Absolute Power and All That
August 27th, 2006 @ 12:17 pmOne of the few things I’ll actually read most weeks in the ABA Journal e-report (one of the forty gazillion e-newsletters I’m subscribed to for no good reason), is “Answers of the Week.” In each issue they pose a “Question of the Week” like “What book would you nominate to come along with a bar admission certificate?” or “What professional courtesy or favor was extended to you that made a real difference in a case, or in your career?” and people submit answers which are published in “Answers of the Week.” This week’s answers were stories about judges who have behaved less than reasonably and professionally on the bench. The responses are pretty horrifying - almost enough to make you not ever want to step into the courtroom. The ones about judges throwing stuff at lawyers and berating them with the apparent goal of hiding the judge’s own mistakes are terrible, but I’m most offended by the one about the judge who decied “someone was going to jail that day” soley because he was in bad mood. Always nice to be reminded that judges are human too and are capable of the petty capriciousness we all (well, not me) sometimes show.
