Re: National Law Journal:Condition Critical:Long-neglected courthouses health hazard

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> ©2006 National Law Journal Online

> Page printed from: _http://www.nlj.com_ (http://www.nlj.com)

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> ____________________________________

> Condition Critical

> Geier/Staff reporter

> October 4, 2006

>

>

> Many local courthouses across the nation are unsafe and

overcrowded, and

> people working in them allege that long-neglected facilities are

making them

> sick with everything from respiratory problems to cancer.

>

> Flaking asbestos, peeling paint, black mold, a lack of ventilation

and

> violations of modern building and fire codes are among the hazards,

according to

> courthouse personnel, as well as legal actions and workers'

compensation claims

> filed in several jurisdictions from Boston to Los Angeles.

>

> " For a number of years and for a variety of reasons, state and

local court

> budgets have been on a roller coaster, " said M. Linskey,

executive

> director of the State Justice Institute in andria, Va.,

established to award

> grants to improve the quality of justice in state courts.

>

> " The first thing to go in uncertain times is general maintenance

and repair

> of buildings, " Linskey said. " Budgeters have been forced to skimp

on the

> upkeep of courthouses . . . to meet payroll and keep the doors

open. It's a

> problem, and it is going to get bigger. "

>

> The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

processed

> 99 requests for health hazard evaluations of courthouses around

the country

> over the past two decades-nearly one third of which were received

in the last

> five years.

>

> All but one of the 30 requests since 2001 claimed that poor indoor

air

> quality, ventilation and mold issues were causing allergic

symptoms, a range of

> respiratory problems and cancers.

>

> The 30 requests originated from courthouses in 16 states and the

District of

> Columbia, including Philadelphia City Traffic Court; Florida's 4th

District

> Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach; New York state Supreme and

Surrogate's

> courts in Jamaica, Queens County; and Arkansas Court of Appeals in

Little Rock.

>

> Problems exist in courthouses where maintenance budgets have not

kept pace

> with the ravages of time and local conditions such as humidity and

> earthquakes. Even many newer facilities have been found to contain

black mold, court

> administrators note.

>

> The problems are magnified in jurisdictions where tightening

budgets have

> meant deferred maintenance-particularly where county and local

governments own

> courthouses occupied by state judicial employees.

>

> 'Quite deplorable'

>

> Chief Justice M. of the California Supreme Court,

who has made

> good on a pledge to visit all 451 county-owned courthouses in

California's

> 58 counties when he became chief justice in 1996, said that the

conditions he

> found were " quite deplorable in many instances. "

>

> The variety of health, safety and security issues made the courts

eager for

> the Legislature to transfer control of court facilities to direct

state

> judicial branch management after the state took over the courts in

2000,

> said.

>

> The California Legislature is trying to resolve liability issues

that have

> held up the facility transfer, particularly a requirement that the

counties

> bring the buildings up to snuff before transferring them to the

state. New

> legislation would require the counties to retain liability for the

buildings for

> only a prescribed period of time, said.

>

> Unhealthy courthouses can affect everyone who uses the facilities,

including

> judges, jurors and trial lawyers.

>

> Headaches, nausea, dizziness, serious respiratory problems,

cancers and

> mesothelioma from asbestos are among the ailments that people

claim they have

> contracted from poorly maintained courthouses.

>

> A. Drake, chief of the family violence division in the

Baltimore City

> State's Attorney's Office in the Clarence M. Jr.

Courthouse,

> believes the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that she was treated for six

years ago was

> caused by working in a courthouse with serious environmental

problems.

>

> " I really feel that to some extent you take you life and health in

your own

> hands when you take a job in this courthouse, " Drake said.

>

> Drake suspects poor ventilation, mold and pigeon droppings-

sometimes a foot

> deep outside her window-may have contributed to her illness.

>

> Marilynne of & Faenza in Walpole, Mass., a divorce

lawyer and one

> of three attorney plaintiffs in a Massachusetts case over

courthouse

> conditions, said that she regularly spent from one to five days a

week in Norfolk

> Probate and Family Court in Dedham, Mass., before a court ordered

it closed.

>

> The unhealthy conditions in the courthouse " created an atmosphere

that was

> devoid of any dignity or professionalism, both for lawyers and for

clients

> going through litigation, also of being unsafe, " said. She

added that the

> morale of court personnel and judges was clearly affected by

having to work

> full time in that building.

>

> Chang-Ming Yeh, a Denver-based judicial facility planner with the

National

> Center for State Courts in burg, Va., said that " sick

building

> syndrome " frequently comes up when considering new courthouse

construction or

> renovation, but that the center has not kept statistical data on

the issue in

> courthouses or complaints received.

>

> A local list of horrors

>

> So far, most action on the issue has stayed local. Among other

problem hot

> spots:

>

> The 102-year-old Mercer County Criminal Courthouse and its annex

in Trenton,

> N.J., were closed for a day last month after an independent title

searcher

> working in the county clerk's office was diagnosed with suspected

> Legionnaires' disease, a type of pneumonia caused by waterborne

bacteria.

>

> Though the disease could not be traced to the courthouse, the

incident

> highlighted existing chronic air quality, mold and health issues

stemming from the

> aging building, leaking roofs and deferred maintenance, said

Daly,

> spokesman for Mercer County Executive M. .

>

> Elbert County Courthouse in Kiowa, Colo., is only 21 years old,

but it has

> been closed for most of the last two years due to health concerns

related to

> persistent mold problems caused by a leaky roof and unsealed

foundation, said

> L. Salaz, spokeswoman for the state judiciary.

>

> Los Angeles court officials invited the local news media to watch a

Los

> Angeles judge conduct her docket on the steps of the Central Civil

West

> Courthouse last August after the facility's antiquated electrical

system melted

> down-just one of 49 Los Angeles County courthouses that have issues

ranging from

> asbestos to zootoxins.

>

> Union activists in Baltimore, alarmed by accumulations of pigeon

> droppings-the same ones referred to by Drake-on the city's circuit

courthouses, as well

> as blackened office air vents and high incidences of respiratory

ailments,

> campaigned successfully to get the city's courthouses cleaned.

They continue to

> agitate for regular maintenance and personnel testing.

>

> A lawsuit in Massachusetts on behalf of 58 courthouse employees

and three

> lawyers-the suit joined by -resulted in a court order closing

the Norfolk

> Probate and Family Court in Dedham in 2002. Schmidt v. Norfolk

County, No.

> 02-00614 (Norfolk Co., Mass., Super. Ct.).

>

> A 'line in the sand'

>

> An action over asbestos remediation in the J. Sullivan

Courthouse in

> Cambridge, Mass., is pending before a single justice of

commonwealth's

> Supreme Judicial Court in Boston. Sullivan v. Chief Justice of

Administration and

> Management, No. SJ-2006-0176 (SJC for Suffolk Co., Mass.).

>

> Plaintiffs in that lawsuit include Middlesex County's clerk of the

court and

> prosecutor, as well as the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Lawyers

and at

> least 200 court employees. The NIOSH is still conducting an

inquiry involving

> the Sullivan courthouse.

>

> Martha Coakley, Middlesex County district attorney and a candidate

for

> commonwealth attorney general whose office is in the Sullivan

Courthouse, said it

> became clear that nothing was going to happen until someone filed

suit.

>

> " The government kept taking its time to do an assessment, " Coakley

said,

> adding that the plaintiffs " drew the line in the sand " when the

court

> administration said it was going to do asbestos abatement with

people in the building.

>

> Coakley pointed out that her predecessor's chronic bronchitis went

away

> after he stopped working in the courthouse.

>

> A. Milne, of the Milne Law Offices in Dover, Mass., who

represents the

> plaintiffs pro bono in both Massachusetts cases, noted that

if " this is what

> we value most as a society, this justice system that makes our

country

> great, then there's a deep-rooted problem in that there isn't the

political will

> or whatever it takes to invest in adequate facilities. "

>

> A. Mulligan, chief justice for administration and management

for

> Massachusetts' Administrative Office of the Trial Court, the

judicial official

> responsible for the maintenance of the commonwealth's 110 court

facilities,

> declined to discuss pending litigation.

>

> But Mulligan said that six new courthouses, beginning with a $180

million,

> 26-courtroom full service facility in Worcester, underscore the

commonwealth's

> commitment to courthouse construction.

>

> Massachusetts is " a small state committed to building courthouses

accessible

> to everyone and committed to providing a safe and secure

environment to its

> 7,400 courthouse employees and others who use the buildings, "

Mulligan said.

>

> M. Zielinski of Goulston & Storrs of Boston, who

represents Mulligan

> in the litigation, noted: " You can't do everything you want to do

when you

> want to do it. We're focusing on the problem and doing what we

can. "

>

> Asbestos in L.A.

>

> Los Angeles County's earthquakes ensure that it does not have

centenarian

> courthouses, but workers in the large county court system have

health-related

> complaints similar to their eastern counterparts.

>

> Allan Parachini, public information officer for the Los Angeles

Superior

> Court, said that many of the county's courthouses have asbestos

issues because

> they were built in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition, their

electrical systems

> weren't designed to bear the heavy burden of today's computing and

electronic

> demands.

>

> " Long Beach Courthouse is the poster child because it presents all

of the

> difficulties that we have all in one place, " Parachini said.

>

> Part of Long Beach Courthouse was built in the 1950s and part was

built in

> the 1960s, and the two parts were not properly attached. The

building has

> rats, insects and asbestos issues, and its elevators and

escalators, inoperable

> for several years, recently were put back in operation but still

aren't all

> working properly, he said.

>

> The building, considered an " extreme seismic risk, " is undergoing

a $16

> million seismic reinforcement work " to keep it standing long enough

for people to

> get out in the event of an earthquake, " Parachini said.

>

> Bats in Baltimore

>

> In Baltimore, union activism helped to goad officials into

cleaning up its

> two allegedly sick courthouse buildings, one built in 1900 and the

other in

> the 1930s.

>

> In addition to rodents, bats and insect infestations, workers

claimed that

> the buildings caused a variety of respiratory problems,

unexplained rashes and

> even several cases-one fatal-of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

>

> The union has fought with city and court officials over issues

such as air

> quality testing, but rather than file a lawsuit, it has begun to

build a

> record by sending sick members to the state's workers'

compensation commission. It

> won its first case in April and has three or four more cases

pending,

> according to Arthur " Pat " , president of American Federation

of State, County

> and Municipal Employees Local 3674 and a Baltimore city circuit

courtroom

> clerk.

>

> The union's pressure and a wider realization that people in other

> departments-judges, prosecutors and sheriff's deputies-have

developed the same health

> problems as clerks, led the court and city officials to resolve

that Baltimore

> needs a new criminal courthouse and the complete renovation of its

existing

> buildings.

>

> But as in other jurisdictions, the hard part is determining who is

> responsible for finding the money: the state that pays the clerks'

and judges'

> salaries, or the city that owns and maintains the buildings.

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