On March 25, 2016 Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine and fifteen members of his staff participated in a speed mentoring event with students enrolled in the Family Scholar House program.  The event, which took place at the Louisville Scholar House campus located at 403 Reg Smith Circle, paired prosecutors, paralegals and other professionals from Wine’s office with Family Scholar House program participants who have just graduated or are near graduating from local colleges and were interested in pursuing careers in law, government or related areas.   Family Scholar House has four campuses in Jefferson County and cites as its mission “to end the cycle of poverty and transform our community by empowering families and youth to succeed in education and achieve life-long self-sufficiency.”  Tom and his staff were happy to play a small role in helping these young adults along that journey.

From the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney. Please see our Media Releases page at louisvilleprosecutor.com/media-releases for more details and archives.

PDF download of this document

OFFICE OF THE COMMONWEALTH’S ATTORNEY
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY
30^th JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
THOMAS B. WINE, COMMONWEALTH’S ATTORNEY

Media Release: February 26, 2016

LEXINGTON, KY — Tom Wine, Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 30^th Judicial Circuit (comprised of Jefferson County), was presented the Sword of Justice Award by the Kentucky Commonwealth’s Attorney Association at the annual Kentucky Prosecutors Winter Meeting.  The award was presented by Rob Sanders, Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 16^th Judicial Circuit (comprised of Kenton County) and current president of the Kentucky Commonwealth Attorney’s Association.  The Sword of Justice Award is given in recognition of individual actions or achievements in the pursuit of justice in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  In presenting the award Sanders stated that “Tom exemplifies the honor, integrity and dedication of a model prosecutor and he has worked to improve the criminal justice system for all participants, including criminal defendants.”  He concluded stating that “Tom is respected by Commonwealth’s Attorneys across Kentucky for his experience, sense of fairness and teamwork.  Tom’s many years of experience as a respected member of the bench are evident in the way he approaches his job as a felony prosecutor.  The Kentucky Commonwealth’s Attorney Association wanted to recognize Tom’s outstanding work and thank him for his dedicated service.”

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The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office occupies a critical position in the criminal justice system. Commonly referred to as the District Attorney in most states, the Commonwealth’s Attorney must focus the power of the state on those who defy its laws. As legal representative for the people, the Commonwealth’s Attorney has the duty to seek justice for all. Visit www.louisvilleprosecutor.com for more information.

PLEASE CONTACT
Jeff Cooke
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney
514 West Liberty Street
Louisville, KY 40202
Tel: 502-595-2340
Mobile:  502-262-5809
Email:  JCooke@louisvilleprosecutor.com

Archived from the link on the home page: SPECIAL NOTICE: Agreement Reached Between Judge Olu Stevens & Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine, 12/4/15 [PDF]

Commonwealth of Kentucky
Office of the Attorney General

Jack Conway
Attorney General

Capitol Building, Suite 118
700 Capitol Avenue
Frankfort, KY 40601-3449
(502) 696-5300
Fax: (502) 564-2894

ATTORNEY GENERAL CONWAY ANNOUNCES ROCKET DOCKET INITIATIVE SAVES $2.8 MILLION IN THREE MONTHS

Projected savings of $11 million for the current fiscal year

FRANKFORT, Ky. (December 2, 2015) – Attorney General Jack Conway and members of the Prosecutors Advisory Council (PAC) today announced that the Rocket Docket Initiative, which was funded through comprehensive heroin legislation passed during the 2015 General Assembly, has saved taxpayers an estimated $2.8 million in local jail costs in just three months from August 1, 2015 to October 31, 2015.  This savings is more than twice the amount of funding the initiative received for the entire fiscal year.  The projected estimated savings for the current fiscal year is $11 million.

“Since being elected Attorney General, one of my top priorities has been to be fiscally responsible in fighting the drug epidemic that is crippling Kentucky communities,” said Attorney General Jack Conway.  “Not only do these programs make the justice system faster and more efficient, they enable non-violent, lower-level offenders with substance abuse issues to receive rehabilitation and treatment.  The substantial cost savings to local governments demonstrates the program is not only helping those with addiction, but also taking the burden off the taxpayers.”

In addition to the $2.8 million in incarceration savings during the first three months of implementation, 1,472 cases were completed or were pending in PAC-funded rocket dockets.  This saves time and resources for stakeholders in the criminal justice system; including courts, prosecutors, grand juries, public defenders, and clerks.  The initiative has also placed 361 defendants in drug treatment.  Successful treatment reduces recidivism, which saves additional time and resources for the criminal justice system.

“The expansion and implementation of rocket dockets throughout the Commonwealth has been a tremendous financial benefit to our Commonwealth while ensuring public safety,” said Chris Cohron, Commonwealth’s Attorney for the Eighth Judicial Circuit.

Christian County Attorney Mike Foster added, “The Kentucky General Assembly committed itself to providing effective treatment for non-violent drug offenders as opposed to the extraordinary expense of long term incarceration. The Rocket Docket Initiative is a proven program that gives individuals the opportunity to become productive citizens, while also creating millions in savings for our state budget.  The continued funding of rocket docket programs is an extraordinary opportunity to save lives and effectuate millions of dollars in savings.”

To view a copy of the December Rocket Docket Report, please visit:  http://goo.gl/92Gj8V

In 2015, PAC received $1 million in funding to implement, expand, or enhance rocket docket programs throughout the Commonwealth.  Rocket dockets are a collaborative effort between the County and Commonwealth’s Attorneys to process the appropriate cases more swiftly through the judicial system, which creates cost savings and more quickly identifies defendants who would benefit from drug treatment.  PAC funded 28 programs and collected data to measure their success.  The funding for these grants was provided to PAC through the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, which received funding from Senate Bill 192.

Paragraph 31 on Page 14 of the attached affidavit provides a summary of our position on this issue:

31. To be sure, my decision to seek certification of law is not motivated by any desire to seat all-white juries or to exclude African Americans or other minorities from jury service.  In Mr. Doss’s case, the Commonwealth did not strike any African American juror.  The Court, by random selection, struck the lone African American juror.  Then, Judge Stevens dismissed the entire panel of properly qualified jurors because of that random strike.  My decision to seek certification of law is motivated by a desire for the law to be clear to judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, defendants, victims, witnesses, and potential jurors and for there to be uniformity amongst the courts.  Importantly, the questions certified include not only whether striking a jury panel that includes only white jurors, by no action of the prosecution or defense, is correct, but also-if such a dismissal is correct, how additional jury selection should proceed.  That Judge Stevens has presumed and proceeded to tell the world through social media that my actions were dictated by discriminatory attitudes, not only offends me, but leads me to reasonably conclude that Judge Stevens cannot be fair and impartial on cases in which I or my assistants are involved.

As explained by Justice Frankfurter:

The judicial process demands that a judge move within the framework of relevant legal rules and the covenanted modes of thought for ascertaining them. He must think dispassionately and submerge private feeling on every aspect of a case. There is a good deal of shallow talk that the judicial robe does not change the man within it. It does. The fact is that on the whole judges do lay aside private views in discharging their judicial functions. This is achieved through training, professional habits, self-discipline and that fortunate alchemy by which men are loyal to the obligation with which they are entrusted. But it is also true that reason cannot control the subconscious influence of feelings of which it is unaware. When there is ground for believing that such unconscious feelings may operate in the ultimate judgment, or many not unfairly lead others to believe they are operating, judges recuse themselves. They do not sit in judgment. They do this for a variety of reasons. The guiding consideration is the administration of justice should reasonably appear to be disinterested as well as be so in fact.

For the full affidavit of Mr. Wine, click here [11MB PDF].