Why the prosecutor and public defender in the Florida Keys don’t want a Miami merger

“What’s 10 undersized snappers? For a lot of people, it’s nothing. For us, it’s everything.”

That was state Rep. Jim Mooney speaking Sunday at a rally at a Cuban restaurant in Key Largo. The Florida Keys Republican is against a proposal to merge judicial circuits statewide that, if approved by the Legislature, would mean Monroe and Miami-Dade counties would consolidate judges, prosecutors and public defenders under one umbrella.

Although neighbors, each county has distinct legal issues and focus. Or, as Mooney referenced, getting caught with undersized fish may not get you in much trouble on the mainland. But in the Keys, there’s a good chance you’ll spend time in county jail.

That’s because the fish and other natural resources in the Atlantic Ocean, Florida Bay and Gulf of Mexico surrounding the archipelago are at the heart of Monroe County’s tourist economy.

“You can rape three women in Miami-Dade and not spend a day in jail. You catch the wrong fish here, you’re screwed,” said Elena Vigil-Fariñas, a fiery defense attorney who made national headlines in 2015 as co-counsel representing Aaron Huntsman and William Lee Jones, the first couple to obtain a same-sex marriage license in the Florida Keys.

Vigil-Fariñas was among about 100 people who gathered in the parking lot of La Casa de los Jugos to speak out against the proposal, initiated by Republican Florida House Speaker Paul Renner. He sent a letter in June asking the Florida Supreme Court to study combining several circuits.

“There’s too little of us just to talk,” Vigil-Fariñas said. “We need to shout.”

As a defense attorney, Vigil-Fariñas is often at odds with Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward. But on this issue — to keep Keys courts independent within the island chain — she has enthusiastically joined forces with him.

“He really, really cares. You can argue or disagree with him, but he really does care,” she said. “Do you really think you’re going to get a state attorney who gives a s--- from Miami?” she asked.

Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said through a spokeswoman that she’s “completely opposed” to consolidating the judicial circuits and believes “each circuit should be preserved.”

In August, Fernandez Rundle sent a letter to the committee studying the proposal stating that consolidating the Monroe and Miami-Dade judicial circuits would be “very disruptive to our law enforcement and our criminal justice systems.”

“Like education, law enforcement is, and should be, local and reflect common values; judicial consolidation would serve neither of those two ideals,” Fernandez Rundle wrote.

Monroe Public Defender Robert Lockwood also is usually at odds with Ward. Lockwood said that a likely outcome of merging the Keys court system with Miami-Dade’s would be someone with either a criminal or civil case who lives in Key West having to drive more than four hours to downtown Miami for hearings and other proceedings.

He said that’s the equivalent of merging Miami-Dade’s circuit with Orlando’s. He also emphasized the Keys have unique legal issues that judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys working in Miami-Dade may not fully grasp.

“Everything is different,” Lockwood said. “We run things different. And, we are different.”

Letter to Supreme Court

In his June 15 letter to the Florida Supreme Court, Renner said that the issue of consolidation needs to be studied because the same boundaries of the 20 judicial circuits have been in place since 1969 despite a huge increase in the state’s population.

“I believe that the consolidation of circuits might lead to greater efficiencies and uniformity in the judicial process, thereby increasing public trust and confidence,” Renner said. “I also believe that the consolidation of circuits would result in improved economies of scale in the judiciary’s back-office operations, leading to substantial cost savings for Florida’s taxpayers.”

Although the proposal would include merging other counties, Renner singled out Miami-Dade and Monroe — with populations of 2.7 million people and 80,000.

But Mooney said the population size of the counties is irrelevant in terms of their respective judiciaries, considering cases circulating through Monroe’s court system include the millions of tourists who visit the Keys every year.

“They’re actually taking care of five million people who roll through here,” Mooney said of Ward and Lockwood.

Politics at play in Florida?

Ward, a Republican, said something more political is at play behind Renner’s proposal — specifically, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ fight with two Democratic state attorneys he removed from office. In August 2022, DeSantis removed Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, and a year later, he fired Monique Worrell, who was state attorney of Florida’s Ninth District, which includes Orange and Osceola counties.

Ward accused DeSantis of trying to reconfigure those and other circuits as a way to prevent Warren and Worrell from being able to win re-election. DeSantis, a Republican candidate for president, said the reason he sacked Warren was because he said he refused to prosecute abortion cases, and Worrell because she wasn’t tough enough on crime in the Orlando area.

“Of course, these are good talking points when you’re running for president,” Ward said.

Ward said the push to consolidate circuits doesn’t make sense otherwise in light of DeSantis’ boast of leading the state to a 50-year reduction in crime.

“We’re one of the top three circuits that are leading the league in putting people in state prison. It’s our policies down here,” said the Keys prosecutor. “And, my policy is to make this place as safe as it can be and make sure that we protect our natural resources.”

DeSantis’ office did not respond to questions asking about Ward’s comments, and he supports Renner’s proposal.

People urged to speak

Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos G. Muniz assembled a 14-member panel made up of attorneys and judges to study the merits of consolidating the judicial circuits. So far, the more than 100 letters sent to the panel from attorneys, sheriff’s offices, guardian ad litems and other stakeholders have overwhelmingly been against the proposal.

Nevertheless, depending on the panel’s recommendation, the issue could be decided when the state Legislature meets beginning in January.

Holly Raschein is a Monroe County commissioner who termed out as the Keys state representative before Mooney took the seat. She urged county residents to contact the Judicial Circuit Assessment Committee ahead of a public hearing Friday to make their voices heard against the proposal.

“This is something that unites our community,” Raschein said. “Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican or no-party affiliation, this is important.”