The Fulton County Superior Court will keep its "rocket docket" system of fast-tracking felony cases in place, but it will put an elected judge, who is accountable to the voters, back in charge.
Court spokesman Don Plummer's announcement Tuesday stemmed from criticism following the shooting death of a state trooper last week. A man who had been "fast-tracked" through the system is now charged with the trooper's murder.
Neighborhood advocates and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed have said the systeme results in career criminals being repeatedly released on probation or after short sentences. They argue that the 20 judges on the Superior Court need to develop a better case managing system.
Reed also said it was a mistake to repeatedly release burglars and thieves on bail, which is done by magistrate hearing at the jail.
"Twenty percent of our violent crimes are perpetrated by people who are out on bail," he said.
Plummer said he did not know when an elected judge would again start handling the cases.
The docket was original overseen by Superior Court Judge Alford Dempsey who stepped aside and was replaced by magistrate Richard Hicks. Dempsey had been criticized after he sentenced a burglar who faced a mandatory five years in prison instead as a habitual offender to probation and drug court.
Judges say the court is overburdened by thousands of news cases each year and the only way to effectively manage them is through fast-track docket, which resolves cases within nine weeks. Commonly called the rocket docket, it was established four years ago to clear the backlog of nonviolent felonies, freeing judges to focus on the backlog of cases involving armed robbery, murder and rape.
But critics say the fast-track has meant a slap on the wrist for repeat offenders.
Fulton Chief Judge Cynthia Wright has said the two-tiered system works.
The court spokesman reiterated her statement Tuesday.
"National experts have endorsed our system," he said. "It is an appropriate and proven way to handle low-level, non-violent offenders in a timely and cost-effective manner so that the jail can house those accused of serious offenses."
John Wolfinger, public safety chair of the Virginia-Highland neighborhood association and a veteran court watcher, said Fulton County Superior Court is largely dysfunctional in terms of meting out justice to thieves and burglars.
“Some of these guys amassed records that are as long as your arm and my arm put together and every time they came up they got a short sentence or probation and they were out doing what they were doing before because it was the only thing they knew how to do to support themselves,” he said. "It is demoralizing for our law enforcement. One of the biggest [complaints] I hear from cops is, ‘We were out looking for this guy two months ago and now we're out looking for him again.'"
Reed took the unusual step of signing on to a public letter last week with District Attorney Paul Howard and Atlanta Police Chief George Turner that condemned the rocket docket focused on clearing cases and the Superior Court's practice of assigning an unelected magistrate to run it and to decide bail at earlier hearings.
In their Dec. 29 letter to Wright, Howard, Reed and Turner said the fast-track calendar should be suspended temporarily until an independent study of it is completed. Among topics to be studied, they said, would be the system’s impact on public safety, recidivism rates and the sentences imposed in these cases. The letter proposed having Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Carol Hunstein manage the study commission.
On Tuesday, however, Hunstein said she had not received the letter nor been contacted by Howard, Reed or Turner about her proposed role.
The issue was brought back to the forefront by the release from jail Dec. 13 of 30-year-old Gregory Favors, after he was arrested on charges including possessing burglary tools and illegally entering an auto, despite a long rap sheet. He is now accused of murdering state Trooper Chadwick LeCroy, 38 of Marietta, during a traffic stop last week.
In a letter dated Monday, Wright said the law required Favors to be released because no officer appeared to testify at his hearing and there was no warrant for his arrest.
District Attorney Howard said, however, that the real issue was that Favors was given only a 60-day sentence last July after pleading guilty to cocaine possession and tampering with evidence. Howard said his prosecutor had asked for a sentence of four years to serve as a habitual offender. Favors was arrested and released three times in 2010 and has 19 total arrests.
The mayor has political reasons for stepping into the long-time fight between Howard and the Superior Court bench. The public often blames the mayor for crime in Atlanta but without an effective court system crime is not likely to abate, he said. Reed said he hopes more candidates will challenge sitting judges -- who often run unopposed-- to make them accountable.
"Releasing a violent criminal or a career criminal into the community is an awesome responsibility and should be done by someone who is accountable to voters," Reed said. "I will stand for election in three years and if people are dissatisfied with the level of crime, they will vote me out."
Linda Adams, the public safety chair for the Vine City neighborhood association, said neighborhood groups are frustrated by the leniency Fulton County judges show career criminals whose crimes are "non-violent." Judges should be held accountable to ensure burglars and thieves are held accountable, she said.
"I hope more people get involved and go to court and listen to these judges," she said. "We in the community are the ones who are affected by crime, not necessarily the judges. They got their protections."
Staff writers Bill Rankin and Christian Boone contributed to this story.
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