Judge Me Not

There has been some discussion in the Bsphere lately about this Judge in Mississippi who held a lawyer in contempt and sent him to jail for refusing to recite the pledge of allegiance. Oh I could write for hours about what is so wrong about this, and if I have to explain it to you are living on a different planet than me. But if you want a good rant about it check out Mark Bennet's post about loyalty oaths. I have decided to write instead about a few "judge crazy" moments I have experienced in the past few months. Sorry, but they are far less dramatic than contempt.

Me: "Your honor, my client is a first time misdemeanor drug offender with mental health and physical issues. I am concerned about his well being if he is sentenced to county jail".

Judge: "Don't worry counselor. There are no blacks in that jail".

The problem here? Pretty obvious.

Me: "Your honor, It was not my understanding that the court required a plea today. I thought the agreement was to conduct a pre-plea investigation".

Judge: "I don't do those. You are wasting my time". Turning to the DA he says, "indict him, no deal".

The problem here? The judge is a neutral and detached magistrate who is prohibited from being involved in the decision to prosecute. It's called separation of powers.


Me: "Your honor, my client is an eligible offender under the judicial diversion statute".

Judge: "Well if he had marks all over his arms it might be different. But he sold heroin".

The problem here? The judicial diversion statute does not discriminate on the basis of what controlled substances are involved. Without further consideration of judicial diversion for an eligible offender, the judge is thwarting the law.

I'll end with the story about a judge who bitched me out twice for appearing without my client. The CPL in New York allows clients to appear by counsel in traffic cases with "good cause shown". I guess it is up to the judge to evaluate good cause, but a client who has to fly to get to court should qualify for having good cause not to appear. That was not good enough for this judge. Twice he lambasted me in front of a packed courtroom (with other clients of mine present) about how I was showing dis-respect for his courtroom. Rather than point out that the statute provides for appearances in absentia, I honestly stifled a giggle. If anyone should have been embarrassed, it should have been the judge.