The Indiana Barrister has an interview with Judge John Tinder of the Southern District of Indiana. The interview is the first in what is intended to be an ongoing series. The whole thing was interesting, but I was most interested in the non-judicial parts of the interview. I suppose this is because recently my attention was directed to an essay (pdf) in the Winter 2000 issue of Court Review by Isaiah Zimmerman entitled Isolation in the Judicial Career.
The essay suggests that due to the nature of their jobs, including the need for the appearance of propriety, the heavy workload and the loss of casual relationships with practicing attorneys, and due to the tendency of judges to have personalities featuring introversion, intellectuality, high idealism, and a strong work ethic, judges have a tendency to suffer from social isolation and chronic overwork.
To be clear, even after reading the interview, I do not remotely have enough information to conclude that any of the above applies to Judge Tinder. But, I heard echoes of the Zimmerman article in some of Judge Tinder’s responses. Particularly:
There is little on the negative side of this work. If I had to pick one thing, I would say that the most difficult part of the job is the endless flow of work. I would love to be able to go home one day each week, or even one day each month, knowing that all of the things that I could have done to move my workload to completion had been done. In over 18 years in this job, I have never had even one of those days. There is so much to do on so many cases that much goes undone each day. Even in the midst of time away from the office, thoughts will pop into my head about cases that have been lingering too long in my office. Guilt learned from 12 years in Catholic schools and a sizeable number of challenging cases make for a nasty combination. It would be a great thrill to walk into my office some morning to a clean desk to start on a brand new slate of cases. It isn’t going to happen.
Also, the Judge’s self-deprecating response to the question about his hobbies.
I am a little embarrassed for people to know about the frivolous ways I spend leisure time, and I don’t want people to think that I ever do anything other than work. Litigants (and lawyers) waiting for decisions don’t like to read about how their judge goofs off. Additionally, my out-of- office interests could be charitably described as eclectic, but perhaps more honestly could be labeled trivial and schizophrenic.
I was also a bit embarassed for my profession when I read that the Judge was a bit reluctant to mention his extracurricular activities for fear that attorneys practicing in front of him would start tailoring their comments and analogies to his interests. He mentions letting it be known that he was a baseball fan only to be barraged with baseball metaphors in legal briefs and whatnot. Then again, here I am popping off with a bit of psychoanalyis just because the Judge was kind enough to be interviewed by Indiana Barrister and because I happened to read the Zimmerman essay recently. So, sorry about that Judge.
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