TChris of TalkLeft reads the NY Times so you don’t have to, and finds that yes, local judges can be dickheads too. The examples mentioned of New York municipal judges’ misbehavior ranges from denying a domestic violence victim a protection order because he believes “every woman needs a good pounding every now & then”, to deliberately violating the 6th Amendment by denying defendants an attorney.
Apparently in most of the cases described these are less actual judges than random schmoes given a robe. Yet this highlights an issue I’ve had with the entire judicial system for a long time: the power & opportunity of judges to follow their own petty whims rather than any reasonable interpretation of the law. That some podunk town judge that has less of an education than I do & Supreme Court justices with lengthy backgrounds in the law can use similar logic says a lot, none of it good…
I remember arguements with people over constitutional interpretation where they’ve essentially argued that since the task of interpretation is given to the courts no one can argue that any decision is wrong — the judicial equivalent of the “it’s legal if we do it” defense of the executive branch. Frankly, I’m puzzled as to how anyone can believe that & not call for radical change. Trouble is, how? What is even possible that would reliably reign in the judiciary?
