Court to conduct first Judicial Town Hall
January 6, 2000
February 2, 2000 at 6:30 p.m.
Held Live and Broadcast Over the Internet and on Orange TV
The Ninth Judicial Circuit Court will hold its first Judicial Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, February 2, 2000 commencing at 6:30 p.m. in the Roger A. Barker Courtroom on the 23rd floor of the Orange County Courthouse in downtown Orlando. Participants can attend in person or can ask the distinguished panel of Judges questions via the Internet or fax. Chief Judge Ted Coleman will serve as the moderator for the evening and will ask the panel to answer questions from attendees, from faxes and from questions submitted through the Internet. Further, the Town Hall meeting will be broadcast live over the Internet and on Orange TV (local government access).
"This forum is very different from any that I am aware of," stated Chief Judge Ted Coleman. "The goal of the Judicial Town Hall is to hear from the people we serve. We want to improve public trust and confidence in our court system. To do so, we are offering people a chance to talk to their Judiciary and at the same time we are offering computer literate individuals a chance to do so from their homes and offices. It’s the Court’s answer in the year 2000 to a Franklin D. Roosevelt fireside chat."
Why a Town Hall? The Judges want to hear from the public rather than report to it. The Judges expect comments to range over a wide spectrum of matters from death penalty issues, to complex civil litigation to the issuing of traffic tickets. It is planned that the Judicial Town Hall will become a permanent channel for community input into the Courts and will seek to explore how citizens feel the court system is doing.
The panel of distinguished Judges are prepared to respond to questions and include: Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles Wells, District Court of Appeal Judge Emerson Thompson, Circuit Judge Dorothy Russell, Circuit Judge Cynthia Z. Mackinnon, Orange County Judge Carolyn Freeman and Osceola County Judge Ronald Legendre. Of course, participants cannot air personal grievances or ask questions relating to particular cases, but they can ask questions of the legal system. Questions are welcomed prior to the Town Hall meeting.
To e-mail a question, submit it to townhall@ocnjcc.org. To fax a question, submit it to 407-835-5040. To watch the meeting over the Internet, log on to our web site at www.ninja9.org and click on the "Live Broadcast button." For comprehensive information concerning Town Hall, please visit www.ninja9.org/townhall.htm. Orange T.V. (Government Access) will also air the meeting live.
For additional information concerning this first-of-its-kind Town Hall, please contact Karen Levey, Director of Communications and Public Affairs at 407-836-2047.
