Justice Courts
Another article in the NY Times on the issues with Justice Courts, this time specifically looking at Keeseville, a village in Essex and Clinton counties at the northern tip of the state.
Aside from the content of the article, there were two nagging thoughts that occurred to me in reading. First, brought on by the last sentence of the article, was that I hope this doesn't devolve into a "boy, aren't those unsophisticated yokels dumb" sort of series. Secondly, and a larger issue, is that there seems to be a major gap in our legal system to deal with inappropriate behavior from judges. Numerous lawyers had been in this court and were aware of the practices, but yet the practices continued. Perhaps one of the changes in the court system ought to be an initial way to report issues other than the Commission on Judicial Conduct. I know and like many local judges and would never want to report them to "The Man", but it would be nice if someone in authority sat down and gave individualized training based on ongoing problems.
Aside from the content of the article, there were two nagging thoughts that occurred to me in reading. First, brought on by the last sentence of the article, was that I hope this doesn't devolve into a "boy, aren't those unsophisticated yokels dumb" sort of series. Secondly, and a larger issue, is that there seems to be a major gap in our legal system to deal with inappropriate behavior from judges. Numerous lawyers had been in this court and were aware of the practices, but yet the practices continued. Perhaps one of the changes in the court system ought to be an initial way to report issues other than the Commission on Judicial Conduct. I know and like many local judges and would never want to report them to "The Man", but it would be nice if someone in authority sat down and gave individualized training based on ongoing problems.
posted by TM at 7:58 AM
1 Comments:
Oh my. Some changes are definitely needed in the Justice Courts. One thing that I think will definitely help will be for these courts to become corts of records. Then, it won't be just the word of the judge against the lawyers or the word of the judge against the defendants, but instead a clear record. This would also help in your excellant idea of having a way to stop questionable practices without initially at least involving "the man."
I do wish though, that the Times would stop seming to paint all Justice Courts and all Justices with the same brush. I subnit there are many judges working their regular jobs at day, trying to keep up with family and friends, while also taking the time for judicial duties seriously, including training. I wish the Times would acknowledge that.
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