from either
    Mexico or Canada!

         Ill try to be clear.

         Although the news this year is not uniformly good, I hope you will
    conclude, as I have, that much of it is encouraging.

         First, Id like to focus on some of our achievements. It is always a
    pleasure to report on progress.

         Were certainly encouraged by progress in the collection of fines
    and fees, a matter in which we all are vitally interested. Id like to
    tell you in some detail what were doing.

         Everyone if offended when some scofflaws are allowed to accumulate
    substantial unpaid fines.

         Respect for court orders is on the line. Inconsistent enforcement
    of court orders calls into question the authority and effectiveness of
    the courts. A fine is a sentence. Its enforcement should be pursued
    diligently--as diligently as an enforcement of a jail sentence. The
    greatest impact on fine enforcement is made at the front-end of the
    process--the time when a sentence is imposed.

         We have set in motion a host of changes to improve the fine
    collection record of the courts. Many magistrates and judges are taking
    a tougher attitude. For example, in Linn County, Magistrate Pamela Lewis
    tells defendants appearing before her that they are expected to pay
    their fine that day. And she goes one step further. With the aid of a
    computer linked to the clerk of court office, she checks to see if they
    have unpaid fines from previous sentences. If they do, they are told to
    pay those, also.

Iowa General Assembly

Index: Senate Journal (76th General Assembly: Session 2)

© 1996 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

Comments? sjourn@legis.iowa.gov.

Last update: Mon Jan 15 12:25:09 CST 1996
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