Message from the President

The Florida Bar Foundation is a leader in the funding of programs that improve the administration of justice in the state of Florida. The Foundation has an impressive story to tell. It is a story that Florida lawyers should be proud of, and it is clearly a story that must be told more often.

Regrettably, few lawyers know the story of the
Foundation and its work. According to The Florida
Bar’s 2009 Membership Opinion Survey, 34 percent of the members of The Florida Bar say they are not aware of the Foundation, while only 12 percent report being
well aware of it and 54 percent say they are somewhat aware of it.

Many lawyers who are aware of the Foundation associate it with its support of local legal aid. The Foundation provides about 30 percent of the funding for the 31 legal aid organizations that together serve all 67 counties in Florida. Other lawyers may associate the Foundation with interest on trust accounts. IOTA provides the primary source of funding for the programs supported by the Foundation.

However, few realize the impact the Foundation has on the improvement of the administration of justice. In this issue of Speaking of Justice, there are two excellent articles on programs receiving grants made recently by the Foundation through its Improvements in the Administration of Justice Grant Program.

The Foundation provided funding for the new Florida Innocence Commission. Through this funding, which supplements funding from the Florida Legislature, the Foundation is helping ensure the Commission will have the resources it needs to thoroughly investigate the causes of wrongful convictions and recommend ways to prevent those convictions.

Similarly, the Foundation is funding a program that seeks to find ways to curtail the “school-to-jail pipeline.” With its funding of a restorative justice program in Escambia County schools, the Foundation is supporting the development of a model for complying with the new state law requiring schools to revise their zero-tolerance policies. The goal of the program is to keep students in school if they pose no threat, instead of placing them in the criminal justice system.

These grants are helping keep Florida’s justice system looking forward to greater efficiency and effectiveness. These programs are examples of how Foundation-funded efforts are making substantial improvements in the administration of justice. The Florida Bar Foundation does, indeed, have a good story to tell. I intend during the coming year to continue the good work of Immediate Past President Adele Stone, who made an extraordinary effort to tell the story of the Foundation and its impact on the less fortunate of the state and on the improvement of the administration of justice.

Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind readers that The Florida Bar Foundation is a 501(c)3 public charity. It is for Florida lawyers the one we should know about and support, not just because of all it does to help low-income Floridians who need civil legal assistance, but for what it does for Florida justice.

Foundation President John A. Noland