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Chief Justice Howe tells Utah legislators courts are 'vigorous and healthy,' highlights drug court and juvenile mediation
Summary
Chief Justice Howe delivered the State of the Judiciary to the House on Jan. 18, 1999, describing a modest caseload increase, drug‑court and juvenile‑mediation successes, a statewide racial‑fairness task force and plans to study family‑court options and improved public access to case information.
Chief Justice Howe addressed the Utah House in Committee of the Whole on Jan. 18, 1999, delivering a broad State of the Judiciary update that emphasized both human outcomes and system improvements.
Howe opened by introducing members of the Supreme Court and court leadership and said the judiciary’s caseload has risen recently — district court filings rose about 4% from 1997 to 1998. Instead of focusing on budget statistics, Howe used two human examples to illustrate court work: "Patty," who overcame heroin addiction and completed the Salt Lake Drug Court program and "Jeremy," a 15‑year‑old whose restitution and mediation process involved the victim teacher reducing part of the debt tied to improved school performance. "Fifteen months later, after over a year of daily treatment... a family is reunited," Howe said of Patty’s drug‑court success.
Howe described the juvenile court’s restorative approach to victim‑offender mediation and credited volunteer mediators and creative restitution plans for making victims feel whole while giving youth a chance to remain in school and repay harms through work restitution. He also highlighted the Judicial Council’s task force on racial and ethnic fairness, which held 12 public hearings statewide and surfaced concerns that minority communities feel unfairly treated in enforcement, prosecution and corrections. Howe said the task force will propose concrete solutions and that some may require legislation.
Other items Howe noted included planned work on family‑court options (ranging from shared information systems to structural changes), a toll‑free information line operated by the Administrative Office of the Courts, and an automated information terminal in the Matheson Courthouse that will allow the public to check case dates and fines; the system is expected to expand to allow telephone fine payments.
Howe framed the judiciary’s work as collaborative with the legislative and executive branches and invited suggestions for continued improvement. After the address, the House dissolved the Committee of the Whole and expressed appreciation for the Chief Justice’s remarks.
The address combined system performance details and illustrative personal stories to make the case that reforms such as drug courts, mediation, better public information and attention to racial and ethnic fairness are central to improving outcomes in Utah’s courts.
