Bob Scott, writing for the Lafayette Journal & Courier, has a nice piece on Justice Dickson who practiced in Lafayette as an attorney and has recently become acting Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court in the wake of Chief Justice Shepard’s departure.
Two items from the story caught my eye in particular. First was Jeff Newell’s comment on appreciating Justice Dickson’s efforts to keep connected to the Lafayette legal community. (Which he does – and I think that is widely appreciated among the local lawyers). The second was Justice Dickson mentioning that what he missed most was representing clients — the exhilaration of working with them, sharing their lives, win or lose.
That, in turn, brought to mind a concern I’ve heard from judges and one of the aspects of the judiciary that would make me hesitate to become a judge; even if I had the opportunity: the social isolation. I’ve been told and read that the deference reflexively given to judges coupled with something inability to speak freely about cases and opinions can make judges feel disconnected from their colleagues and the community. For example, with my lawyer colleagues, I’ll give them a world of good-natured crap if I see an entertaining opportunity. With judges, I hold back. Now, maybe that will change somewhat when some of the lawyers I’ve been practicing with and against for years start taking the bench. But, the nature of the position does, I think, affect the social interaction.
None of this, by the way, is intended as a reflection on Justice Dickson. The article about him simply led to a stream-of-consciousness association. But, I guess I can say that for my part, on those occasions where I’ve spoken with him, our interactions have been cordial. However, because of his position, I think I was probably self-consciously on my best behavior.
Just wondering what is the position of the legal profession–should local judges have to be affliated with a political party or this there any chance of changing to a non party means of election? Plus a side benefit would be that selection of judges for higher courts would not have a political party slant.
Jack – some counties in Indiana elect judges by a non-partisan system. It seems to work well for them.
Doug – great post. My understanding is that many states don’t even want a lawyer to be “facebook friends” with lawyers based upon the appearance of impropriety. I don’t believe Indiana has ruled as such, but that line of thinking confirms that sitting on the bench might be a lonely job. That’s too bad, and probably discourages many qualified candidates.
Around 1998, I attended a community gathering that included facilitated roundtable talks among diverse audience members to gather input on specific topics. Knowing that a couple judges would be participating, the facilitators arranged for the name tags to be “first name only” with no titles or positions included. Whether the judges were recognized as such by all, I do not know. But the playing field felt considerably leveled and opinions seemed to be stated without any hesitation or intimidation. (And yes, someone named “Randy” attended.)
I was in third year of law school. My mentor, the senior partner for whom I clerked, took me to a pre-trial conference, on a civil suit in which the Government was one of the defendants, at U.S. District Court. The Magistrate-Judge listened to both sides, then adroitly questioned and, politely, pilloried the Assistant U.S. Attorney. Harry and I went to lunch and he asked me whether I thought I would like to be a judge. I said the issues would be fascinating. I wasn’t thinking about mundane things like money and bennies, etc. Harry asked, “But who would you socialize with? Whom could you trust as a friend that was in the law? And who else would there be, but other lawyers, that you had anything in common with?” We got to Shapiro’s and, as if in answer to Harry’s question, the Magistrate Judge was over at a corner table by himself, reading the paper.
I think that state court judges in smaller counties have an easier time
of socializing with their friends, especially those friends who are older than them and also by attending church or Rotary Club type of events.
Those judicial officers in the federal system avoid the “commoners” in the state court system from what I have observed.
I also think that they tend to be ultra-cautious to avoid even looking like they drink alcohol (when they really don’t drink) because someone with a cell phone camera may take a picture of them in public
at a restaurant table with alcohol containers present although the other people at the table were the ones who were doing the drinking.