It seems that some of our district court judges are getting tired of their civil-only calendars, so some Wow. One of these things is not like the other, no? Mortgage foreclosures for The Don? Say it ain't so!
- Dept. 4, Judge Kathy Hardcastle, who will now have a mixed civil/criminal calendar.
- Dept. 7, Judge Linda Bell, who will now have a mixed civil/criminal calendar.
- Dept. 14, Judge Donald Mosley, who will now have a mixed criminal/mortgage foreclosure review calendar.
- Dept. 15, Judge Abbi Silver, who will now have a mixed civil/criminal calendar.
Is someone trying to send a message here? Hasn't Mosely had a criminal-only calendar since, well ... powdered wig times?
So, for those of you who practice before these judges, how do you feel about this?
Civil legal work requires a judge to actually read, think, research, analyze, and decide - most of our local District Court bench is woefully ill-suited to such activity.
ReplyDelete9:39 AM
ReplyDeleteamen
Truer words are not found.
ReplyDeleteCriminal legal work often requires the same, but it seldom gets the time or attention of most judges.
ReplyDeleteIt should be interesting to see how the civil bar deals with Mosley. They've been financing his campaigns for decades (it's always been puzzling to see how much money the civil bar would give to a criminal-cases-only judge), so it's about time that they actually have some face time with him. I predict retirement within 2 years.
This is something I've been of two minds about for years. As a general principle of public policy, I don't like to see excessive specialization (in any branch or agency or government) that's carved into statute or constitution, because it leads all too frequently to featherbedding of payrolls and rigid stove piping of agencies that don't communicate or interact with each other. On the other hand, I do like to see specialists develop their skill sets and spend time working in them, not unlike an attorney in private practice choosing a practice area. I don't know that there's a simple answer to this issue, but I think it's a very interesting one worth devoting time and study to. It raises a host of questions, including how would this be handled if we didn't have an elected judiciary? There might be some organizational models among the federal system of administrative law judges, who are a merit selected career service, that would be useful here, but i can't speak authoritatively to that.
ReplyDeletePrediction: Bell, Mosely, Silver, and Hardcastle will be as inept as usual under whatever new system they've concocted.
ReplyDeleteHardcastle is lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy.
ReplyDeleteMosley is crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy.
Criminal judge can be lazy. What do they really need to read - the P&P Report for sentencing? As long as they know the rules of evidence and the elements for a crime, what else do they need to do? That's what the jury is for.
ReplyDeleteAs for civil judges, lazy and incompetent judges are inexcusable. Throw in a criminal judge that knows nothing about civil procedure, and you've got the perfect storm.
rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic
ReplyDeleteOr the Hindenberg.
ReplyDeleteI have a far more important question: Why the heck are we letting the court administration get away with closing off the south entrance of the courthouse??
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't enough that the thing was overbudget.
Or that it was way late.
Or that it has half as many elevators as it needs at peak time.
Now, on top of this, and a host of other defects, they reduce accessibility by 50%!!!!! WTF! Is this a bannana republic, where robed masters use private entry ways gilded in gold while peasants crowd around one narrow entrance to the temple????
Relax. Judge Mosely handled the PEPCON case years back and the world did not fall apart. Indeed, the case was was resolved very well. Get over yourselves and deal with it.
ReplyDeleteSilver's stock in trade is to yell and scream and act as though she were the best darned Deputy DA ever in the history of humankind! At least as a JP she did. She is the worst of the recent crop of judges to grace us with their self important petulance. Not to mention her lack of attention to hygiene on many mornings. Looked like she just rolled outta some bed somewhere, pulled on a robe over her hot pants and took the bench!
ReplyDeleteI hope the poster who thinks crimminal law is far more simple than civil one day needs a criminal attorney. Perhaps the nuances of the constitution evaded him in law school. Or perhaps they are unaware of criminal procedure and that it is not any more or less extensive than is civil procedure. A judge on either bench needs to be well versed in civil and criminal procedure. When he does need a criminal attorney and he is facing the judge, I hope he rethinks his assessment that a criminal judge CAN be lazy.
ReplyDelete