If the Miami-Dade County legislature decides to decriminalize certain misdemeanors, a Miami criminal lawyer may see a slight drop off in their case load. In an efforts to reduce the number of criminal cases in Miami, the local legislature is contemplating decriminalizing certain minor offenses that clog up the county court's dockets. Miami-Dade County commissioners and local judges are pushing to decriminalize 18 misdemeanor charges from the books. Some of the charges that are being considered for decriminalization are failure to have the proper markings on a commercial vehicle, drinking in public, selling flowers without a license and being present in a park after hours.
First time offenders, as well as, repeat offenders are arrested for these crimes everyday in Miami. Since 2005, 52,560 arrests have been made relating to these crimes. Despite the fact the crimes seem inconsequential, offenders do face jail time for these offenses. The local legislature wants to convert these offenses from crimes to civil infractions. Civil infractions are handled along the same line as minor traffic infractions with fines being the penalty.
Proponents of the decriminalization submit that the minor crimes clog up the court's dockets and take up badly needed space in the local jails. Miami-Dade County Chief County Judge Samuel Slom was quoted as saying, "We are being forced to operate like a factory, we are handling cases that have no business being in a criminal courthouse." The county court prosecutors at the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's office are overwhelmed by the number of cases. While an overworked system works to the benefit of Miami criminal defense lawyers, the tax payers and those arrested for such insignificant charges pay the bills.
On the other side of the coin, law enforcement officials say arrests for minor crimes prevent criminal activity as they prevent more dangerous crimes. Although law enforcement officials make a valid point, resources such as money and man power could be directed at more serious offenses such drug trafficking and violent crimes. While the current proposals are only on paper, time will tell which theory will provide more of a benefit to the citizens of Miami-Dade County.
Miami-Dade County's Costly Nuisance Laws Could Get the Ax, The Miami Herald, October 10, 2009.
