Bar seeks calm after Charley's storm; work underway to get court system back up and running.

A jail without air-conditioning became a makeshift courtroom in Charlotte County, where Hurricane Charley aimed its most ferocious winds. There, amid the heat and humidity, Charlotte County Judge Walter Wayne Woodard orchestrated emergency hearings for domestic violence, juvenile matters, and criminal first-appearances as rapidly as he could.

Every other court hearing or trial in Charlotte County will just have to wait until the crisis is over--an estimated two weeks until the end of August.

"We are reporting back to the chief justice day-by-day," said 20th Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Hugh Hayes, of Naples, on August 16.

"It's pretty clear that we won't be operational for this week, and we can only do those minimal things. The earliest for Charlotte is probably the week of the 23rd. But I don't think that will happen."

Word of canceled court proceedings was easily spread to lawyers through the media, said 20th Judicial Circuit Court Administrator Caron Jeffreys, who lives in South Ft. Myers.

"I think everybody just understands the situation we are in and everyone is patient," Judge Hayes said. "The only county with a significant backup is Charlotte. Once we are good to go, we will use the majority of our senior judge time. We anticipate being down two weeks."

Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Barbara Pariente gave an order of suspension, and a proclamation that said: "The Court must do everything it can to guarantee the rights of litigants who have missed or might miss legal deadlines due to the stoma."

Judge Hayes said, "We will suspend demands for speedy trial, so we don't get caught in a bind on those. We are obviously trying to address the issue and don't want the jail to get overcrowded in Charlotte. Now, we have an extra population coming in for looting and curfew violations."

The chief justice even offered to come to Punta Gorda to help out, Judge Hayes said, but he told her it wasn't necessary.

"My office was in touch with Chief Judge Hayes throughout the weekend to make sure he had and continued to receive any resources he needed to meet this emergency," Chief Justice Pariente said.

"Like every court in Florida, the people who work in the 20th Circuit are part of our extended court family, and we were deeply worried. Fortunately, it appears that our family in Southwest Florida and everywhere along the hurricane's path is OK.

"And one of the greatest ironies of this entire episode is that, while we initially could not reach...