The time to push for court funding is now.

Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente recently addressed the Board of Governors advocating more lawyer involvement in the upcoming court budget issues with the legislature

Pariente was standing in for Chief Justice Harry Lee Anstead, who was snowbound at a Virginia conference for chief justices, at the board's January 31 meeting in Tallahassee.

Pariente invoked the spirit of World War II icon Rosie the Riveter and her mantra that if we all work together "we can do it."

"I do think, and respect the fact, that this battle for us, for the justice system, and for justice for all Floridians is being fought now in this very legislative session," Pariente said, adding that the move to state assumption of funding of the courts has the potential to change how business is conducted in the courts and puts into jeopardy the many innovative and progressive programs which have been implemented in Florida over the past 30 years.

In concept, Revision 7 -- the constitutional amendment passed by voters in 1998 that mandated the state take over more trial court funding from counties by July 1, 2004 -- was a "great idea," Pariente said.

"But I feared then and I fear even more now... that the court system as we know it is in peril," she said, adding that lawyers can no longer take for granted that when they walk into the courthouse the judges and their staffs and the court administrators who make the process run smoothly will be there.

Legislation Committee Chair Jesse Diner told the board the committee has been studying me issue and had debated whether to take action before a February 18 legislative summit for the board. After recent legislative activity, the committee decided to adopt a broad general position that can be refined later, be said.

That position is that "the Bar supports adequate funding of the state court system, the state attorneys' offices, the public defenders' offices, and appointed counsel," Diner said. "A lot of things are encompassed by that."

The board approved that unanimously.

He urged board members to attend the February 18 event to learn about the complexities of court funding.

"It's really imperative we turn out as many people as possible; we need to understand Article V funding," Diner told board members. "If you'll recall, the reason the Legislative Committee wanted to do this is the more we talked about it, the more we realized we have to learn."

The program will run from 1 to 5 p.m., and that evening the Bar will have its...