"In vacant or in pensive mood..." I am: Bekah; 24; Law Student / Favorite Things: Carbs (so there!), Johnny Damon, Smiling at babies, Grilled cheese, Comfortable silence / Favorite Supreme Court Justice: Brennan / Favorite Wilson: Owen by an inch / Today's Special: Song: Elliott Smith, "Bled White"; Quote: "You know, there's like a butt-load of gangs at this school. This one gang kept wanting me to join because I'm pretty good with a bowstaff." Please love me: mmbekah@yahoo.com


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Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged for Table-dancing, Spouting Ethnic Slurs, and Hitting on Jurors

I knew it would only be a matter of time before my research started getting good. In working on my current project, I've been coming across some seriously disturbing stuff that trial judges get away with. Judges can be almost as bad as prosecutors when it comes to misconduct during trials. Sometimes this misconduct is only at the expense of the life or liberty of an individual criminal defendant (whew, good thing no harm was done there), but most often it's at the expense of a little thing called the credibility of our entire justice system. I read about one case where, during the defense witnesses' testimony, the judge kept huffing and sighing and saying "there's nothing happening here!" One judge refused to feed the jury. One decided to chat up a few African American jurors, thanking them for participating and explaining that the judicial system needed more people like them. How can they get away with it, you ask? Well, the problem of course is that judges are supposed to be judging cases, not on trial themselves, so objections based on judicial misconduct are pretty tough to make during a trial. Law clerk Mary Ann Fenicato has written: "...judicial misconduct is distinguishable from ordinary evidence objections which merely suggest trial court error, but do not question the propriety and totality of the presiding judge's behavior. Indeed, the appellate Court humorously questioned how counsel could possibly have phrased such an objection: "I object to your honor speaking on the phone while my witness is testifying," or "Let the record reflect that the court is standing on a table adjusting a heating vent." Judicial Misconduct Warrants Jury Verdict Reversal, Lawyer's Journal, June 2000. Good lord. It's so annoying that I have to get through two more years of law school when there is so much real stuff that needs fixing right now.

posted by Bekah at 5:21 PM :: |