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Canady: Florida’s court system one of the ‘leanest’ in the nation

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Chief Justice Canady

Chief Justice Canady

Florida courts used remote technology and aggressive case management to successfully navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, Chief Justice Charles Canady told the Economic Club of Florida.

Addressing a crowd of business and civic leaders at the FSU Alumni Center on May 17, Canady stressed that the courts never stopped functioning.

“It was critical that we figure out a way to keep going, and we did that,” he said. “Our courts were never closed, not for a minute.”

Despite the pandemic and a temporary halt to jury trials, Florida courts resolved 2.7 million cases in fiscal year 2021, Canady said.

Significant progress has been made in reducing a pandemic-related backlog of some 600,000 cases, he said.

“We did shrink it beyond what any of us would have anticipated,” he said. “That’s due to the hard work of trial judges and the lawyers.”

A Supreme Court administrative order that required judges and lawyers to set a trial date up front, and to stick to strict deadlines, provided the necessary incentive to keep cases moving, Canady said.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Canady said the courts had little choice but to stop summoning jurors.

“I’m keenly aware of that because of the fact that we issue people invitations that they can’t refuse,” he said. “We also realized the imperative to keep cases going as much as possible. You can’t just shut down the courts.”

Canady was joined at a head table by Economic Club of Florida President Lorence “Lo” Bielby, First District Court of Appeal Chief Judge Lori S. Rowe, and fellow Justice Carlos Muñiz, who succeeds Canady as chief justice in July.

Canady described the Florida court system as one of the “leanest” in the nation, with about 1,000 judges to serve 22 million residents.

Texas has a similar-sized population but far more judges, Canady said.

“They’ve got about 3,300 judges total, a significant more per capita than we do,” he said.

In Florida, the court system’s share of the state’s $101 billion budget for FY 2021-2022 was $667 million, Canady said.

“The Judicial Branch receives seven tenths of one percent of the state’s budget,” he said.

In a brief question and answer period following his remarks, Canady was asked about the recent leak of a U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion.

Chief Justice Canady called it “a very serious matter.”

“So far as I know, we’ve never had a breach,” he said. “It’s essential that the deliberation of the courts be confidential.”

Canady was also asked if Florida courts receive adequate funding.

The courts might benefit from more resources in some areas, Canady acknowledged, but he said lawmakers, “for the most part, have been very responsive.”

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being a very lean system,” he said. “It’s taxpayer money. We have to make sure we get full effective use of that money.”

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