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Bar News - April 8, 2005 Task Force Asks: How Safe Are Our Courts? The March 11, 2005 courthouse shootings in Atlanta have accelerated the judicial branch's efforts to initiate a statewide evaluation of state court security needs. On March 31, a newly appointed task force on court security was scheduled to hold its first meeting. The group is co-chaired by NH Supreme Court Associate Justice Richard E. Galway and Earl M. Sweeney, assistant commissioner of the Department of Safety, Before joining the Supreme Court last year, Galway served nine years as a superior court judge while Sweeney was the longtime director of the NH Police Standards and Training facility in Concord before stepping into the No. 2 post at the Department of Safety. The 21-member task force will broadly survey all security needs, including prisoner transport, safety in the courthouses, the level of uniformity in procedures and standards, physical requirements and training for security personnel, Galway said in an interview before the meeting. Security issues also may involve how order is maintained in courthouses. "People have to feel safe in the courthouse," said Galway, who believes his many years as a trial judge and litigator provide him substantial insight into security issues. Several attorneys responding to a request (via the NHBA e-Bulletin) for comments on court security cited inconsistencies in security procedures, particularly weapons screenings, at various courthouses. Some respondents objected to the appearance of bias that results when county employees, including prosecutors, are waved through without screening while defense attorneys and their witnesses must undergo screenings. Other respondents pointed to sites where they believed screenings were not conducted adequately. Bar News asked Justice Galway whether mandatory screening of attorneys who regularly appear in particular courts will be among the issues to be looked at. "That is an issue that will be considered," he said. "In view of our ongoing interest in court security which has been substantially heightened by recent national events, it is appropriate and timely to assess current circumstances and future needs," said Chief Justice John T. Broderick, Jr., in a news release announcing the task force. "The Supreme Court wants the task force to make sure we are doing everything we can to guarantee that our buildings are safe for the citizens who use the courts and the staff who work there every day." Security in the courts is provided by 16 full-time and 116 part-time court security officers, as well as by county sheriff's deputies in the superior courts. According to a judicial branch news release, the courts spent $3 million on security in fiscal year 2004, including $1.2 million in reimbursements for coverage of the superior courts. In addition to Justice Galway and Sweeney, other members of the task force are Attorney General Kelly A. Ayotte; Rockingham County Sheriff Daniel J. Linehan; Superior Court Chief Justice Robert J. Lynn; Associate Superior Court Justice Gillian L. Abramson: State Senator Robert E. Clegg Jr. of Hudson; Judge Edwin W. Kelly, Administrative Judge of the District Court; Plaistow Police Chief Steven Savage; State Reps. Karl I. Gilbert of Newmarket and Stephen J. Shurtleff of Penacook; Attorney W. Michael Dunn of Manchester, representing Gov. John Lynch; Hampton District Court Judge Francis J. Frasier; Probate Court Judge Christina M. O'Neill; Marital Master Michael H. Garner; Merrimack County Sheriff Chester L. Jordan; Keith Lohmann, director of Police Standards and Training; Jason R. Jordanhazy, interim court security manager at the Administrative Office of the Courts; Donald D. Goodnow, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts; U.S. Marshall Stephen R. Monier; and Plymouth District Court and Family Division court security supervisor Bernard Hughes. |
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