The Daily Judge
© 2005 Burton Randall Hanson
             Archives - 04.28.2005 - 05.27.2005
"All the news that gives judges and lawyers fits."
BurtLaw's Daily Judge is not an online newspaper and is not affiliated with or intended to be mistaken for any existing or previously-existing newspaper or journal. Rather, this is a so-called "blawg," a law-related personal "web log" or "blog," one with a subjective, idiosyncratic, and eccentric sociological and social-psychological slant that focuses not on the latest judicial decisions of supposed great importance but on a) the institution of judge in the United States and in other countries throughout the world, b) the judicial office and role, c) judicial personalities, d) the great common law tradition of judging as practiced here and throughout the world, e) judges as judges, f) judges as ordinary people with the usual mix of virtues and flaws, etc. We link to newspapers and other sources in order to alert you to ideas, articles, stories, speeches, law books, literary works and other things that have interested us and that may interest you. In linking to another site or source, we don't mean either to suggest we necessarily agree with views or ideas expressed there or to attest to the accuracy of facts set forth there.

About links.  a) Links, like judges, eventually retire or expire, some sooner than others. b) Access to all stories via these links is free, at least initially, although some sites require free registration. c) Free access often turns to fee access after a day or a week or some such period. d) Entries, following the typical blog format, are in reverse chronological order.

Complaints? If you feel we have made a factual error or been unfair in expressing our opinion, please contact us (see, infra) and give us an opportunity to correct the perceived wrong.

Want to contact us? Send an e-mail addressed to "BurtLaw" at "The Daily Judge.Com" (we have deliberately not put the address in typical e-mail form, e.g., ABC@TheDailyClog.Com, because when one does so, the automated web-trollers used by spammers add such e-mail addresses to their lists). We trust you are smart enough to put "BurtLaw" together with "@" and "TheDailyJudge.Com," because you wouldn't be interested in this site if you weren't smart.

About Burton Hanson. Burton Hanson is a graduate of Harvard Law School, admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Minnesota. He worked one year as Hennepin County District Court Special Term (Civil) Law Clerk, two years as law clerk for the late Justice C. Donald Peterson of the Minnesota Supreme Court, and over 26 years as Deputy Commissioner of the Minnesota Supreme Court. He was a nonpartisan candidate for Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court in the general election in November 2000 and a liberal anti-war candidate for Congress in the Republican primary in the Minnesota Third District in September 2004. He was one of the first law bloggers (blawgers). He began planning his first blog, BurtLaw's Law And Everything Else in 1999 but delayed starting it until after the 2000 general election. His campaign website, the no-longer extant VoteHans.Com, contained a personal campaign weblog, possibly the first such use of a weblog or blog. In 2004 he also used the personal blog format in his primary campaign for Congress. That site, BurtonHanson.Com, has morphed into a personal political opinion blog and also contains the archives of his 2004 campaign web pages and blog postings.

    Phyllis Schlafly on removing jurisdiction from federal judges. "Conservative movement grand dame Phyllis Schlafly...reminded me that her current book urges Congress to pass legislation 'withdrawing from judges all authority in the areas where we don’t trust them… the Ten Commandments, the Pledge of Allegiance, marriage, and the Boy Scouts.' [Tom] DeLay is under attack because he stood up to the judiciary, she said. 'The liberals are going after him because of what he said about bringing out-of-control judges under control. That’s why they’re targeting him,' Schlafly said...." More (Lou DuBose, "Follow the Leader - The Right and its Big Night for Tom DeLay," The Texas Observer 05.27.2005). Comment. Ms. Schlafly's view that the political party in power ought to feel free to diddle around with the jurisdiction of federal courts in this blatantly expedient and utilitarian way is profoundly not "conservative" and would send the great conservative political theorists into paroxysms of rage.

   'Your Honor,' a/k/a 'Chum.' "After being brought back to court, the pensioner [Phyllis Blakesley] looked bedraggled as Judge Chalk asked whether she wished to go on with the trial or face a contempt of court charge for absconding. Blakesley replied: 'Take your pick.' Asked whether she thought her actions amounted to verbal abuse, she said: 'I’ve had more verbal abuse and excrement thrown at me than you have had hot dinners, chum.'" More (Cumbria Online 05.27.2005).

   Headline: "Selection of judges remains a 'bugbear.'" "Deputy chief justice-designate Dikgang Moseneke believes that in order to ensure a more equitable society, more judges should be women...[T]he judge implicitly criticised the government -- which is the nation's largest litigant -- for perpetuating briefing patterns that excluded women advocates and lawyers from gaining the necessary legal experience to see them eventually elevated to the Bench...." More (IOL South Africa 05.27.2005). Comment. A "bugbear" is "A fearsome imaginary creature, especially one evoked to frighten children." More (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition).

   Judge appointments board a bunch of 'numpties'? "'I wonder if the minister has read an article in the Law Society Journal to the effect that lay members of the judicial appointments board are a bunch of numpties who have recommended appointments of judges and sheriffs which could devalue official office?' he said. 'I appreciate that the legal establishment, perhaps including Mr Alistair Bonnington, might like to return to a cosy system of appointment of their learned friends, for their learned friends, by their learned friends.'" More (Scotsman 05.27.2005) Comment. A "numpty" is "a fool, idiot." More (Dictionary of English Slang).

   Ohio's self-appointed judicial watchdog. "The Ohio Elections Commission yesterday ruled that self-appointed judicial watchdog David Palmer will not face sanctions for bringing complaints against sitting state Supreme Court justices that were dismissed as unfounded. The commission found that complaints brought against Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and Justice Terrence O'Donnell were not frivolous...." More (Toledo Blade 05.27.2005).

   Minimum age for judges? "I was a judge-beginner and I believed I could change the world. That is why I say today that judges should be aged over 30." Vlasta Formankova, whose nomination for the post of Constitutional Court Judge in the Czech Republic requires Senate approval. A controversy has arisen over a sentence of ten months in prison Fomankova, who was a 26 year old municipal judge, imposed on a pub keeper for breaking up a communist meeting in his pub before the fall of the communist regime. More (Prague Daily Monitor 05.27.2005).


   Other links.
   - Magistrate suspended for two DWI arrests (Detroit Free Press 05.27)
   - Ala. gov. blocks judicial longevity raises (Tuscaloosa News 05.27)



   Detroit judge likes the way he looks. "'I have never been around a man who looks better than me,' says Strong, a Wayne County Circuit Court judge and Motor City style icon. 'I don't want to look like everyone else. I like to be different....The quickest way to get where you're going is to look like you've already arrived.'" More (Detroit Free Press 05.26.2005).

    Judge who viewed porn on work computer fights to keep job. "He told the seven members of the Kansas Commission on Judicial Qualifications that he had spread himself too thin -- between church obligations and judicial work -- and that the adult Web sites provided a diversion over a period of nine months...." More (Kansas City Star 05.26.2005). Comment. If he were alive, Nathaniel Hawthorne might be interested in stories like this, which appear every so often.

    NAACP seeks inquiry into prankster judge's nondisclosure. We recently linked to a news report about a Florida judge who jailed a prospective juror for failing to disclose an arrest but who herself allegedly failed to disclose prior complaints against her by underlings in the D.A.'s office when she applied for a judgeship. More. Comes now the NAACP seeking an inquiry since one of the complaints alleged racial discrimination. More (Miami Herald 05.26.2005).

   It helps to know this Texas judge. "In Denton County Probate Court, it helps to know Judge Don Windle. His court has authorized more than $2.4 million in fees to a small group of lawyers and other professionals whom Judge Windle has repeatedly tapped for work on estates, trusts and guardianships over the last 11 years. Among them are the judge's business partners as well as some longtime friends...." More (Dallas Morning News 05.26.2005).

    Suspended judge & alleged mistress will get separate trials. "Judge Thomas Nurre refused to join their cases together in Common Pleas Court in the first significant action since Judge Dallas Powers, 70, and Libbie Gerondale Sexton, 34, were indicted in January following a state investigation into their alleged [on-the-job] sexual relationship...." More (Cincinatti Enquirer 05.26.2005).

   British judge "moves" case to Cuba to hear witnesses. "[T]he case ground to a halt after six days when videolink technology, by which witnesses were to give evidence from Cuba, proved to be of poor quality or broke down entirely." What to do, fly the elderly Cuban witnesses to London or move the court temporarily to Cuba to hear them in person? The judge "chose the Caribbean option" and will fly there in September. More (Times UK 05.26.2005). Comment. Why not wait 'til January?

   Judge conducts hearing in hospital room. "U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. O'Hara conducted the 30-minute hearing in the hospital room where Herring is recovering from multiple gunshot wounds that he suffered in last week's bank robbery and hostage-taking...." More (Kansas City Star 05.26.2005). Comment. Hmm. Two stories in one day about judges going where they're needed rather than making everyone come to them. Perhaps a trend? Perhaps a germ of an idea for a dramatic TV series -- about a proactive super-hero judge who rushes to the scenes of accidents, crimes, etc., insuring that justice is timely and true?

   Other links.
   - Maine chief protests 5% budget cut (Bangor Daily News 05.26)
   - Profile of Judge Owens (NYTimes 05.26)



    Swede judge who paid for sex still sitting. The Swedish supreme court judge who admitted paying a 20-year-old man for sex will not face removal from office. Chancellor of Justice Goran Lambertz said confidence in [Judge Leif] Thorsson, one of 16 supreme court judges, was damaged but the one-time offence was not serious enough to warrant his dismissal...." More (Iol.Co.Za 05.25.2005). Comment. As we emphasized in linking to the original report, the judge is Swedish, not Norwegian.

    Did 'prankster judge' fail to disclose complaints? We recently posted a link to a story about a prank-loving Florida judge who sent a prospective juror to jail for failing to disclose prior arrests in answering a juror questionnaire. More Now we read a news report suggesting that the judge herself may not have been entirely forthcoming in applying for a judicial appointment by Governor Bush. Specifically, the Miami Herald reports today that in filling out a questionnaire she failed to disclose two discrimination complaints, one racial and one religious, filed against her by two prosecutors who worked under her when she was a federal prosecutor. More (Miami Herald 05.25.2005).

   'Dragon lady,' ex-Judge Snyder, runs for Manhattan D.A. "[Long-time Manhattan D.A. Robert] Morgenthau could remind voters of Snyder's occasionally heated temperament (she once told a defendant convicted of murder that she wished she could personally give him the lethal injection) and that she is now employed at a law firm that represents tobacco companies among others...." More (Village Voice 05.24.2005). This race is getting lots of attention, including recently in a profile of Snyder in The New Yorker. More. Snyder once worked as an assistant D.A. under Morgenthau. There seems to be a trend in ex-judges running for D.A. (see, infra), but then, a disproportionate number of D.A.'s get appointed judge.

   Snyder's campaign soliciting contributions from judges? "The chairman of the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct improperly solicited a sitting judge for a contribution [to ex-Judge Snyder's campaign] in the hotly contested race for Manhattan district attorney, the judge charged yesterday...." More (NY Post 05.25.2005).

   State judge resigns to run for Westchester D.A. "State Supreme Court Justice Janet DiFiore resigned from the bench Tuesday just in time to accept the Republican nomination for Westchester County district attorney...." More (Newsday 05.25.2005).

    Vendor to sell hot dogs outside Iowa courthouse. "It's a scene that's played out so many times on television's Law and Order....Beginning this Friday, [Sue] Woods, owner of the Dog House, will be serving hot dogs outside the Pottawattamie County Courthouse from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m...." More (Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil 05.25.2005). Comment. Iowa enters the Big Leagues.

   Public closely divided over keeping judicial filibuster. "[A]ccording to a poll by TNS released by the Washington Post and ABC News. 43 per cent of respondents would eliminate the filibuster rule for judicial nominations, while 40 per cent would keep it...." More (Angus-Reid.Com 05.25.2005).

   Two more judges face dismissal in Greece trial-fixing ring case. "Another two judges were added yesterday to the long list of members of the judiciary facing dismissal for alleged participation in a trial-fixing ring, or for a series of other colorful misdeeds...." More (Kathimerini 05.25.2005).

   Other links.
   - Judicial pay raise in Louisiana? (The Advocate 05.25)
   - Courthouse weapons ban rescinded (Charlotte Observer 05.25)



   Last-minute agreement averts showdown on filibuster. "A bipartisan group of 14 senators struck a last-second agreement on Monday that defused - at least for now - a potentially explosive parliamentary showdown over eliminating Senate filibusters against judicial nominees...." More (NY Times 05.24.2005). The agreement preserves the right to filibuster a judicial nominee in "extraordinary circumstances," a phrase of convenient vagueness that Scalian minds delighting in textual certainty will not admire. And who will determine the meaning of "extraordinary circumstances"? "[E]ach signatory must use his or her own discretion and judgment in determining whether such circumstances exist." Text of agreement.

   Teaching the Constitution in schools - who's teaching? "The Education Department outlined Tuesday how it plans to enforce a little-known provision that Congress passed in 2004: Every school and college that receives federal money must teach about the Constitution on Sept. 17, the day the document was adopted...." More (Fort Wayne News-Sentinel 05.24.2005). Comment. We can envision ideological battles within public schools over teaching the Constitution similar to battles over teaching evolution theory -- battles, e.g., between the proponents of Justice Scalia's "Dead Constitution" approach to interpretation (sort of akin to the "Creationism" advocated by religious fundamentalists?) and proponents of the school of Justices Holmes and Frankfurter, of an evolving or living or adaptive or flexible Constitution (sort of akin to Darwin's Theory of Evolution or, perhaps, Emersonian antinomian thought?).

    Scalia on the 'Dead Constitution.' "[T]he only way to avoid [Supreme Court Justices deciding profound social questions] is to put aside these notions of the Living Constitution. Whether it's living in the direction you like or in living in some other direction, it's a bad idea. Come along with me and admire the Dead Constitution. I have to get a new term for it. That one; maybe the Enduring Constitution. That's a little better. Packaging is everything...." More ("On Interpreting the Constitution," unedited transcript of speech by Justice Scalia at The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research on 11.17.1997).

    Justice Frankfurter on the Living Constitution. "[T]he Constitution ...'was made for an undefined and expanding future....' * * * American constitutional law is not a fixed body of truth, but a mode of social adjustment. Indeed, the Constitution owes its continuity to an uninterrupted process of changing....The Supreme Court's right and wrong are drawn most frequently from broad and undefined clauses of the Constitution. A few simple terms like 'liberty' and property'...are invoked in judgment upon the shifting circumstances of a dynamic society. Phrases like 'due process of law' are of 'convenient vagueness.'" Felix Frankfurter, "Social Issues before the Supreme Court," Law and Politics 48-49 (1939).

   Lawyer fights rule banning possession of brochures in courthouse. "[A] Salt Lake City attorney has...filed suit challenging an unwritten rule that any nonlegal materials advocating a position on a court case cannot be brought inside the Matheson Courthouse. In his legal action, filed Friday at U.S. District Court, Breeze says the policy is a violation of his First Amendment rights and asks for an order allowing courthouse visitors to possess brochures...." More (Salt Lake Tribune 05.24.2005).

   Mandatory retirement of judges. "Even as Sidley Austin Brown & Wood and the government battle over whether 31 attorneys should get damages resulting from the firm's mandatory retirement program, many law firms are sticking to their policies of ushering out partners once they hit a certain age...." More (Nat'l Law Journal 05.24.2005). Comment. I discussed the related but different issue of mandatory retirement of state judges in an opinion piece I first posted in 2000. More

   What happens when a judge's cellphone rings at trial? "The judge at the Michael Jackson trial on Monday got a red card for letting his cell phone ring during proceedings, and promptly pretended to leave the courtroom in shame." The judge bars a reporter from the trial for several days if the reporter's phone rings. More (Sify.Com 05.24.2005).

   Aussie judges, lawyers fail to file timely tax returns. "The nation's judges and lawyers are less than vigilant over their tax affairs, with one in three barristers and solicitors failing to lodge a return on time...." More (The Australian 05.24.2005).

   Other links.
   - Judges in WA get pay increase (Seattle Times 05.24)


   Will Georgia's judicial elections be officially partisan? "Gov. Sonny Perdue said Monday that he could see himself supporting a constitutional amendment to turn future Georgia judicial elections into partisan contests because of the increasingly political nature of such races...." More (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 05.23.2005).

   Female judges needed in Gulf states. "A leading Qatari legal expert has said that courts in the Gulf states need women judges to improve the judiciary...." More (ADNKI 05.23.2005).

   Massachusetts C.J. speaks out on judicial independence. "I worry when people of influence use vague, loaded terms like 'judicial activist' to skew public debate or to intimidate judges. I worry when judicial independence is seen as a problem to be solved and not a value to be cherished....Individual rights and human dignity are vulnerable when they depend for protection on the will of the majority or the good faith of those in power..." C.J. Margaret Marshall, speaking at Brandeis University graduation. More (Boston Globe 05.23.2005)

   Lengthen judicial terms? "Lengthening the terms in office for Ohio judges was a bad idea when it was proposed two years ago, and it's an even worse idea now. But that hasn't stopped Chief Justice Tom Moyer, of the Ohio Supreme Court, and his minions at the Ohio State Bar Association from turning their plan for what amounts to judicial sinecures into legislation before the Ohio General Assembly...." More (Toledo Blade 05.23.2005).

   Should judges help public defender rate attorneys? "Pima County Superior Court's criminal bench judges are...being asked to judge the attorneys who appear before them. A month ago, Robert H. Hirsh, chief assistant Pima County public defender, submitted a form to Judge Michael J. Cruikshank listing 17 areas in which to critique attorneys...." More (Tucson Citizen 05.23.2005).

   Reforming Georgia's courts. "[T]he EU Just Themis mission...which is staffed by judges and other experts in the field of legal issues, has been providing assistance to Georgia to transform the country's judicial institutions from post-Soviet structures into modern justice departments...." More (The Messenger 05.23.2005).

    Benched judge charged with child sex abuse. "[Gary G.] Graham, an assistant public defender in Tampa in the 1980s, began grabbing headlines a year after becoming judge. At first, many applauded his brand of justice, but then came complaints about unconventional sentences, closed hearings and grandstanding that humiliated lawyers and others who appeared before him...." He was removed from office in 1993 for ethical violations and abuse of power. Now he stands charged with sexual misconduct involving two 10-year-old girls. More (Tampa Tribune 05.23.2005). Update. Prosecutor drops child molestation charges against ex-judge. "Child molestation charges against a former Citrus County judge have been dropped because one of the alleged victims recanted her accusation and there was no physical evidence to support the [second girl's] claims, prosecutors said Friday. Gary Graham, 58, pleaded not guilty in November 2004 to charges that he molested two 10-year-old girls. Authorities had alleged he abused the girls during a sleepover at his house in December 2003...." More (Bradenton Herald 02.10.2006).

   False alarm leads to courthouse evacuation in Fargo. "Authorities evacuated five people from the federal courthouse here early this morning when a monitoring system malfunctioned and indicated the presence of deadly hydrogen cyanide...." More (Bismark Tribune 05.23.2005).



   Bench bullies. "Attorneys around town have been watching the judicial campaigns carefully, as they and their clients will be affected by the results to a far greater extent than the general public. Lawyers hope we pick judges who will not become bench-bullies...." More ("Legal Whispers," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 05.22.2005).

   Annals of judicial appointment battles - the "women first" strategy. "It is not an accident that the Republicans have chosen to charge ahead with two female nominees....The assumption behind the strategy is that it's harder for liberals to oppose two women, one an African-American, than two white guys like William Pryor and William Myers. The assumption also is that it's harder for the public to see women as right-wing extremists...." More (Ellen Goodman, Boston Globe 05.22.2005). Comment. The nature of the strategy is apparent.

   Judge grieves over suicide of driver he jailed. "The judge who sent death driver Scott Currie to jail sent a letter of sympathy to his family after hearing of the dad's suicide in jail. Lord Abernethy replied to a plea from Scott's mother asking for a review of the case...." More (Sunday Mail 05.22.2005).

   Survey of compliance with open-records law in PA. "Representatives from 51 news organizations requested records in February from 155 district courts, nearly a third of the total, as part of a broader statewide survey of government compliance with open-records laws that was coordinated by The Associated Press. At district courts, surveyors regularly encountered questions from district justices and their employees before access was granted...." More (Scranton Times-Tribune 05.22.2005).

    The judge who grew up as "princess" daughter of mobster. "Deborah Kaplan enjoyed a pampered youth as the 'princess' daughter of a mob-connected crook and drug trafficker, and loyally defended him even as she rose to become a Manhattan Criminal Court judge....Court spokesman David Bookstaver called her one of most 'straitlaced, serious and professional' women on the bench. 'We cannot blame the children for the sins of the parents,' he said." More (NY Post 05.22.2005). Comment. Good for her.

   Other links.


   Make offenders pay a courthouse construction fee? "Speeders, drunken drivers and other misdemeanor offenders soon may be helping Mesa build a courthouse....Offenders would pay a $15 construction fee in addtion to other fines under a proposed city ordinance expected to be approved by the City Council in June...." More (Arizona Republic 05.21.2005). Comment. And while we're at it, let's make 'em wash the judges' cars.

   Poll results on public attitudes re judicial appointments. AP-Ipsos poll (Washington Post 05.21.2005). NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll (OC Register 05.20.2005).

   Indonesian courts rapped by Aussie. "The courts are notoriously corrupt and bribes are routinely paid, not only in commercial cases but also in criminal cases, especially those that involve narcotics...." More (The Australian 05.21.2005).

   Thoreau on judges? From an entry I made in my journal on 01.20.2002:

In 1854, in Walden, Henry David Thoreau wrote, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." The other day, I was playing with this line in my mind, for no particular reason, when the following new line came to me: "The mass of judges lead lives of desperate moderation."

   Other links.



   Judge seeks dismissal of ethics complaint over press interview. "A longtime Minnesota trial judge has asked the state Board on Judicial Standards to dismiss a formal complaint it filed against him last month for allegedly making an improper public comment on a pending case...." Questioned by a reporter after two prosecutors were charged with felony drug possession, the judge, who was not assigned to the case, apparently merely said that both had acted professionally when appearing before him. More (Mpls Star-Tribune 05.20.2005). Comment. Hmm. If I were a judge, I'd err on the side of not talking with reporters at all, letting my work speak for itself. But I find myself struggling to understand what exactly the judge did that violated any of the vague and overlybroad ethical provisions cited. And that's part of the problem, the standards are vague and overlybroad rules-of-thumb that tend to come into conflict with First Amendment free-speech values. I can't help doubting that the justices who decided Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, the judicial elections free-speech case, would be sympathetic to the Board's position in this case.

    Judicial candidate worked as topless dancer. "The leading candidate for the newly created Henderson Municipal Court judgeship worked for a year as a topless dancer at a Las Vegas strip club...." More (KRNV 05.20.2005).

   Senate confirmation of law clerks? "[T]he Senate no longer need bother about confirmation of Justices but ought to confirm the appointment of law clerks." Justice Robert H. Jackson, The Supreme Court in the American System of Government (1955).

   Martha Stewart redux? - former judge convicted of lying. "A jury convicted former Franklin County District Judge Ben Richey of making a false statement to federal agents during a corruption investigation in the northwest Alabama county...." More (Birmingham News 05.20.2005).

   Annals of judicial discipline. "A [Panama City, FLA] judge who told a woman to close her legs and stop having babies and ordered another defendant to attend church as a condition of probation could be disciplined by the Supreme Court. The actions were among a long list of inappropriate behavior by Circuit Judge Richard Albritton..." More (Tuscaloosa News 05.20.2005).

   Judge to take break after mistakes at trial -- illness? "West Australia's Supreme Court Chief Justice is suffering from a medical condition and will take long-service leave from next week. Judge David Malcolm's departure from the bench comes days after he aborted a murder trial after making a string of mistakes in his summing up to a jury...." More (The Australian 05.20.2005). But see, Top judge denies health problems (The Australian 05.20.2005). But-but see, Judges worry over chief's health (Sunday Times 05.22).

   On indifference. "Indifference that sits back and becomes 'aesthetic' doesn't appeal, but indifference from practical wisdom that is sensible of difficulties too great to be overcome at the moment has a hot center." William Carlos Williams, the N. J. medical doctor who was also a very good poet - from a 09.06.1924 letter, in Selected Letters of William Carlos Williams (1957).

   Other links.
   - NY judges seek pay increase (The Daily Star 05.20)
   - Bush's Supreme Ct. shortlist? (Washington Times 05.20)
   - Bill would increase pay IA judges (DesMoines Register 05.20)
   - Audit slams Marin County courts (Marin Independent  Journal 05.20)


   Sniper threats made at AL courthouse. "Prosecutors claim Alfred Orames made a threat at one point to climb on top of a building across the street and fire shots at the courthouse with an assault rifle...." More (WAFF.Com 05.19.2005) Comment. The courthouse in question is "secured" with metal detectors. Will courthouse security officials around the country now have to anticipate sniper attacks from nearby rooftops in their planning?

   One in two Turkish cases reversed on appeal? "[T]he Turkish Court of Appeals overturned over 112,000 decisions in one year, finding them against the laws....Nearly one out of every two court decisions are erroneous in Turkey while the proportion of similar cases in European countries does not surpass one in ten." More (Zaman Daily News 05.19.2005).

   Claim that Vegas judge was bribed. "An FBI spy told a federal jury Wednesday that former strip club owner Michael Galardi paid bribes through a former southern Nevada lawmaker and another associate to a Las Vegas judge...." More (San Jose Mercury News 05.19.2005).

   Government moves to reform coroner's inquest system in UK. "[I]t does seem bizarre that a statute passed in 1275 should still be the basis on which we investigate sudden or unexpected deaths in England and Wales. That is why the Government's commitment this week to reform the coroners' system is so welcome. The challenge now is to see it through...." More (UK Telegraph 05.19.2005).

    Annals of judicial conduct proceedings - 'the sleep apnea defense.' "To the women that worked for him, he often used the F-word, told stories involving sex, and sometimes showed explicit photos, received over the Internet...." Appearing before the Pennsylvania Commission on Judicial Discipline, Allan Berkhimer, a district court judge charged with "acting like a foul-mouthed jerk," blamed, inter alia, "sleep apnea," a sleep disorder. He also cited "his sister's death and the end of a long-term romantic relationship." More (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 05.19.2005). Comment. This defense presumably will be used if the so-called "Judge Nodd," the sleeping Aussie judge, faces disciplinary proceedings. It should be compared and contrasted with the ADD defense to judicial conduct proceedings.

    Ex-magistrate barred from judicial office for five years. "She was accused of taking parking tickets from the windshields of other cars and putting them onto her own windshield so she could park at expired meters." More (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 05.19.2005).

   Fellow judge blasts S. FLA's chief federal judge. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hurley has gone public, "criticiz[ing] what he called a 'clandestine' effort to close Fort Lauderdale's federal courthouse without public input." The judge said the 18 judges in the district narrowly approved the decision a year ago. "We acted in a very clandestine fashion in a matter that is very significant for the people of this community...It is shameful what we're doing." More (Sun-Sentinel 05.19.2005).

   Other links.
   - Top 10 filibuster falsehoods (Media Matters 05.19)
   - Blocking judges as backroom tradition in NJ (NJ Media Group 05.19)
   - Transcript of Lefkow's remarks (Chicago Trib 05.19)
   - Tie vote in PA judicial primary (Pittsburgh Leader Times 05.19)


    Swedish Supreme Ct. judge admits paying 20-yr-old for sex. "A Swedish Supreme Court judge has confessed to paying a 20-year old rent boy for sex. The judge, who until now had denied the accusations, is now unlikely to be prosecuted, although he could be forced to leave his post...." More (The Local 05.18.2005). Note. The phrase "rent boy" apparently means "male prostitute." The prostitute in this case is 20 years old, according to the news story. Comment. We emphasize that the judge is Swedish, not Norwegian.

   Judges won't tell courthouse security if they're armed. The sheriff of Clayton County, GA, is responsible for courthouse security. He knows some judges now are armed, but neither the judges nor the police in charge of issuing permits will tell him which judges are armed or how much training each judge with a gun has received. What to do? He's filed an open-records request for the info. More (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 05.18.2005).

   1,282 (and rising) links - same subject. As I type this, Google lists 1,282 links to recently-posted "related" stories in the press about the Senate battle over President Bush's stalled nominations, the threat to the filibuster rule, etc. Click this link to access those links. Happy reading.

    Ex-judge who battled alcoholism chokes to death. "Robert Bradley, a former Ventura County judge whose world came crashing down after a 1997 drunken-driving arrest, died Monday night after choking on food at his Santa Paula home...." The article contains links to archived articles reporting on his downfall and attempts to rehabilitate himself. More (Ventura County Star 05.18.2005).

   When everything at the courthouse breaks down. "The judge in the Boeremag treason trial [in South Africa] on Tuesday complained bitterly that a lack of ventilation in the Pretoria High Court could result in yet another delay in the trial." More (IOL.Co.Za 05.17.2005). Air conditioner problems, it seems. One of the attorneys collapsed in court and had to be rushed to the hospital, apparently as a result, at least in part, of the heat. Meanwhile, there is a "dampness" problem in the courthouse resulting in files in the court archives getting damaged and judges are getting stuck in the elevators - among other problems.

   Bad-luck judge hopes to return to work soon. First, the local juvenile court judge, Carey Garrett, hurt his back and was hospitalized in February. What could go wrong, did go wrong, and he suffered temporary leg paralysis, then pneumonia, then blood clots in his leg. Recently he lost his house after lightning struck it. More (Knoxville News 05.18.2005). Comment. Sometimes it doesn't just rain, it pours.

   Other links.


    Norway's judicial system. May 17th, a/k/a "Syttende Mai," is the anniversary of the adoption of Norway's "new" constitution at Eidsvoll in 1814. It is Norway's "national day," the equivalent of our Independence Day. This year is special because this year the Norwegians are celebrating 100 years of independence from Sweden. LLRX.Com, an excellent legal site, contains a useful summary of online legal resources in Norway by Suzanne Thorpe. The summary includes links, including a gateway (Snakker du Norsk?) to the Norwegian courts' sites. Further reading: Constitution of May 17, 1814 (English, with amendments) - Aften-Posten (English).

   Norwegian-American judges of note. The most famous, of course, is Earl Warren, the late Chief Justice. See, Earl Warren, Norwegian-American. I was fortunate to work closely with two of the best ones on the state level, both members of the Minnesota Supreme Court: Douglas K. Amdahl, an associate justice and later chief justice, and the late C. Donald Peterson, an associate justice. See, Burton R. Hanson, "A Profile of Justice C. Donald Peterson On His Retirement," The Hennepin Lawyer  6 (Nov.-Dec. 1985); Burton R. Hanson, "An Introduction to the Judicial Opinions of Associate Justice C. Donald Peterson," The Professional, Public and Judicial Career of C. Donald Peterson  (MN. Justices Series No. 4, 1987); Burton R. Hanson, "Chief Justice Douglas K. Amdahl and the Minnesota Reports," Stepping Stones and the Judicial Career of Douglas K. Amdahl (MN. Justices Series No. 7, 1992).

   But how about those Scottish judges? "Scotland's new independent system for selecting judges and sheriffs has led to some lawyers 'of less than average legal ability' being appointed to the Bench, it has been claimed. The stinging criticism of the Judicial Appointments Board [several members of which are lay people] comes from leading lawyer Alistair Bonnington in a magazine....Mr Bonnington, a visiting professor at Glasgow University, said: Lay people selecting who will be a good judge is just completely stupid. They don’t know.'" More (The Scotsman 05.17.2005). Comment. Maybe they need to import some Norwegians.

   Blue courts, red courts. "In an effort to jazz up interest in professional tennis, the U.S. Open is undergoing an extreme makeover this summer, switching its playing courts from their traditional green to royal blue...." More (Washington Post 05.17.2005). Comment. Meanwhile, the battle continues in the Senate over how "red" the federal courts will be.

   Other links:
   - Longer terms advocated for Ohio judges (Beacon Journal 05.17)
   - Judicial pay raise bill passes in TX (Houston Chronicle 05.17)


   25 years of Caddyshack. "No game should [be] take[n] seriously the way people like Judge Smails in the movie did...Games are supposed to be fun, and golf is no different. If you can't poke fun and laugh, how much fun can a game be?" More (Athens Banner-Herald 05.16.2005)

Danny Noonan: I've always wanted to go to college.
Judge Smails: Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too.

Judge Smails: It's easy to grin / When your ship comes in / And you've got the stock market beat. / But the man worthwhile, / Is the man who can smile, / When his shorts are too tight in the seat.


    "Jackpot justice" in Mississippi? "Th[e] culture of legal and political clubbiness hangs over the corruption trial under way here inside a downtown federal courtroom, where three judges -- including a sitting state Supreme Court justice -- are accused of taking bribes from one of the wealthiest lawyers in the state...." More (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 05.16.2005).

   Overconfidence among judges? "[O]verconfidence...is the occupational hazard of being a judge, especially a judge who is smarter than his colleagues." Richard A. Posner, "The Learned Hand Biography and the Question of Judicial Greatness," 104 Yale L. J. 511, 526 (1994). Comment. I agree that overconfidence is an occupational hazard of being a judge. I doubt that it has anything to do with smartness.

   Other links:
   - Judges' financial disclosures sought (Chicago Sun-Times 05.16)
   - Rove guided career of Judge Owen (NYTimes 05.16)
   - GA gov. cuts judiciary budget (Augusta Chronicle 05.15)
   - Fed judges seek ouster of chief of marshals (Washington Post 05.16)


   Judges under the influence? "Prominent defense lawyers in Carteret, Craven and Pamlico counties help judges get appointed and elected. When those lawyers take DWI cases to trial, they rarely lose. Two judges have said they felt warned by attorneys: Play ball, or risk losing your job...." More (Charlotte Observer 05.15.2005). Letters to editor (Charlotte Observer 05.17.2005).

    Annals of judicial conduct proceedings - "the ADD defense." The Judicial Qualifications Commission in FLA has filed charges against Seminole County Judge John Sloop, according to today's Orlando Sentinel, "for sending 11 people to jail simply because they were lost":

On Dec. 3, he ordered the 11 arrested when they went to the wrong courtroom because of botched paperwork or bad directions from courthouse personnel. After sitting in the wrong room, the defendants finally discovered the error and immediately went to Sloop's courtroom. But Sloop had adjourned for the morning, was eating lunch and refused to see them, according to a Seminole County Sheriff's Office report. Three deputies approached him separately, trying to explain the mix-up...But Sloop said it was too late, that their mistake was not his problem. Meanwhile, the 11 spent several hours in jail...."

Sloop's surprise defense? His attorney says he was suffering from "undiagnosed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder," which he now has under control. More.

   Judicial delay in India. "The entire judicial system in India is clogged and choked. Justice here is frayed: chronically delayed, expensive and uncertain. The consequences are gravest for the poor. Seven out of ten people in jails are undertrials, simply because courts do not have the time to hear their cases. The overwhelming majority of these undertrials are very poor -- Dalit, adivasi and minorities. Land disputes in villages are known to fester unresolved over generations. Survivors of communal and anti-Dalit violence fight for decades for justice, and even then convictions are rare...." More ("Backlog in SC: Should judges work extra hours?" Times of India 05.15.2005). Comment. It's tempting for one to point the finger, forgetting that when one does so three fingers on the same hand are pointed back at the pointer. Unjustified delays are all too common, even here in Minnesota, which, relatively speaking, justifiably is proud of its judiciary.

   Other links:
   - Criticized WPA murals hang in courthouse (Casper S-T  05.15)
   - MI judge endorses faith-based mediation (Flint Journal 05.15)


   Annals of judicial campaigns. For several years an attorney in PA has supervised defendants sentenced to community service by a district court judge. Now that attorney is running for a judgeship and it appears some students sentenced to community service for underage drinking have been helping out in his campaign as part of their community service. The attorney-candidate in question denies wrongdoing: "It's lies. None of the kids under my supervision worked on my campaign, except those that did so voluntarily." More (Times-Leader 05.14.2005).

   Augustus Noble Hand on the judicial vacuum cleaner. "[A] judge..., without any plan in mind, announced to a press conference that he was about to clean up the courts in his circuit. 'With what?' asked Judge Hand, 'The vacuum in his head!'" Charles E. Wyzanski, Jr., "Augustus Noble Hand," 61 Harv.L.Rev. 573, 581 (1948). More on Gus: "The talk of the average conservative about the movements of the day is distressingly ignorant and can hardly be exceeded in intolerance or stupidity by that of the liberal who advocates everything that involves change and has the imprimatur of the 'children of the dawn.'" Judge Augustus ("Gus") Noble Hand, "Lawyers in a Revolutionary Age," 18 Pa. B. Ass'n Q. 46, 47 (1946). To a number of different sources has been attributed this aphorism: "Quote Learned [Hand, his cousin] but follow Gus."

  Judicial independence key to democratic reform in Arab world. "Many Arabs fighting for democratic good governance focus increasingly these days on the imperative of the supremacy of law and the independence of the judiciary...." From a commentary by Rami G. Khouri in The Daily Star (Lebanon, 05.14.2005).

   Harassment of Judge Lefkow continues. "A man affixed a derogatory note about U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow to the window of a Gold Coast restaurant last night while the judge was dining there, police said early today...." She's the judge whose husband and mother were murdered in the family residence. More (Chicago Tribune 05.14.2005).

   Other links:
   - TX judge helps apprehend fleeing man (Lufkin Daily News 05.14)
   - US: Haiti needs judicial reform (Guardian Unlimited 05.14)


   The fishing opener and judges who like fishing. It's that annual rite of spring in Minnesota, the fishing opener, when the governor is obliged to trek north and at least pretend to like fishing in what often is still cold and/or wet weather. I've known a number of judges who liked, even loved, fishing, regardless the weather or the politics of it, but none as devoted to it as the late John Voelker (1903-1991), the former Michigan Supreme Court Justice who, under the pen name, Robert Traver, wrote Anatomy of a Murder. Voelker also wrote several much-loved books on trout fishing in the Upper Peninsula. Here's his "Testament of a Fisherman," which I think gives a clue as to the kind of judge, and man, he was:

I fish because I love to; because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly; because of all the television commercials, cocktail parties, and assorted social posturing I thus escape; because, in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion; because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and humility and endless patience; because I suspect that men are going along this way for the last time, and I for one don't want to waste the trip; because mercifully there are no telephones on trout waters; because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness; because bourbon out of an old tin cup always tastes better out there; because maybe one day I will catch a mermaid; and, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant - and not nearly so much fun.

   Annals of judicial elections. Judge Dana Fortinberry, a trial judge in Michigan, faces a number of misconduct charges in a formal complaint filed in the state supreme court by the state's judicial tenure commission. The main allegation is that, without first-hand personal knowledge, Judge Fortinberry sent a letter to a county law enforcement group implying that then-judicial-candidate Kelley Kostin, now a colleague on the bench, helped her husband cover up the circumstances of his former wife's death in 1989, which Fortinberry hinted may have been a murder, not a suicide. More (Detroit Free Press 05.13.2005).

   Complaint: attorneys tried to get law clerk to bring down judge. The chief hearing officer of the Mass. Bd. of Bar Overseers has filed a 229 page document recommending disbarment of three lawyers for allegedly scheming to get the confidential law clerk of the judge trying a case in which they were involved to help them prove the judge was biased against their client. According to a story in today's Boston Herald, "Concealing their identities, they seduced [the clerk] with the promise of a phony, high-paying job with a high-flying international firm" and "secretly recorded [the clerk] revealing embarrassing information about the judge -- but nothing suggesting any prejudice against their client...." When the attorneys increased their pressure on the clerk, the clerk turned to the FBI, who "wired" him and recorded some of their meetings. The Boston Globe has a story on the Boston legal community's reaction to the recommendation, with some lawyers suggesting it is "draconian" and "a travesty."

   Judge admonished for turning sentencing hearing into party. "The judge who celebrated the capture of a fugitive last year by serving cake at his sentencing hearing has received a public admonition from the state agency that oversees the conduct and behavior of judges...." More (Fort Worth Star-Telegram 05.13.2005).

   Diabetic judge's suit against Coke fizzles. "A German judge who suffers from diabetes failed yesterday in an attempt to sue soft-drink giant Coca-Cola Co. for causing his condition...." More (Globe and Mail, 05.13.2005). Comment. The judge reportedly blamed the "considerable burden" of his job as the reason he drank a liter of Coke a day and said he didn't realize the risks. Maybe he should apply for workers comp & claim his job drove him to drink.

   Candidate for judge uses beer mugs to promote campaign. The candidate, Linda Carpenter, running for a spot on a PA common pleas court, has gotten some "conversational pubs" to use them. "The pint glasses give the address of her campaign Web site, where she has information about her legal background and endorsements." Her husband, part-owner of a micro-brewery, "has been ordering custom pint glasses to promote his beer for years, so it wasn't a big stretch to use the same tactic to promote his wife." More (PennLive 05.13.2005).

   High court judge in India caught on surveillance tapes. "Delhi High Court ex-judge Shamit Mukherjee, already facing corruption charges, has now been caught openly asking for call girls. The former judge's bungalow in Delhi's Zakir Hussain Marg was raided by the CBI in April 2003 in one of the biggest land scams. He was accused of changing his verdicts to favour land developers in return for bribes in terms of both money and women...." More (New Delhi TV 05.12.2005)

   Other links:


   Did R.I. Chief Justice "forfeit" his office? A Providence attorney has filed suit contending that "Chief Justice Frank J. Williams surrendered his post by accepting a spot on a federal military review panel." The Assistant A.G. representing the chief moved to dismiss for lack of standing but that motion has been denied by a three-judge panel appointed to hear the matter. More (Providence Journal 05.12.2005).

   Is judge's dad a mobster? "An imprisoned Luchese crime family associate who suddenly agreed to turn into a stoolie has been hiding another surprise: His daughter is a Manhattan Criminal Court judge...." More (NY Daily News 05.12.2005).

   Congress vs. courts -- South African version. In an op/ed piece today in Business Day, Rhoda Kadalie, who is described as a South African human rights activist, argues that the African National Congress's various judicial reform bills constitute an assault on judicial independence and result from ANC dissatisfaction with a number of high-profile court decisions in recent years. Her piece ends with a reference to the Zimbabwe experience: "President Robert Mugabe [of Zimbabwe]has taught us that a compliant judiciary will fail to protect us from a hostile government." More. Contrary opinion: goal is to streamline, not undermine, courts. See, also, this previous entry.

    Sleeping defendant vs. sleeping judge vs. sleeping juror. "Marques Lott, an Oakland man on trial for his life in the slaying of a St. Mary's College student in 1997, dozed at the defense table this morning as a homicide investigator testified for the prosecution...." From yesterday's (05.11.2005) Contra Costa Times. The trial judge denied defense counsel's motion for adjournment but extended the lunch hour to two hours to give counsel time to get some legitimate rest; he also instructed the jury not to draw adverse inferences from defendant's drowsiness. More Comment. Lots of reports these days of sleeping going on during trials --  sleeping by defendants, sleeping by judges, sleeping by jurors. Also highly impermissible yawning by jurors.

   Other links:
   - Was judge asked to leave bench? (SPTimes 05.12)
   - Poultry judge speaks out (Belfast Telegraph 05.12)
   - Miss. judges get firearm training (Sun Herald 05.12)
   - TX Supreme spent night at White House (GuardianUnlimited 05.12)
   - Politics of new judgeships in FLA (NaplesDailyNews 05.12) More
   - Judges named for Cannes Film Festival (UDailyNews 05.12)


   He's a son-of-a-judge. "The businessman father of Lea (Lee) Weingarten Fastow is taking shots at the judge who sentenced her to prison -- while campaigning against the judge's son, who's running for city council...." More (KLTV7 05.11.2005)

    Former Chicago Bears player new Ill. Chief Justice. "Former Chicago Bears football player Robert Thomas was chosen on Tuesday to become the new chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court...." More (Chicago Tribune 05.11.2005). Comment. Alan Page, who some believe is the best justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court, no longer is the only NFLer on a state supreme court, though some might argue Thomas, a "mere" place-kicker, was not a true rough-and-tumble football player, which Page, a defensive lineman with a bent finger to prove it, was. Page, the pro football Hall of Famer, is a former Bear, too, but played his best football with the Vikings, where he was league MVP one year. The story indicates that Thomas was picked by his fellow justices for a three-year term. It is not always clear from a state's constitution who gets to pick the chief justice. Arguably in some states that have assumed otherwise, the justices of the supreme court could decide amongst themselves who is chief. Another interesting question is the extent to which the associate justices may strip a chief justice of many of his/her duties -- say, to take a far-fetched, unlikely example, a chief justice who on his own installs a Ten Commandments monument in the lobby of the judicial center in the middle of the night.

   Judge ordered to repay elderly aunt $163,000. "Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Michael Garson has been ordered by the Appellate Division, First Department, to return $163,000 to his elderly aunt although the judge maintains that his aunt gave him power of attorney to “spend down” her money so that she could qualify for Medicaid...." More (Empire Journal 05.11.2005) Update. The NYT reports that a grand jury in Brooklyn has indicted the judge on felony charges of grandlarceny and forgery. More (NYTimes 05.12.2005).

   The judge, his secretary & her hooker friend. As a sort of post-Secretaries Week cautionary tale about the perils of a judge getting too close to his/her secretary, we'd like to introduce you to Judge Bruce ("Turn 'em Loose Bruce") Dobbs, his "administrative assistant," Jolene Secretary, and a friend of hers from high school, Wanda, a $150 hooker -- from the racy "criminal law and procedure" part of the July, 1999 Arkansas (where else?) bar exam.... More

    More on judges and their secretaries. A judge's secretary becomes his bride. Sounds like a fairy-tale story from an old 1950's copy of True Romance, right? Wasn't it every judicial secretary's dream to marry his/her boss? The stereotypical secretarial dream sometimes really did (maybe still does) come true. Mary Fowler Brennan, who died in 2000 at age 83, worked for 25 years as Justice William Brennan's secretary, then became the chosen one, his second wife, in 1983 after his first wife died. Elizabeth Black, Justice Black's secretary and then second wife, said in 1986 that when Black proposed, "He spoke of love and the Supreme Court." That he was an extraordinarily-romantic guy can also be gleaned from two entries Elizabeth made in her diary. Entry of Tuesday, June 24, 1968: "Hugo and I had a big argument as to whether we could replace our thirty-year-old gas stove which has a semi-rusted oven and no thermostat on it. We stopped by Harris Plumbing to see if the old stove could be fixed, and Mr. Harris laughed heartily when Hugo was so insistent that our stove was perfect. Hugo said if people made stoves to last only thirty years they ought to be arrested." Entry of Thursday, June 27, 1968: "Hugo talked to me finally about the stove, reiterating his opinion that we do not need a new stove, but if it would make me happy he'd get it for me. I told him it would, and so he agreed, reluctantly." See Hugo L. Black and Elizabeth Black, Mr. Justice and Mrs. Black (New York: Random House 1986).

   Do Dot.Com companies sense a S.Ct. victory? "If you grew up out in the country like I did, you know animals often react to impending weather that you and I cannot yet see coming...When Amazon.com and Wine.com announced their partnership last week to sell wine on Amazon.com, I had the feeling I was watching the same sort of thing. They're not even waiting for the Supreme Court to come back this week (or next) and make direct-to-consumer wine shipments fully legal, I thought, that's how confident they are...." Jonathon Alsop, Talking Wine: Here Comes the Judge, (MetroWest Daily News 05.11.2005). Comment. Another example of the wisdom of the crowd, in this case the business crowd anticipating which way the court will rule in the as yet unannounced decision of the cases involving states' power to prevent interstate sale of wine over the internet? See, In Vino Gravitas, Dahlia Lithwick's 12.07.2004 Slate report on the oral arguments in the cases.

   Courthouse fashion event to aid assault victims. "Gwinnett is blessed with a most fashionable courthouse crowd. If you've ever strolled through the Gwinnett Justice & Administration Center in Lawrenceville you've probably taken note of prominent attorney Walt Britt's flowing tresses, prosecutor and Marine reservist Jim Cavin's chiseled physique, or the snappy red shirt Chief Magistrate Warren Davis wears on Valentine's Day...." More (Atlanta Journal Constitution 05.11.2005) Comment. It's the latest in robe fashion that interests us.

   Other links:
   - California Aggie campus judicial report (California Aggie 05.11)


   Nathaniel Hawthorne on the Dead Man as judge. Notebook entry of Nathaniel Hawthorne:

To represent the influence which Dead Men have among living affairs -- for instance, a Dead Man controls the disposition of wealth; a Dead Man sits on the judgment seat, and the living judges do but respect his decisions; Dead Men's opinions in all things control the living truth; we believe in Dead Men's religion; we laugh at Dead Men's jokes; we cry at Dead Men's pathos; everywhere and in all matters, Dead Men tyrannize inexorably over us.

Comment. Then again, Nathaniel, sometimes Dead Men's love sustains us, Dead Men's books inspire us, Dead Men's buildings shelter us, etc., etc.

    Republican: We need "Inspector General" of Judiciary. "Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Monday that the committee was considering the creation of an 'office of inspector general for the federal judiciary' to watch over the courts...." More NYTimes 05.10.2005) Comment. What we really need is a better-informed, more-responsible electorate to "watch over" the Congress (and to elect independent-thinking, intelligent representatives rather than the typical representatives, programmed robots who always follow the party line).

    Judge accused of defamation. "A senior Cape High Court judge [Siraj Desai] has been accused of defaming members of [an] asset management company...by calling them 'a bunch of thugs,' 'scum' and 'bastards.' Judge Desai made these comments to one of the group's main shareholders...in November 2001 in response to a proposed development by the group in University Estate, where Judge Desai lives...." More (Cape Times 05.10.2005). Comment. Needless to say, a judge has no "judicial immunity" against suit for making defamatory statements outside of the judicial process. I personally favor abolishing the tort of defamation. Justice Black's view, which has not prevailed, is that the First Amendment protects all speech, including that which might be proven to be defamatory.

    Retiring judge facing sanctions for supporting wife. "A Lehigh County [PA] district judge should be punished for misconduct that included a push to have his wife appointed to the job, the state Judicial Conduct Board will argue next week...." More (The Morning Call 05.10.2005). Comment. In Minnesota and elsewhere it used to be not uncommon to appoint an officeholder's widow to serve the unexpired portion of his term. Once in a small town in the Midwest a probate judge "took up" and then ran away with a female court employee; his wife was appointed by the county board to succeed him. The impulse to look out for the surviving spouse, which was more understandable in the days before public pensions with survivor benefits, still survives with the electorate. In this case the judge presumably could have resigned, effective immediately, then "campaigned" for his wife's appointment to succeed him. Should it make a difference that he did so while still judge? Maybe so, although it is common in many jurisdictions for a retiring judge to try influence the governor to appoint someone favored by the judge, often a friend. Sitting judges also commonly "lobby" for the appointment of friends to join them on the bench. Witness Chief Justice Burger's using his influence with President Nixon to get his childhood friend, Harry Blackmun, appointed. See, e.g., reviews (here & here) of Linda Greenhouse's recently-published bio of Blackmun. Update: The board "reprimanded" the judge. More (MCall.Com 05.18.2005).

    The judge and those free football tickets. A retired judge acting as fact-finder for Michigan's Judicial Tenure Commission has found that a sitting judge did not violate judicial standards in accepting tickets to a U. of Mich. football game in 2003 from an attorney who formerly was a judge. The hearing judge found, in the words of the Traverse City Record-Eagle (05.10.2005) that "although Haley's actions were inappropriate and a display of 'poor judgment,' it 'does not rise to the level of impropriety' or its 'appearance.'" Comment. It would be interesting to know what per cent of judges, state and federal, have accepted free tickets at some point during their tenure. I'd bet the per cent would be high rather than low.

   Other links:
   - On judicial campaign trail in PA (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 05.10)