LOCAL COURTS SHOULD BE PROUD OF TIMELY DOCKET

Amendment VI to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the accused the right to a speedy trial. But as an explosion of court cases have encumbered the dockets, the speed of justice has been slowed at times. To its credit, the Missouri Supreme Court is attempting to speed up the resolution of cases through a new rule setting deadlines for resolving cases.

More than 860,000 cases were filed in Missouri's circuit courts in fiscal year 1991, an increase of about 2,800 cases over the previous fiscal year. Delays have become routine in Missouri's urban areas, particularly St. Louis County.

But horror stories involving lengthy legal battles which have become commonplace in many parts of the country have been the exception, rather than the rule here. That's why a new mandate by the Missouri Supreme Court to prod the legal justice system may not have as great an impact here as in the metropolitan areas.

The order takes effect in July, and it mandates a phase-in plan to speed up the resolution of civil, criminal, and domestic relations cases. By 1995, only complex or unusual criminal or domestic relations cases can drag on more than a year after being filed; two years for civil cases. The mandates do not apply to juvenile or probate cases.

The bottom line is that fewer continuances will be granted, and trial dates will be much more firm, according to state judges.

Judges, attorneys, and court personnel in the 32nd Judicial Circuit, which includes Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties, can be proud of the speed in which most docket cases are handled. Judge A.J. Seier says most of the circuit's civil cases are disposed of within less than nine months, and divorce cases within three to six months on average. Criminal cases are generally resolved in less than six months, he estimates.

The local circuit currently has a rule that civil cases be resolved within 18 months or the judges will consider dismissing them. Some cases, in fact, have been dismissed because they were not handled in a timely manner.

Ironically, justice can't be too swift. Time is needed for attorneys to prepare cases, or work out settlements. Nationwide, about 90 percent of both civil and criminal cases are settled or dismissed before they go to trial, according to the American Bar Association. In this judicial circuit, only 25 civil and 15 criminal cases were handled by jury trial in fiscal year 1991.

Some attorneys have criticized the Supreme Court rule, suggesting that arbitrary time constraints won't resolve the real problem of too many cases and too few court personnel. Rushing cases to trial or settlement isn't the answer, they say. But the Supreme Court's desire to break the logjam of court delays and legal inaction is commendable.

The court as Cape Girardeau native and Supreme Court Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. has pointed out acted on the basis of recommendations from a committee comprised of members of Missouri's legal profession.

The rule is patterned after those in other states, which, Limbaugh says, have proved successful in providing speedier resolution of court cases. That argues well for the Missouri high court's action.