Aug. 26, 2004 – A bill to establish a local appellate court for the Virgin islands sailed through the Senate Public Safety, Judiciary, Homeland Security and Justice Committee Wednesday on a unanimous vote. And it was immediately scheduled to be heard before the Rules Committee on Thursday.
With unusual speed, Sen. Roosevelt David, the Rules Committee chair, placed that bill on Thursday's agenda, along with another increasing penalties for animal cruelty that also cleared the Public Safety Committee on Wednesday.
Many in the legal community have wanted to see the territory get its own Supreme Court for years.
At an Aug. 18 hearing on St. Croix, Chief District Judge Raymond L. Finch said a supreme court is necessary because the present appellate system does not allow judges to consider properly all the motions and case citations put forth by counsel appealing cases. Finch, whose court is part of the federal judicial system, said that in jurisdictions having supreme courts, judges solely responsible for hearing appeals are able to "read, dissect and analyze all the nuances of the cases cited."
In the Virgin Islands, cases appealed from Territorial Court are reviewed by judicial panels consisting of two District Court judges and two Territorial Court judges. Since there are only two district judges, they serve all the time, while the territorial judges serve on a rotating basis. As a result, Finch said, "The present appellate division does not have the time available to properly consider and move and determine appellate cases judicially."
But he noted that despite the hardships imposed on the judges assigned, "95 per cent of our appealed cases have held up" to higher review.
Territorial Court Presiding Judge Maria M. Cabret noted at that hearing that a federal court now has the last opinion on locally appealed cases. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia hears appeals and reviews any laws passed by the Legislature or orders executed by the governor, even though a case may be based purely on local law.
Questions about funding the court, along with controversy over how the judges would be chosen, came up at the Aug. 18 meeting. (See "Supreme Court Idea Finds Favor at Senate Hearing".)
Sen. Carlton Dowe, primary sponsor of the bill, said on Wednesday that achieving judicial autonomy, and not cost, is the real issue. "I want to remind you that freedom isn't free," he said.
Dowe proposed, and the committee approved, an amendment to the bill providing for appointment by the governor of three appellate court judges, subject to confirmation by the Legislature. That replaced the original provision for a judicial nominating committee to approve a pool of candidates from which the governor would have to select his nominees. At the Aug. 18 hearing witnesses and legislators alike were split on this issue.
Two Other Bills Also Passed
The Public Safety Committee also approved two other bills Wednesday and decided at the sponsor's request to hold off taking up another. Approved were:
– Legislation adopting national standards for keeping crime statistics and providing for the reporting of all such statistics to the FBI.
According to David, the bill's sponsor, "mandating that we send our crime reports to the FBI will … provide us with information of what areas of law enforcement we need to improve on." And, he said in a release, once it adopts the national standards, the territory will become eligible to apply for a portion of more than $50 million in federal grant money.
Eddy Charles, the governor's drug policy adviser, wrote to Sen. Lorraine Berry, the committee chair, that "the lack of crime statistics reporting has already cost the territory hundreds of thousands of dollars." He urged the committee to approve the legislation. Police Commissioner Elton Lewis also endorsed the measure, but he cautioned that it needs to be funded.
– A bill sponsored by Sens. Berry, Louis Hill and Shawn-Michael Malone giving peace officers authority to issue appearance tickets for misdemeanor offenses committed or attempted in their presence.
Sen. Emmett Hansen II successfully moved to have his proposed Weapons Anti-trafficking Act held until Attorney General Iver Stridiron is available to testify. Stridiron was off-island on Wednesday.
Committee members at the meeting were Sens. Berry, Carlton Dowe, Hansen, Liburd and Malone. Sens. David Jones and Ronald Russell were excused. Sens. David and Hill, who are not members of the committee, also were present.
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