cptjeff: Senior status, which a judge can take after so many years of service, is a way to help with judges who are too old to do the work. They can retire and take a caseload they're comfortable with, and other judges they work with and their clerks can and will let them know if it's time to quit. If they still refuse to, they can just give that judge nothing but complex and incredibly boring tax cases until he gets the hint (yeah, that's happened).


I had a Senior judge for my Temp Protective Order/Domestic Violence hearing. I would never want to be judged by anything but. Saw right through it all. Dressed me down for following her into crazytown, and I thought I was farked, he didn't say a thing to her after she had obviously manufactured the whole thing and even admitted that her parents had loaned her witness (her uncle) 20k the week before the bus to crazytown left the station. Then he gave me my house and my daughter back. The Ex still thinks she "won" because I got barked at.

Bonus: old dude just amended the order from his bench with a pen, but farked it up and the order didn't technically give me my daughter back, just the house. She heard what he said but still wouldn't give me my daughter, so I had to go back at the end of the day and get it amended by him. I bust into his little courtroom, all out of breath after having just run a mile for lack of cash for parking and a half day of my lawyer on phone with his clerk and just the stress of it all. He motions me up and takes the order and looks at me while he is writing and says, "Go get your daughter and go home Dad. The Baillif can reach me if you have a problem."

My experiences with courtrooms have always been bad. Not that day. Judges SHOULD be old, wise and beyond the reach of a material world they are about to leave.

"When Wilson and I were chasing that kid... Do you know what it feels like to be running down 43rd Street, and your partner is cornering a guy on 52nd? Do you how I found out what happened? I asked a reporter! *Four* radio stations beat me to the scene of the crime! "

/hot, sweaty, and out of breath

four95: At 104 years old, you shouldn't be allowed to drive, let alone be a federal court judge. There are plenty of things he could have done to remain connected and vital, but allowing a 104 year old to adjudicate and interpret law is not one of them.

How do you know he couldn't do the job? I work with 80 year old guys who can outthink their 30 year old counterparts. Its not like they are doing manual labour.

bravian: four95: At 104 years old, you shouldn't be allowed to drive, let alone be a federal court judge. There are plenty of things he could have done to remain connected and vital, but allowing a 104 year old to adjudicate and interpret law is not one of them.

How do you know he couldn't do the job? I work with 80 year old guys who can outthink their 30 year old counterparts. Its not like they are doing manual labour.

And 30 year olds trying to think is a lot like manual labor.

Pelvic Splanchnic Ganglion: BigLuca:
Article III, § 1 of the US Constitution.

It's just a goddamn piece of paper

You must be from Chicago.

I can tell you aren't sympathetic

SoCalSurfer: BigLuca: RexTalionis: four95: No judge, in any court should be appointed for life. They should all be elected and all have term limits. why is it the judicial branch is the only branch that has "lifetime" appointments in this country?

Article III, § 1 of the US Constitution.

It's just a goddamn piece of paper

Hmmm you do realize that's what hitler would say if he was making the laws or you know...someone who wanted to trash the constitution

I didn't just make that up, it's actually a quote that Bush didn't say.

BigLuca: RexTalionis: four95: No judge, in any court should be appointed for life. They should all be elected and all have term limits. why is it the judicial branch is the only branch that has "lifetime" appointments in this country?

Article III, § 1 of the US Constitution.

It's just a goddamn piece of paper

Consider your right to free speech revoked.

/"It's just a goddamn piece of paper."

LoneWolf343: BigLuca: RexTalionis: four95: No judge, in any court should be appointed for life. They should all be elected and all have term limits. why is it the judicial branch is the only branch that has "lifetime" appointments in this country?

Article III, § 1 of the US Constitution.

It's just a goddamn piece of paper

Consider your right to free speech revoked.

/"It's just a goddamn piece of paper."

hmmm... I wonder if we could use our right to free speech to renounce our right to free speech, and if so, use our same right to free speech to reinstate our right to free speech. I think as long as you embrace hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance, it would work.

"aaarg, they're more like guidelines than rules" would also been accepted.

cptjeff: If they still refuse to, they can just give that judge nothing but complex and incredibly boring tax cases until he gets the hint (yeah, that's happened).

Except no. Judge assigments in Federal cases are random.

four95: No judge, in any court should be appointed for life. They should all be elected and all have term limits. why is it the judicial branch is the only branch that has "lifetime" appointments in this country?

They are granted lifetime appointments to make them less influenced by politics of the day. Honestly, who's to say that a judge is "too old" to hold his or her position? What's the cut-off age? I've met some incredibly apt people in their 80s, and I've also met some absolute nut jobs in their 30s. Who's to argue at what age someone is no longer "fit" to be a judge.

well.. at this rate it will take 104 years to fill his spot...

Between 2001-03 I worked for a criminal defense attorney in Wichita, KS. On more than one occasion I had the opportunity to be in the presence of Judge Brown both as he presided from the bench and for matters outside the courtroom. He was truly a fair and impartial judge. I see no problem with him having presided up until his death

All the people white knighting lifetime judicial appointments need to think about what happened when the FBI director had a lifetime appointment, anyways congress decided to make a law where FBI directors are only appointed for 10 years after that.

I say federal judges, especially SCOTUS judges should have a 10 year appointment just like the FBI director. Of course you'd have to do a constitutional ammendment to do it to the judges.

BigLuca: LoneWolf343: BigLuca: RexTalionis: four95: No judge, in any court should be appointed for life. They should all be elected and all have term limits. why is it the judicial branch is the only branch that has "lifetime" appointments in this country?

Article III, § 1 of the US Constitution.

It's just a goddamn piece of paper

Consider your right to free speech revoked.

/"It's just a goddamn piece of paper."

hmmm... I wonder if we could use our right to free speech to renounce our right to free speech, and if so, use our same right to free speech to reinstate our right to free speech. I think as long as you embrace hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance, it would work.

"aaarg, they're more like guidelines than rules" would also been accepted.



/meme in your meme so you can lol while you lol.

four95: At 104 years old, you shouldn't be allowed to drive, let alone be a federal court judge. There are plenty of things he could have done to remain connected and vital, but allowing a 104 year old to adjudicate and interpret law is not one of them.

If he is mentally fit then his age is of no concern.

He sounded like a good man who had morals.

ozarkmatt: Not really sure how the Federal Court system works, but I'm guessing these guys dont work in a vacuum. Clerks, attached lawyers, etc. do all the heavy lifting no matter the age of the judge, right?

Each federal judge gets two clerks, who are usually just out of law school. The clerks do a lot of the grunt work.

Pronto_Breakneck: cptjeff: If they still refuse to, they can just give that judge nothing but complex and incredibly boring tax cases until he gets the hint (yeah, that's happened).

Except no. Judge assigments in Federal cases are random.

Senior federal judges can elect to hear civil cases only; these tend to be less complicated and stressful than criminal cases.

/my late father was a federal judge, getting a kick, etc.

Oznog: [26.media.tumblr.com image 500x375]

RIP Judge Happy Boyle (does anyone even REMEMBER Ally McBeal now??)

The current Calista, while still birdlike, is more silent than the last one.