Judicial temperament often determines the difference between a good judge and a bad judge.
We’re not talking mood swings here or whether a judge carries a loaded firearm beneath the folds of his or her robe.
We’re talking about the ability to discern the fine line between ethical and unethical behavior. We’re talking about the willingness to decide that even the mere appearance of impropriety will cast doubt on what might be a crucial legal opinion.
We’re talking about the rare ability nowadays for a judge to put public perception before public power.
Too many judges at all levels of justice refuse to recuse themselves in cases from which they should be as far away as they can get. The esteemed jurists justify their presence by telling us that they can rule impartially even when they know a defendant or plaintiff or lawyer in the case.
Maybe some judges can do just that. But they should not do just that.
The people deserve a truly impartial judge who has absolutely nothing to do with the parties involved in a case. Conflicts of interest and bias must be pointed out. Judges must err on the side of caution. But too many judges willingly dishonor the bench.
Gangster judges such as former Luzerne County president judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan lead the pack of regional rogues.
Any judge who is accused of a crime and pleads guilty or is found guilty is a dirty judge who should be banned forever from public service. Pensions should be stripped. And prison sentences should be handed out at the highest order of punishment.
No judge should decide a case in which the plaintiff or defendant or lawyer handling the case is related to the judge. No judge should hear testimony in a case in which the lawyers or jurors or witnesses are godchildren. No judge should participate in a case in which he is the godfather to a child fathered by any of the case participants.
A judge must not be a golfing partner of a defendant in a case over which the judge presides. A judge must not be married to a defendant in a case the judge will decide. A judge must not be receiving kickbacks from any lawyers involved in a case over which the judge will rule.
A judge must not have a business interest in a bank. A judge must not sit on the board of directors of a corporation. A judge must be honest according to the standards of honesty that good teachers impart to children in preschool.
These admonitions are largely based on common sense. Still, judges want us to believe that they can rise above relationships and offer good judgment. We know better.
Ciavarella and Conahan shattered all standards of decency to such a terrible degree that we must now wonder about any and all judges who judge. Since judges too often consider themselves above the societal fray that sends people to court, they are not willing to address the failings of themselves and their colleagues.
So we must judge for them.
The people and the press must challenge these black-robed miscreants.
So, too, must good lawyers and good judges challenge the jaundiced jurists who walk and sometimes crawl among us, deciding issues of life and death. Ciavarella and Conahan impugned the reputations of the good lawyers and judges in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
All good lawyers and judges must now work extra hard to win back the public trust.
I understand why more and more voters in our region distrust more and more judges. It doesn’t take a law degree to figure out the eroding public trust in the wake of the flood of corruption that is still unfolding.
The appearance of impropriety is easy to see.
So why don’t more judges see it?
They do see it.
They just don’t want to admit to the conflict.
Instead they disregard what they perceive as a challenge to their ego that often keeps them from rising above the obvious and rendering a fair decision. Judges must be honor-bound and impartial. And if their profound sense of importance prevents them from making an unbiased determination, then we must make that determination for them.
If judges don’t see the light we must replace these dim bulbs on the bench with a brightness that will light the darkest coal mine.
Justice for all means justice for all – even when it comes to judging dirty judges.
Corbett
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