By Jason Geary
The Ledger
BARTOW, Fla. — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is preparing to monitor and record all telephone calls from the jail, including conversations between lawyers and their clients.
The policy change is expected to take place July 1.
Local defense lawyers worry the change will cost taxpayers more money and tramples on their clients’ rights to speak confidentially with their lawyers.
The Sheriff’s Office had exempted lawyer-client calls from its general policy of monitoring and recording jail telephone calls. Lawyers could register their telephone numbers so the calls wouldn’t be monitored.
But Sheriff Grady Judd said a recent decision of the Florida Supreme Court stated inmates have no reasonable expectation of privacy if they’re warned that the calls are being recorded.
“The bottom line is this is the law,” Judd said. “We are enforcing the law. We didn’t make this law. The courts have decided it.”
A letter dated May 27 was sent to explain the agency’s policy change.
“I could have done it immediately, but I gave them 30 days’ notice so they could prepare for this,” he said.
Judd said he was seizing another avenue to gather evidence to use against defendants.
“I am going to send the best information I can to the state attorney for us to prosecute criminals that are in our jail system,” he said.
Lawyers can still visit their clients with privacy during face-to-face visits at the jail or through a secure videoconference link, Judd said.
“They can keep talking to them on the phone,” Judd said. “And if they do that, then we’ll use anything they say on that recorded line to help prosecute the case.”
State Attorney Jerry Hill said inmates are adequately warned their calls are being recorded.
Hill said the policy change would likely bring lawyer-client conversations over the telephone to a halt. If it doesn’t, any evidence recorded is fair game in court.
“I applaud the sheriff for taking full advantage of what the law says he can rightfully do,” Hill said.
Public Defender J. Marion Moorman disagreed, saying the policy change will waste precious resources and puts further demands on a burdened criminal justice system.
“Every year, it seems like there is just one more hurdle placed in the way of getting our job done efficiently and effectively,” he said. “This, I feel, is just totally ridiculous.”
Moorman said his office is still analyzing what it might cost to stop accepting telephone calls from the jail.
He said his assistant public defenders will have to make extra trips between Bartow and the jail in Frostproof.
The 52-mile round trips will consume more gasoline and lawyers’ time, he said.
Cases also will take longer to resolve, and inmates will stay longer in jail, he said.
The Public Defender’s Office received 677 calls from the jail on Monday alone.
Moorman said the calls are oftentimes routine matters that take only a few moments to discuss but now will require face-to-face chats at the jail.
Julia Williamson, president of the Polk County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, said the longer it takes to resolve cases, the more the criminal justice system is bogged down.
“If they want to keep the cases moving, they should make it as easy as possible for lawyers to talk to their clients,” she said.
John Liguori, a Bartow defense lawyer, said Judd is trying to appear tough on crime.
“It’s really absurd,” he said. “These individuals have a right to their attorneys and have a right to speak to their attorneys in confidence. His intention is to undermine the process.”
Liguori said he plans to file motions asking judges to request the Sheriff’s Office transport his clients from the jail to the courthouse.
Judd said he didn’t think judges would grant such requests.
“We’re not going to start a taxicab service,” he said.
Some inmates complain they don’t get to see their lawyers until they show up in court, Judd said.
“Using the phone makes the inmates feel like the case isn’t important to their attorney,” he said. “The inmates, quite frankly, would rather see their attorney face to face.”
Judd said he isn’t concerned whether inmates stay longer in jail while their cases are being resolved.
“I’m never concerned when criminals can stay in jail longer,” he said. “We’re not overcrowded. We’ve got plenty of room.”
Judd also said he has no plans to expand videoconferencing at the jail. And he refused to put in secure telephone lines with which inmates could talk to their lawyers.
“They are not going to have any telephone access that’s not recorded,” he said.
He accused defense lawyers of trying to sway public opinion.