When Dale Earnhardt died the entire nation fell into despair, and shock and mourning. (ok, not the entire nation, but at least the NASCAR nation) His death sparked a years long examination of the entire sport, serious soul searching and ultimately dramatic changes within one of America’s most revered past times. Dale Earnhardt Death
But this revolution within the sport did not come without a fight.
The death also sparked a major legal and First Amendment battle as news organizations fought for access to the records of his death in order to understand exactly what corners were cut, what major pieces were missing and ultimately, who was responsible for the tragedy.
As we all mark the death of Florida’s much maligned Rocket Docket, it’s time we all sit down and conduct a serious autopsy of just what went wrong in this most critical area…our court system..because what went wrong here is far more important than what happened in the Holy Land of American Motorsports. (Sorry NASCAR people, this is more important.)
I’m going to get the full report, but just to whet your appetites, please consider these facts:
A closer look at the types of dispositions within the senior judge funding time frame shows an overwhelming number of dismissals.
In the 5th Circuit, 2,317 cases, or 71 percent of the total backlog, were dismissed within nine months.
This is not a pattern unique to this five-county region: elsewhere in the state, other circuits have experienced as high as a 74 percent dismissal rate.
I want everyone, especially the press to consider these statements. What if 70% of criminal cases were dismissed? What if 70% of parking ticket cases were dismissed? What if 70% of any type of cases were dismissed?
Would this not be a stunning indictment of the process and methodology that led to the filing of these cases? Should we not all stop and ask ourselves, “How did these cases get filed if so many were forced to be dismissed later?” And even more disturbing, if this many cases were dismissed once some amount of scrutiny was placed upon them, how many cases were not disposed of, how many homeowners lost their homes and not dismissed when that might have been warranted?
We cannot just let this go away without real inquiry and answering very, very hard questions….PLEASE READ THE ATTACHED ARTICLE.
