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Old 11-14-2012, 08:52 AM
 
Location: Dublin, CA
3,807 posts, read 4,260,155 times
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Why are cops sometimes cynical about judges? See 'Exhibit A'

Very interesting article. If this woman were a police officer acting this way, it would be front page news and, moreover, people would be screaming for her to be fired, arrested, and jailed.
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Old 11-14-2012, 08:58 PM
 
5,816 posts, read 15,864,867 times
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"Legally Insane (at $182,000 per year)
Since last March she’s been charged with misdemeanor battery for shoving a deputy with both hands and throwing a set of keys at another deputy during a dispute at a courthouse security checkpoint.

Her lawyer claims she’s bipolar and was “legally insane” at the time of that incident. He says she was “absolutely psychotic in the sense of not having the ability to think straight or to even organize her thinking,” and he’s got a shrink ready to testify to that effect."




"The day before the alleged battery, the 54-year-old Brim launched into a 45-minute tirade in traffic court, accusing officers of ticketing only black and Hispanic drivers and of conspiring against her. She is said to have strode around, reciting her parents’ names, the address of her church, and her license plate number, eventually leading to her ejection from her own courtroom.

Since then, she’s been suspended and forbidden to enter a courthouse without a police escort until the charges against her are resolved — but all the while (more than seven months now), she continues to draw her $182,000-a-year salary."




LOLOLOL! It does have to make you wonder. You know, just a little.

And this is an elected position, but they voted her back in despite all this. That's the really ridiculous part:




"It has been more than 20 years since any sitting judge in Cook County has failed to be retained, regardless of his or her track record.

'I’m just happy the people voted me back in,' Brim says. Besides her pending trial for battery, her lawyer says her case is being evaluated by the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board to see if she is 'fit to serve as judge.'

Brim’s barrister told a reporter, 'I don’t see that there’ll be a problem.'

Oh, there’s a problem. It’s common sense and integrity — and voters who give a [bleep] — that are missing.”
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Old 11-14-2012, 09:17 PM
 
18,837 posts, read 37,243,860 times
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Something similar happened in Miami, and judge kept getting paid for months, she did not have to work. She was crazy.

Any one else, would have been filing for unemployment within a week.
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Old 11-14-2012, 10:41 PM
 
Location: Out there somewhere...a traveling man.
44,560 posts, read 61,317,230 times
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Want an eye opener on some judges, just google 'judges pleasuring themselves while on the bench'.
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Old 11-15-2012, 05:47 AM
 
13,586 posts, read 13,055,010 times
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We had a nutter like this on the bench as well. Made her bailiffs rub her feet, slept on the bench, all sorts of outrageous behavior. At least she didn't win reelection. She got to keep her six figure salary while the system fought to have her removed. Ugh.

Judge Elizabeth Halverson permanently removed from bench - Las Vegas Sun News
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Old 11-15-2012, 07:43 AM
 
Location: Dublin, CA
3,807 posts, read 4,260,155 times
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Here is my take on this, again, try and look at this from a police officers point of view. This is just one case of a judge; others have pointed out other weird judges and their opinions. You understand, when one of these nutcase judges make a ruling, no matter how small, the implications are a ripple all across the country?

When Judge Smith makes a ruling on "X." It makes something called "Case Law." Now, lots of times people say: But Phil, I read the law and the law says this. True, it does say "this." However, somewhere down the road, a judge ruled that. And "Case Law" says I can't do what the law says I can do.

Can these Case Laws be overturned? Yes, they can. Hence appeals courts, US Supreme Court, etc. However, that takes time. Sometimes over a decade. So a nutcase ruling can stand as "Case Law" for a decade or more, allowing some criminal to walk, until it is overturned.

IF it is even overturned. Huh? Yes, who is going to overturn the ruling? Another judge. You mean their colleague and friend? They guy/girl they just went on a houseboat trip with? Went to law school with? Is married to their cousin? Brother? Or sister?

Quite complicated, aint it?
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Old 11-15-2012, 08:49 AM
 
14,339 posts, read 14,151,625 times
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Quote:
Here is my take on this, again, try and look at this from a police officers point of view. This is just one case of a judge; others have pointed out other weird judges and their opinions. You understand, when one of these nutcase judges make a ruling, no matter how small, the implications are a ripple all across the country?

When Judge Smith makes a ruling on "X." It makes something called "Case Law." Now, lots of times people say: But Phil, I read the law and the law says this. True, it does say "this." However, somewhere down the road, a judge ruled that. And "Case Law" says I can't do what the law says I can do.

Can these Case Laws be overturned? Yes, they can. Hence appeals courts, US Supreme Court, etc. However, that takes time. Sometimes over a decade. So a nutcase ruling can stand as "Case Law" for a decade or more, allowing some criminal to walk, until it is overturned.

IF it is even overturned. Huh? Yes, who is going to overturn the ruling? Another judge. You mean their colleague and friend? They guy/girl they just went on a houseboat trip with? Went to law school with? Is married to their cousin? Brother? Or sister?

Quite complicated, aint it?
All this highlights is that you can find mentally ill people and people who abuse a position of authority everywhere in life. If you don't want that, you better belong to something other than the human race.

Abusive and mentally ill people exist in all places in life The problem is that a judge is given considerable power by the state to accomplish the ethereal task of "rendering justice" to the population in a city, county, or state. An abusive or mentally ill judge can do more harm than people who have these same qualities in other occupations.

After almost thirty years of practicing law, I could make a list of various abuses that I have personally observed by judges. On the low end, they range from favoring one side or another because of a preference or dislike they have for an attorney. On the high end, a judge I knew quite well persuaded a woman litigant in a divorce case he was presiding over to have sex with him. I'm familiar with judges who had issues with drugs. One judge refused to decide cases that he had heard and created a monumental problem for both litigants and their attorneys. Dozens of legal matters would hang in limbo. Another judge invariably made countless poor decisions and refused to write opinions explaining any of them.

Many of the best lawyers in a community are not interested in being a judge and this reduces the overall quality of the men and women on the bench. Judicial salaries are lower than what a really good lawyer in private practice can earn. Moreover, a lawyer can get away with more than a judge can. His every action is not in public and he receives much less scrutiny. I would never apply to be a judge because I don't want to be held under a microscope. I don't want to have to hear every case that is filed in court. As a lawyer in private practice, I can control what I want to do and, believe me, I avoid some cases and litigants, like one avoids scarlet fever.

The system in my state takes care of many of these bad judges. Most end up resigning when they come under scrutiny. A judicial qualifications commission has the power to remove judges who have broken laws or important rules of conduct. Judges can also be temporarily removed from the bench because of "incapacity".

I wish there was a way to prevent these sorts from being appointed in the first place, but often there are few clues to their behavior. Some people do fine until they have power. Others cannot handle the stress of being a trial court judge. Make no mistake, it is a stressful occupation. A trial court judge is called upon to make dozens of rulings (sometimes in one day). Every action he takes can be reported by the press. Every action he takes is on camera. When my father was a judge, he sometimes would read letters to the editor in the local paper critical of rulings he made. He was prohibited by the Office of Court Administration from responding to any of these letters no matter how erroneous they were. If a judge makes 10 correct rulings a row and than makes one erroneous ruling, he will receive no praise for the ten correct rulings, but will be lambasted for the one case he got wrong. Most people do not realize how technical law can get either. Some rulings turn on very narrow reasons.

Many people expect judges to be perfect. It should come as no surprise that they are not. All we can do as citizens is try to establish a reasonable framework for dealing with judges who have various problems as jurists. That framework should include:

1. A chance for new judges to receive "schooling" and learn how to do the job right. And a school for judges does exist.

2. Admonishment and guidance when they make mistakes that do not rise above a certain level.

3. Temporary removal for incapacity when they have problems that prevent them temporarily from serving effectively.

4. Outright removal when they break laws or important rules relating to judicial conduct.

5. A mechanism where judges who score poorly on evaluations by attorneys who appear in front of them over a long period of time can be replaced.

The reality is that "justice" is a goal that we try to achieve as a society. It isn't automatic. It isn't absolute. By creating a good system, we come as close to that goal as we can.

Last edited by markg91359; 11-15-2012 at 09:02 AM..
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Old 11-15-2012, 09:41 AM
 
Location: Dublin, CA
3,807 posts, read 4,260,155 times
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Absolutely Mark and that is and has been my point. People expect perfection from the criminal justice system when it is administered by human beings. Human beings are not perfect. They make mistakes. The criminal justice professionals, police, judges, corrections, attorneys (both defense and prosecutors) are recruited from the general population.

That means they have the same issues as everyone else. They are: Bi polar, drunks, have mental health issues and then some. However, the general population expects perfection and when they don't get it, they scream bloody murder.

Criminal justice professionals are not grown on some sort of island in a Petri dish. They are a representation of society.

At the sametime, the VISIBLE element to the criminal justice system is ME. The police officer. When something goes wrong with an investigation, a trial, etc its always the "police's fault." I investigate a crime, submit it to the DA, and they decide whether or not to prosecute. If they don't and something happens, I did something wrong (even though I did not).

VERY FEW people understand the criminal justice and exactly how it works. They have no clue and worse, they do not want to know. Its just easier to blame me.

This article was just to show its not always the police faults. There are other branches of the criminal justice system which makes far more mistakes, with far more reaching consequences then the police.
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Old 11-15-2012, 07:38 PM
 
5,816 posts, read 15,864,867 times
Reputation: 4735
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil306 View Post
Can these Case Laws be overturned? Yes, they can. Hence appeals courts, US Supreme Court, etc. However, that takes time. Sometimes over a decade. So a nutcase ruling can stand as "Case Law" for a decade or more, allowing some criminal to walk, until it is overturned.
In addition to the amount of time the appeals process takes, another obstacle to getting bad case law overturned is that once a ruling is made, it remains in effect until someone challenges it successfully. To challenge a law, it takes someone with the resources to see an appeal through to conclusion, or a lawyer willing to represent a client pro bono through a long, involved process, and it takes someone to recognize in the first place that there is a problem with the case law, and the willingness to see through an exhaustive process to its conclusion. With all this being needed to get rid of bad case law, it's no surprise if many such rulings stand, and affect the justice system, for years before anyone mounts a challenge.
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Old 11-15-2012, 11:00 PM
 
13,586 posts, read 13,055,010 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil306 View Post
Absolutely Mark and that is and has been my point. People expect perfection from the criminal justice system when it is administered by human beings. Human beings are not perfect. They make mistakes. The criminal justice professionals, police, judges, corrections, attorneys (both defense and prosecutors) are recruited from the general population.

That means they have the same issues as everyone else. They are: Bi polar, drunks, have mental health issues and then some. However, the general population expects perfection and when they don't get it, they scream bloody murder.

Criminal justice professionals are not grown on some sort of island in a Petri dish. They are a representation of society.

At the sametime, the VISIBLE element to the criminal justice system is ME. The police officer. When something goes wrong with an investigation, a trial, etc its always the "police's fault." I investigate a crime, submit it to the DA, and they decide whether or not to prosecute. If they don't and something happens, I did something wrong (even though I did not).

(snip)
Phil, this happens in just about every profession, especially the important ones like public safety and medicine. Hell, it even happens to waiters and IT people. You do things right 98% of the time, and when you make a mistake, the 98% is quickly forgotten. Hell, even if you didn't make the mistake, you have to take your licks like everyone else. We all get screwed by the higher ups.

The only people that seem to get away with mistakes with zero consequences are celebrities.

Unfortunately, when people in medicine or law enforcement do make the inevitable mistakes, the consequences are potentially so much more serious than if someone who works in a shoe factory messes up.
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