By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Nearly all the applicants for the county court judge vacancy in Levy County said Tuesday they believe the judicial system and law enforcement agencies would be negatively impacted if police are defunded.
The six candidates were told by Robert Woody, a member of the 8th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission, that some people believe police should be defunded. He asked candidates if they expected to see impacts on the judicial system if police were defunded or had their budgets cut.
Woody is reportedly planning to run next year for the State Representative District 22 seat currently held by Chuck Clemons. Clemons is term-limited and leaves office in 2024. Woody hasn’t made a formal announcement.
Some candidates gave measured responses to Woody’s question but others were more direct and even blunt about what they thought might happen if law enforcement agencies were defunded or had their budgets cut.
Candidates were ushered into a meeting room at the Levy County Courthouse one at a time for their interview with the nominating commission. They arrived in alphabetical order, with Sunshine Baynard first in line followed by Luis E. Bustamante, Doreen T. Inkeles, Arielle Screws, Caridad Susana Torres, and Cheryl Dianne Westmoreland.
The paperwork for all six candidates was sent this week to the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis in Tallahassee. DeSantis will choose one of the six applicants to be the next Levy County Court Judge, replacing former County Judge James T. Browning.
Browning left office before the end of his term due to health issues.
Sunshine Baynard, who spent the first nine years of her legal career as a public defender and now owns a law firm in Chiefland, was opposed to defunding police.
“I think it would be horrible,” Baynard said. “Back when I was a Chiefland City Commissioner there was talk back then of disbanding our police department. It was a big issue because law enforcement is prevalent in Chiefland. It was big to us. It was big to me. It was big to our town. You have to have law enforcement. It makes everything work. Our whole judicial system is based on law enforcement. If you defund or minimize what they get, they won’t be as productive. Our whole legal system fails.”
Luis E. Bustamante, a career prosecutor, favored giving police better training, especially young officers.
He said there are bad police officers.
“Sometimes what I find is training them is the best way to handle problems,” he said. “That is one of the things I have done in small towns a lot like you have here.”
He said places like Alachua County and St. Johns County pay their officers a lot more money than small towns. He said he has tried to go to law enforcement officers, especially younger ones, and “I tell them this is how you do the law properly. I find that if you train them better that it’s less likely to have bad cops doing things that aren’t acceptable.”
He said over time, the better training will produce good results, but he said it won’t happen right away.
Doreen Inkeles had trouble understanding the question. She thought Woody was talking about defunding the judicial system, but Chairman Norm Fugate clarified that Woody was asking about defunding the police.
“Oh, you’re not talking about the whole criminal justice system?” she said.
Fugate said Woody was asking for her thoughts on defunding police.
“I’m also kind of wondering since you ask that question, how would that come up if I were the judge?” she said. “It sounds to me like it would be a hardship even to have less police officers and with crime on the rise. Obviously, there are arguments on both sides, and there would have to be a lot more information I would need to know how to answer it intelligently.’
Inkeles said she didn’t want to sound like she was waffling on the question.
“Overall, my first impression is it does not sound like it would be a good thing, but again I don’t have all the data in front of me to be able to give you a decent answer,” she said.
Woody asked her if it would be appropriate for her to review the question of defunding police.
“No, certainly not as a judge,” she said.
Arielle Screws, a young prosecutor from Williston, thought defunding the police would have a big impact on the justice system.
“I think it would have a great impact on the justice system and the ability to seek justice in our communities, our towns, and state,” she said. “I think the police play a certain role in ensuring that justice can happen. We all play a role in the criminal justice system. One way or another we’re a part of the team. I am part of that team as a prosecutor.”
Caridad Susan Torres said the officers that are out there working on the street need to feel comfortable and not worried about funding for their agency. Police officers won’t be able to accomplish their service to the public if their agency’s budget is cut.
She said she wants officers on the road comfortable that the right staff is available. She said the officers need a good salary so they are able to carry out their duties effectively.
Cheryl Dianne Westmoreland, of Morriston, who has spent nearly her entire legal career working as an attorney for the Florida Department Children and Families, said defunding police would have an impact on the ability of law enforcement agencies to carry out their duties.
“I don’t think now is the appropriate time to reduce the budgets of law enforcement. I have worked very closely with law enforcement and value their service. I value their support,” Westmoreland said. “I do think in today’s political climate it has become very difficult for law enforcement officers. That hurts me. I have family members who are in law enforcement. My brother-in-law is a homicide detective and has been for several years in the city of Brooklyn and so I think it would be harder for law enforcement to get the job done if their budget is reduced. That would give a little bit more freedom to criminals. We’re seeing it already in the larger cities. I’m hoping it doesn’t have that impact here. It’s such a nice small area. I hope we can keep it that way, but I think any reduction in budget is going to impact the judicial system and it’s going to impact law enforcement, and I think we need to do the best we can to keep law enforcement moving forward, and understanding that if they’re following the law, the judiciary is behind them 100 percent.”
Woody asked her if she thought public safety was a quality-of-life issue.
“Public safety is a very big life quality issue especially if you’re raising small children,” Westmoreland said. “Your home is your sanctuary. You can’t enjoy your home if it’s not in a safe neighborhood and so I think public safety is very important for quality of life. It’s important in my life because I want to live in safety. I want to know law enforcement is going to work hard to protect me and my family.”
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Enterprise Reporting August 3, 2023; Posted August 3, 2023
