A letter from the U.S. Justice Department urging state judges across the country to eliminate “common” court practices that illegally trap poor defendants in cycles of debt and jail is reverberating in Broward with accusations that courts here favor the well-off.
Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein once again is leading the charge for systemic reform as evidenced by a series of testy recent written exchanges with Broward Chief Judge Peter Weinstein. Among other things, Finkelstein wants the courts to scrap the use of so-called “convenience bail bonds” the poor often cannot afford, and accuses judges of fostering a “double standard” of justice by ignoring the disparate treatment of minorities and the indigent.
“This jurisdiction’s practices have effectively institutionalized racism by disproportionately incarcerating poor minorities for decades,” Finkelstein concluded Sept. 2 in his most recent letter to Weinstein.
In an interview on Friday, Weinstein replied, “I don’t know where he gets that from. Every judge ascribes to the saying that justice is blind and ignores race, creed, national origin and gender in ruling. Howard can absolutely write what he wants, but that doesn’t necessarily make it so.”
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