18 October 2012

 

Thank you, President Vogel. I am proud to be a member of The Missouri Bar and proud to serve you and the people of Missouri.

I am also pleased that so many people in our state care about those around them and spend their lives in service to others. One of the best examples of that “caring service” is Frankie Freeman, St. Louis’ 2011 Citizen of the Year.

Now some 95 years young, Frankie has dedicated her life to fighting laws that limit the lives of persons of color. Thanks to her, persons of color can swim in St. Louis pools and live in its housing without discrimination. But her success is not just in the courtroom. She was the first female member of the United States Civil Rights Commission and served as a member of the task force to help improve the St. Louis public schools after the desegregation case ended.

She serves her community through the American Civil Liberties Union, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and her longtime missionary Baptist church. She has been recognized by everyone – and deservedly so. Her passion for those less fortunate and her fervent drive to serve others is an example all of us can follow to give meaning to our oaths and to give consideration to, as our oaths say, the defenseless and the oppressed.

A recent study by the state courts administrator’s research unit presents a stark view of the plight of the poor and their need for legal services. Today, nearly 900,000 Missourians are impoverished. Twenty-one percent of those are children.

Since the preceding census, the number of those falling below the poverty line increased by more than 39 percent. Of those, nearly 44 percent have jobs; another third are disabled; about 9 percent are 65 years or older.

There are about half a million veterans living in Missouri, most of whom served during war time. Nearly 8 percent live below the poverty line, and of those, nearly 39 percent have a disability. This research also illustrates that most of them have legal problems that affect their survival. 

Domestic violence, homelessness, mental health issues, poor health care and educational problems create a need for legal representation.

For example, let me tell you about Sarah, who is from the western side of the state: Sarah was in a four-year relationship with her abusive boyfriend. His attacks included forcing himself on her sexually, punching her, threatening her with a knife and choking her. He told her that he would kill her if she left him. They had two young children, and protecting the children’s safety made it even more important for Sarah to leave.

Finally, when the boyfriend punched her in the face, she decided she had had enough. She called the police, and her boyfriend was arrested and sent to jail. The prosecutor’s office assisted Sarah in petitioning for a protective order for her and both children. While the boyfriend was in jail, information was revealed that he had molested one of the children and two of his own sisters as well. An advocate for the local YWCA shelter referred Sarah to legal aid to assist in getting a child custody order. 

Then the boyfriend was released from jail, putting Sarah and her children in grave danger once again. Sarah sought legal representation from legal services. The court awarded Sarah sole physical custody of her children, and the boyfriend was barred from having any contact with them.

Today, Sarah is doing well, working full-time. Both children are in counseling and they are progressing with the course of treatment. Responding to a legal aid client survey, Sarah wrote, “My lawyer went above and beyond what I came in for. I greatly appreciate the services provided to me and my kids. I’m glad that Legal Aid can … help people who cannot afford legal services.”

Unfortunately, Sarah’s story is just one of many. Legal services organizations seek to provide services to those in need but only can deal with approximately 80,000 problems a year. About half of those individuals who seek vitally important services from legal aid have to be turned away. Since the economic downturn in 2007, state courts average about 10-percent more cases associated with economic hardship.

As Leon Higginbotham, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, once said to a graduating class, “I will make two requests of you. They are, that you always attempt to see those human beings who become invisible to most people, and that you always try to hear the pleas of those persons who, despite their pain and suffering, have become voiceless and forgotten.”

As lawyers, I am glad you are abiding by Judge Higginbotham’s words. As members of The Missouri Bar, you have a rich tradition of providing legal services to those in need.

But even with the help of the volunteer lawyers and the extraordinary staff in the legal services offices, we are only touching the surface. And although it cannot fill the void, many of you are engaging in pro bono work. A number of you are using The Missouri Bar’s pro bono opportunities website to help connect with needy persons and groups who otherwise cannot obtain necessary legal representation; nearly 180 lawyers have been named to the Bar’s pro bono wall of fame; and attorneys like Anne Bauer of St. Louis, Jay Harms Jr. of Osage Beach, Crista Hogan of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association, “Coty” Hopkins-Baul of St. Louis, Sean  Murphy of St. Louis, Steven Streen of Kansas City and the Mandel & Mandel law firm of St. Louis are being recognized later this week for their exemplary professional commitment to assisting those who otherwise would not have access to legal resources. If you are one of those many lawyers who are providing pro bono assistance in Missouri, thank you for your exemplary service.

As the need to assist the public defender system has grown, creative solutions are being explored by The Missouri Bar, local bar associations, public defenders, prosecutors and judges throughout Missouri. Our courts have the inherent authority to promote the administration of justice and the constitutional responsibility to ensure that criminal defendants have adequate representation. Partnering with the courts are the local attorneys who are working diligently to deal with the dramatic shortage of representation for criminal defendants. Many of you are being asked to serve to help solve these problems. For this, you have our thanks.

Service by and for members of the Bar is not confined to the courtroom. President Lynn Ann Vogel, President-elect Pat Starke and Vice President Jack Brady have worked very hard to preserve what I believe is Missouri’s greatest gift to democracy: that is, the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan. In addition to our extraordinary volunteers, Keith Birkes, our superb executive director for almost 30 years, and his fine successor, Sebrina Barrett, who I’m sure will serve for another 30 years, have continued to work hard for all of us.

I would like to mention several members of The Missouri Bar’s staff who have retired, including Jim Brady, the Bar’s lawyers’ assistance director; Linda Oligschlaeger, the Bar’s director of membership services; and Jack Wax, the Bar’s media relations director. They have been succeeded by Anne Chambers, for Jim Brady’s position; Lucas Boling, for Linda Oligschlaeger’s position; and Farrah Fite, for Jack Wax’s position. I urge you all to get to know them; they are fine people.

And others continue their long tenure of outstanding service to the Bar – Dan Lehman, the director of administration; “Dee” Shepherd, the director of CLE programs; Catherine Barrie, the senior legislative counsel; Gary Toohey, the communications director; and Millie Aulbur, the director of law-related education. Truly, all of the Bar’s staff continue to provide the outstanding services and assistance you have come to expect.

Millie Aulbur inspires us in the courts to do all we can to help educate citizens about our great system of justice. We now have more than 125 individuals – judges, court staff, lawyers, teachers and others – serving on the Supreme Court’s civic education committee and its 11 subcommittees to develop programs to help judges teach our citizens about our courts. We saw Millie as so invaluable that we have asked her to serve on our committees as well. My thanks to Millie, our wonderful judicial education staff at our state courts administrator’s office, and all of you who are helping our courts launch our civics education efforts.

Civics education programs are not the only way in which we hope to make the courts more accessible to all. In 2007, we began working to ensure that Missouri’s courts truly are open, providing justice for all. Based on the strategic initiatives set forth then, we remain focused on providing all Missourians with fair, just and prompt case resolution through equal and affordable access to the courts, fairness and impartiality, and the efficient administration of justice – all of which serve to enhance the public’s trust in and understanding of the justice system.

In an effort to provide better access to people who are challenged by disability, we are working to provide closed-captioning services for Supreme Court oral arguments and will be providing informational brochures in Braille and audio files for the blind.

Thanks largely to grant funding, our courts now are providing interpreters as needed in all family, domestic and juvenile cases. In addition, we now have a dedicated language-access point of contact for every county in the state.

We also continue to try to make it easier and more affordable for you – and, in turn, your clients – to practice in our courts. The Supreme Court, all three districts of the court of appeals and the St. Charles County circuit court all are up and running in our new Missouri eFiling System. Next week, we expect the Callaway County circuit court to begin using electronic filing. An additional 25 county circuit courts plan to join the eFiling System during the next year.

If you have not already done so, I urge you to register for electronic filing. Even if the primary county in which you practice is not currently using electronic filing, you and your legal staff still will have access through secure Case.net to those documents that have been filed electronically or whose courts are scanning documents in anticipation of electronic filing.

If you wish to learn more about electronic filing in Missouri courts or how to register for services, please visit our booth in the exhibition area or attend the CLE program Friday morning presented by our state courts administrator’s legal counsel. We are excited about the progress already made and look forward to continuing to implement electronic filing.

As I near the end our time together today, let me note two changes at the Supreme Court. For the first time in four decades, we have a new clerk – our longtime counsel, Bill Thompson. During his nearly 35 years of exemplary service to the Court and the bar, Bill has earned the trust and confidence of those who have worked with him. They share my confidence that Bill will continue to serve us well in his new role.

The other change is that, once again, we are poised to have a new judge join the Court. Our appellate judicial commission interviewed 18 outstanding individuals last week, and we are confident that whichever of the three nominees the governor chooses, our Court and our state will be well served.

Our new judge will have huge shoes to fill, however, as no one truly can replace Judge Ray Price. In his 20 years on the Supreme Court, Judge Price left an indelible mark on our state.

Thanks largely to his commitment to being “smart,” and not just “tough,” about the way we deal with those in our criminal justice system, we now have treatment court divisions serving all but three of our 45 judicial circuits. There are nearly 12,000 graduates who successfully have completed those programs. And, thanks to Judge Price’s wisdom and leadership, all three branches of our state government have worked together to implement meaningful reforms that make sentencing for nonviolent offenders more effective and our state safer.

Through the drug court model Judge Price helped implement throughout Missouri, other specialty court programs have been created. These include DWI courts, veterans courts, nonsupport courts and truancy courts. We now have the nationally recognized Innovative Concepts Academy that St. Louis’ own Judge Jimmie Edwards created in partnership with the local community to help juveniles in trouble find amazing successes. But this is not the only side of the state receiving national attention.

Just last month, the Jackson County family drug court received a national “award of excellence,” recognizing it as one of just five peer learning courts by the United States Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention on which the department hopes other court systems will model their own programs.

These specialty court programs are where the rubber meets the road, and people see in very tangible way that positive public services can help Missourians in need.

Judge Price, “thank you” simply is not enough to describe our gratitude to you for all the work you have done and the work we know you will continue to do in the new chapter of your legal career.

This will be my last address to you as chief justice. I will continue to serve as your chief justice for the next eight months, after which I hand the reins over to my wonderful colleague, Judge Mary Russell. I look forward to many years after that as a judge on your Supreme Court.

Allow me to express my appreciation to the many people who have assisted me in my role as chief justice: my predecessors, Chip Robertson, Ann Covington, John Holstein, Duane Benton, Ray Price, Steve Limbaugh Jr., Ronnie White and Mike Wolff. I also want to thank my current colleagues: Judge (and former chief justice) Laura Stith, and Judges Mary Russell, Patty Breckenridge, Zel Fischer and George Draper III. They all are wonderful people and talented jurists, and I am honored to serve with them on the Supreme Court of Missouri.

To paraphrase Lou Gehrig: “Today I believe I am the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”  

It is a great honor to serve you, and I look forward to many more years of service with you. Thank you. And God Bless America!