Chief Justice Canady is trying to convince Florida lawmakers in the state Legislature's current session that a backlog of hundreds of thousands of cases due to the pandemic needs to be fully addressed in the state's final budget for fiscal 2021-22.
"We are communicating that the justice system is moving forward." Canady said in a legislative update during the April 12 edition of The Florida Bar's On the Docket with Dori. "Cases are being resolved, but our system is under stress due to the pandemic. And, of course, that's the message that many people are communicating to the Legislature because of the experiences that we're having are shared by other parts of government."
Canady said he was "very pleased" that some of Florida's courts' "major priorities" were addressed in the preliminary. Those priorities included the court's pandemic recovery plan, which was partially funding in one budgetary bill and Canady said he hoped to see that "augmented."A new appellate case management solution also was funded in one of the bills and a "longstanding request" for a new Second District Court of Appeal building "has been addressed," Canady said.
Florida Supreme Justice Carlos G. Muñiz speaking to third graders at Ward-Highlands Elementary School in Ocala earlier this week during a virtual tour of the high court
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"The key thing in this process is to be able to keep your priorities moving forward in the process in at least one of the bills," he said. "Because then you've got room for bringing it in for a landing when the appropriations process is fully resolved."
Canady has been trying to get that message across to lawmakers since after the first of the year, Florida State Courts Administrator Public Information Officer Paul Flemming told the Florida Record.
"Chief Justice Charles Canady told Florida House Judiciary Committee members in January that based on Trial Court Budget Commission estimates, the courts are asking lawmakers for $12.5 million to fund its Pandemic Response Plan and $3 million in COVID-19 response needs, such as personal protective equipment and remote technology as 'temporary adjudicative resources' to deal with a backlog of cases," Flemming said.
The case backlog began with the pandemic. In March of last year, Canady issued an order that included the state's court system's first set of guidelines in response to the then settling-in COVID-19 pandemic. The order directed Florida courtd to take steps aimed at reducing the impact of the pandemic by implementing responsible measures such as social distancing and using virtual technology as much as possible.
"The health and safety of those who come into our courthouses and courtrooms seeking justice is a top concern for me, along with that of court staff and judges," Canady said at the time. "At the same time, the mission-critical work of the courts must continue."
The unintended consequences of responsible pandemic precautions taken in Florida courts has been a resulting backlog of hundreds of thousands of cases.
Estimates for the pandemic-generated workload as of this past November were provided during the Trial Court Budget Commission's meeting on Jan. 22. More than 1.4 million "normal" cases were pending as of that month with more than 1.1 million "above normal" cases, according to those estimates. More than 2.6 million cases are expected to be pending by June of this year, a 78% increase over pre-covid numbers.
"The current estimate for pending cases above what would otherwise be expected on July 1 of this year is 1.1 million cases," Flemming said.
The greatest jumps estimated are in civil cases, up 133%, and small claims, up 97%.
The pandemic-driven case backlog threatens to affect Florida’s court system for years.
Gov. Ron DeSanti's $96.6 billion 2021 - 2022 Proposed State Budget issued in January was $4.3 billion more than the budget passed by lawmakers last year. By the end of March, Florida House and Senate appropriations committees had received proposed budgets in both chambers, with the House proposing $97.1 billion in spending, a couple of billion more than the Senate's preliminary plan.
The Senate recently offered during negotiations with the House about $9.4 million for a Trial Court Pandemic Recovery plan. The House countered with $6.2 million, a significant increase from its original plan that offered no money at all.