In early October, Chief Judge Jack Tuter installed the new President of the Broward County Women Lawyers Association (BCWLA), Vivian Fazio, and the Board of Directors at the Lauderdale Yacht Club. The “Pink Installation,” honored Breast Cancer Survivors. There were several judges, lawyers and breast cancer survivors in attendance.
On Friday, representatives of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit and its community and justice system partners signed a collaborative agreement thereby establishing a new felony mental health court diversion program. It is designed to divert eligible individuals experiencing serious mental illnesses or co-occurring serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders away from the criminal justice system and into comprehensive community-based treatment and support services, while at the same time protecting public safety.
Signatories to the agreement include the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit through Chief Judge Jack Tuter and the Trial Court Administrator, the State Attorney and Public Defender, the Sheriff and local law enforcement agencies, behavioral health specialists, and local and state government leaders.
Court Bailiff Roger DeHart is set to walk again for his cause, this time in Houston, Texas. Roger formed First Stop, Inc., to help raise awareness of human trafficking. He has trekked from Fort Lauderdale to Washington, D.C., and along the Pacific coast in California.
Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren has authored a chapter in a new publication released by the American Bar Association titled Suicide and its Impact on the Criminal Justice System. The book’s description reads, “In this seminal work, the authors enlist the insights of academic specialists, professionals within the criminal justice system, and individuals who have served time to bring voice to the subject of suicide within the criminal justice system.” Judge Lerner-Wren discusses Broward County’s Misdemeanor Mental Health Court and the integration of suicide prevention into court process.
