County judges join education effort: will work with the Dignity in Law program.

Inspired by the Bar's efforts to tell the whole story about the positive work lawyers engage in across Florida, the Conference of County Court Judges has launched "Trumpet Your Gavel," a program designed to educate the public on the role and function of the courts.

"We need to let the public know what the judges are doing, in and out of the courtroom, to really change lives and improve the system," said Miami-Dade County Judge Beth Bloom, the conference's new president.

After reading about Bar President Tod Aronovitz' Dignity in Law initiative, Judge Bloom said she was convinced the judges needed to offer their support and involvement in the effort to clear up the misperceptions about lawyers and judges.

"I saw the focus was on lawyers and judges and I thought, 'You know what, we need to do something,'" Bloom said, adding that telling the public about the good works of judges "leads to public confidence in our court system because people see there may be some bad apples, but you know what, for the most part there are many, many wonderful judges who work tirelessly in their communities."

Judge Bloom said the conference has a Public Education on the Court Team in each of the state's 20 judicial circuits, which she has tasked with finding stories about judges doing good works. Once the stories have been identified, the Bar's Dignity in Law program has agreed to help the conference disseminate that information to the media.

Bloom said examples of some of those stories include:

* A judge in Jackson County who, when he observed that many of the defendants before him on bad check charges were terrible in managing their finances, worked with local banks to set up a money management course for those convicted of writing bad checks. He then makes attending the class part of his sentences, and if the defendant passes the class and makes restitution, they are entitled to a free checking account.

* An Orange County judge who has taught a newlywed course for married couples at his local church for 20 years. The course deals with communication skills, parenting, and how to work out conflicts within the family.

* A Dade County judge who kept a family together after a mother was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor when her child missed 42 days of school. "Rather than imposing jail, what this judge did was creatively suspended entry of the sentence upon the condition that the mother physically brought the child to school everyday," Judge...