Pols move quick in Latvala case

Maxwell: Ex-lawmaker’s accuser gets settlement, others in Florida end up playing waiting game.

Last month, state Senate President Bill Galvano agreed to spend $900,000 of taxpayer money to settle a messy case stemming from sexual harassment allegations against former Sen. Jack Latvala.

In relative terms, the matter was handled lickety-split.

From the time the first women complained about Latvala to the time the check was cut, only 13 months passed.

It was a case that involved politicians, lobbyists and allegations of lewd behavior (which Latvala denied) — and legislators wanted the matter behind them ASAP. So they cut the check fast.

Notably, they act much slower when other victims are concerned.

Take, for instance, the case of Carl Abbott. The South Florida man was using a crosswalk in 2008 when a school bus plowed into him, leaving him partially paralyzed and confined to a nursing home the rest of his life.

The Palm Beach school district knew it needed to pay for his care. So before the case even went to trial, the district agreed to settle for $1.9 million.

But Legislators — who, by state law, must approve such government settlements — dragged their feet for years.

They delayed and delayed … until finally Abbot died in 2015 before getting the money.

“He’s dead because the Legislature didn’t take up that claims bill,” his attorney said at the time. “I truly believe that.”

And it’s not just bus-accident victims who get short shrift. It’s rape victims, too.

In the case of “J.D.S.” — a mentally disabled woman impregnated by the husband of the woman who ran a state-supervised group home in Orlando — state officials also knew they needed to pay for what the woman endured.

So the state agreed to a $1.15 million settlement. And local legislators — Republican Scott Plakon and Democrat Darren Soto — sponsored the bill to pay her.

“We have a duty to keep people like her safe, and we failed terribly,” Plakon said at the time. “This is one of those things that is above politics.” Except, apparently it wasn’t. Plakon’s peers refused to approve the bill in 2015. And again in 2016.

Finally, in 2017 — more than a decade after she was raped — the Legislature agreed to give her the money state officials had promised years earlier.

This is what passes for “justice” in Florida. And it’s sick.

Thanks to antiquated laws that say the Legislature must approve government payouts of more than $200,000 — even when the Legislature has nothing to do with the case — claims aren’t handled based on merit. They’re based on politics.

Victims often have to hire lobbyists … with good connections.

The Associated Press reported last year that, while the Legislature refused to approve nearly 80 percent of the claims bills considered, one lobbyist’s firm had unusual success — the one run by the brother of then-House Speaker Richard Corcoran.

The Corcorans said nepotism wasn’t a factor. But it’s a twisted justice system that forces victims to hire lobbyists at all.

“In the end, politicizing a judicial solution is simply unfair,” said Zander Clem, the Orlando attorney for J.D.S., who worked on the case for 14 years. “It violates the fundamental constitutional tenet of separation of powers. And it forces victims of tragedy to wait years for closure.”

Clem said his client was forced to hire a lobbyist. “Without this,” he said, “you will not likely pass your claims bill.”

In the Latvala case, the Legislature didn’t make the accuser wait. Since the Senate was a defendant, the president’s office said Galvano had authority to approve the settlement himself.

All governments should control their own destinies. If an entity knows it was negligent or culpable — if a beach patrol runs over a sunbather or a garbage truck plows into an innocent commuter — that government should have the authority to handle the matter. Also, jury verdicts shouldn’t be thwarted by politicians in Tallahassee.

Many agencies have insurance to pay the claims — though, in another cruel twist, the system allows insurers to lobby legislators to approve the settlements, so the insurance companies won’t have to pay.

Legislators know the system is flawed. In 2013, members of both parties recommended raising the bar that triggers legislative approval to $1 million, so smaller verdicts and settlements don’t require votes. But the proposal died.

I’d argue legislators should remove themselves entirely from litigation to which they aren’t connected. But at a minimum, the level should be raised — so lawmakers are less often involved and less frequently delaying justice.

They should also handle all cases as quickly as they handled the ugly accusations against one of their own members.

“The Sixth Amendment guarantees a criminal defendant the right to a speedy trial,” Clem said. “Yet, when the government causes a tragedy, Florida victims and their families are required to wait a decade or more in some instances before they receive justice.”

Nobody wants to pay out more public money than necessary — just like nobody wants to get sexually assaulted or hit by a bus.

And nobody should want politicians mucking around with lawsuits they have nothing to do with.