Criminal Law Library BlogQUESTION*
For courts who have translated their public website into the Spanish and/or Vietnamese languages:
Do you have a Spanish and/or Vietnamese version of your court public website?
Articles Posted in The Judiciary
ABA: Judges’ Journal Winter 2009 Issue
A Quarterly of the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association Winter 2009. Volume 48 No. 1
Each issue of this journal contains featured articles and standing columns all of which relate in some way to a broad theme selected for that particular issue. The theme selected for this particular issue Winter 2009 is “The Art of Judging in the 21st Century”. As Judge Sophia H. Hall observes in the Forword, “Judges of the twenty-first century must be ready to learn everything , in the words of H.G. Wells, ‘Adapt or perish, now as ever, is Nature’s inexorable imperative’ “.
The Feature articles in this issue are:
Connecticut: Judge Uses Vulgar Language As She is Charged
“Judge Uses Vulgar Language As She is Charged”, an article by Edmund H. Mahoney and Jon Lender, published in the January 27, 2009 Hartford Courant, reports that a Connecticut Superior Court judge is accused of arguing with a police officer and calling him a “Negro trooper”. The folllowing links to both the article and a “booking video”:
http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-cofield0127.artjan27,0,2287060.story
What To Do With An Oil Painting Found in Judge Brieant’s Chambers?
In a January 28, 2009 New York Times article, “Hang Him Up? The Bad Judge and His Image”, Benjamin Weiser describes a debate that has arisen in a New York Courthouse over whether the portrait of a disgraced judge should continue to be displayed or thrown in a closet.
To read the story click on the link below to the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/nyregion/28portrait.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
New York: Jonathan Lippman Has Been Nominated by Governor David Paterson to Serve As the Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals
Governor David Paterson has nominated Jonathan Lippman, currently presiding justice in the Appellate Division First Department of the State Supreme Court, to fill the chief judge’s post that was vacarted when Judith Kaye retired. See Press Release announcing the nomination.
Seeking Funding Ideas for Court*
QUESTION:
We as a court are in the process of looking under every rock for potential funding sources. To that end we are interested in getting ideas and tips about short- or long-term legislation and policies around the nation that have provided directed funding to court programs or projects. Specifically, temporary filing fee assessments, temporary fine enhancements, fees for ongoing technology improvements, etc… We intend to use these as ammunition for similar funding should that possibility exist or become necessary during our legislative process. The sky is the limit here and we are looking for ideas so any thought would be helpful.
RESPONSE
Book Review: Anatomy of a Trial: Public Lessons Learned from The People vs. O. J. Simpson
TITLE: Anatomy of a Trial SUBTITLE: Public Loss, Lessons Learned from The People vs. O.J. Simpson AUTHOR: Jerrianne Hayslett PUBLICATION DATE: December 2008 PUBLISHER: University of Missouri Press PAGE COUNT: 256 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-8262-1822-3 PRICE: $29.95
The author was the information officer and media liason for Los Angeles Superior Court during the 1995 criminal trial of Orenthal James Simpson, a retired NFL running back and actor, on charges of murdering his ex-wife and her boyfriend in June of the previous year. Hayslett examines how an ordinary felony murder trial was turned into a public spectacle of excessive and outrageous proportions by the outlandish and, at times unprofessional, conduct of prosecutors, defense attorneys and, unfortunately, the presiding judge, Lance Ito. As she was present daily both in the courtroom and Ito’s chambers, the author delivers an insider’s account of how the judge went from a paragon of judicial stature and competence to a celebrity aspirant devoid of talent or stage skill. Frequently criticizing the judge for being too deferential to the demands of Simpson’s attorneys, Hayslett provides more than just a captivating tale of an aberrational trial and its consequences. Her account includes an essential blueprint for what the media and judges can do in the future to avoid sideshows and to fulfill their responsibilities to the public. Recommended for public, academic, and law libraries.
Book Review: Legacy and Legitimacy: Black Americans and the Supreme Court
TITLE: Legacy And Legitimacy SUBTITLE: Black Americans And The Supreme Court AUTHORS: Rosalee A. Clawson and Eric N. Waltenburg PUBLICATION DATE: December 2008 PUBLISHER: Temple University Press PAGE COUNT: 224 pp.
ISBN: 978-1-59213-903-3
PRICE: $23.95