Jacksonville, Florida is getting a new $350 million courthouse. If they can pass the fire inspection, that is:

Courthouse-builder Turner Construction has made progress adjusting fire controls, Senterfitt said, saying officials were “cautiously optimistic.”

However, he acknowledged that two areas of the 800,000-suqare-foot building — the atrium and part of the third floor — have continued to fail tests to control smoke movement.

He said officials now think it may be possible to move into the building in a “phased occupancy” that would keep failed areas open only to pass-through traffic, if necessary.

Otherwise, he said the city considered a move back to the old courthouse on Bay Street as a viable alternative.

Is there any better symbol for the overcriminalization of American law than a Palais de Justice that looks like one slightly more mall-like courthouse stacked on top of another? Especially one that’s not up to code.

Today is June 1st, which means the building is officially behind schedule. As for an opening date, a city spokesman says they “still haven’t pegged a day.”