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Miscellaneous

court-o-rama.org

About the courts.
By Anne Skove, Esq.

Post Frequency: 12/day

Last Entry: March 25, 2011 at 00:00:00

Leaning Statue of Paris

Posted on July 06, 2009
With court and county budgets stretched thin, local statuary might have to take a back seat to essential court functions. That seems to be the case in Paris, Illinois. There, a rendition of Lady Justice leans atop the courthouse cupola. The article does not say (and it's difficult to tell from the photo) whether she leans left or right; it could be forward or backward for all we know...

Happy 4th and 7th

Posted on July 04, 2009
Happy 4th of July! Remember to celebrate your 7th Amendment rights and read the Declaration of Independence, where the former colonists listed the right to a trial by jury as one of the freedoms they wanted to maintain in their new country. Also HBD to FOIA (thanks to reporter Molly for the link).

The First to Go

Posted on June 29, 2009
Court reporters, long a cost drain on ever-technologically-advancing courts, will be the first casualties in the court budget battles. For a long time, court reporters have promoted their superior skills, believing they can do the job better than any machine...

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Wanna Be Startin' Something

Posted on June 28, 2009
Does Michael Jackson's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, have a claim to custody of their (?) children? Rowe relinquished her rights to the children after a brief marriage. Now what? A new fact pattern is born every minute, it seems, at least in the wacky intersection of family law and international popdom...

Hawkeye Budget Slides

Posted on June 26, 2009
The cuts keep coming in Iowa. Recall that several prospective cutbacks, including reducing the number of magistrates, furloughs, and other measures narrowly escaped the chopping block. Now it's down to the wire, and not even the increased number of courthouse weddings will save the budget...

Attic Geek

Posted on June 26, 2009
What's in your attic? A Polk County, Florida, judge was surprised to find the only set of blueprints of the local historic courthouse in his. The discovery allowed the county historical commission to avoid knocking down walls to see what was there. Now, the refurbishing can begin...

WTF Does This Mean?

Posted on June 25, 2009
Yet another reason to ban texting in the courtroom -- you could get caught taking cash for not testifying. A recent Cincinnati case involved a witness who texted to another: Bra this is Derrick I just got ah stack to not testify. Come to joe house im on the run to...

Cash Found in Courthouse

Posted on June 23, 2009
It's not every day a court finds hundreds of dollars!!! Unfortunately for one Alabama county, it was all Confederate money. The plan is to make it part of a public display, not pay the water and sewer bill. See Like-New Confederate Cash Found in Alabama Courthouse, AP, oanow...

Dropping the Percentage Axe in Sarasota

Posted on June 17, 2009
Two percent milk. Fifty percent chance. Less than one percent. We hear about percentages every day (more often if we're in the fifth grade.) A five percent budget reduction sounds like nothing, doesn't it? But translated into real dollars, it's negative $335,057 for the Manatee County Circuit Court in Sarasota...

Am I Blue

Posted on June 15, 2009
If you're seeing blue in Pittsburgh, prostate cancer awareness is the reason. The Allegheny Courthouse fountain (see link, which includes a photo, below) has been dyed blue to promote prostate cancer awareness and a Father's Day 5K/10K run. Last fall it was dyed pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month...

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Posted on June 15, 2009
Ever have that dream where you show up for a class you forgot to attend and have to take a test? What about the dream where you're an alternate juror, but somehow get mixed up in deliberations? That dream unfortunately came true for a Harris County, Texas, alternate...

Video Video

Posted on June 12, 2009
Potential jurors in Oregon will learn about the task before them from a new orientation video. Justice for All can be viewed on the Internet. According to Judge Janice R. Wilson, Circuit Judge of Multnomah County in Portland, Oregon, The video was the work of a subcommittee of the Chief Justice's Access to Justice for All Committee...

The Speed of Knife

Posted on June 10, 2009
When we saw this story, we could hear the voice of the late, great, Professor Groot booming in our tiny head: It's a lot easier to outrun a knife than it is a speeding bullet.

Opposites Repel

Posted on June 10, 2009
What's the opposite of night court? Day jail. That's what the Hunterdon, NJ, community will get if the local sheriff closes the justice center (which appears to include both the jail and court) at night. She claims budget cuts are forcing the measure...

Summer/Early Fall Events

Posted on June 09, 2009
Bored with day camp? Tired of bonbons on the couch? Humidity making you cranky? Fear no more! Check these out: 2009 National Association for Court Management Annual Conference: July 7-11, Boston, MA. Learn about The Human Side of Court Management. Sessions on pandemic planning, court culture, elder issues, establishing credibility, and many more...

Objective Risk in West Virginia

Posted on June 08, 2009
Today the SCOTUS opined that West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin should have recused himself from a case in which a conflict of interest existed. Objective risk of bias is the standard by which judges must recuse themselves. Now that this point has been clarified, will we see more recusals? New procedures by which judges may recuse themselves? Less corruption? More respect for jurors' decisions? The means by which a jurisdiction selects its judges is less important than the way it handles ethics issues...

The Case of the Exploding Courthouse Toilet

Posted on June 07, 2009
In Webster County, Missouri, years of leaks, backups, and -- according to one report -- exploding toilets -- have finally been fixed after workers located a sippy cup stuck in the pipes. See Unlikely Culprit Backed up Toilet at Webster County Courthouse, Marie Saavedra, KY3 News (June 5, 2009).

The Latest

Posted on June 06, 2009
Maricopa County has long been the central place for all things court administration. Innovations, studies, you name it, they've got it. It's also the source for all things Sheriff Arpaio. The most recent story does not concern limiting inmates' meals or making them wear pink underwear (both of which the sheriff has done), but rather a request for e-mails written by judges and court administrators in the Maricopa County Superior Court...

We're Court-O-Rama, and You're Not

Posted on June 06, 2009
While the rest of the world spent late-night Saturday partying, sleeping, or watching SNL reruns, court-o-rama was thrilled to come across an Ethics in America panel discussion on judicial independence. A bit dated (the year was 2006; Justice O'Connor had recently stepped down), the panel talks election vs...

Writ of Palmettus

Posted on June 04, 2009
In the Palmetto State, the esteemed Chief Justice Toal has been forced into explaining to activist Governor Sanford what overriding a veto means. See SC Supreme Court Questions Gov's Stimulus Role, Jim Davenport, Forbes (June 3, 2009). South Carolina is the only state in which anti-stimulus efforts have landed the players in court.

Bronx Jeer

Posted on June 03, 2009
What's as good as cash? The answer is not risky securities. Yet, the Bronx Surrogate's Court office of public administration invested millions from the dead not-so-wisely. Frankly, we're surprised this doesn't happen more often. As the demographic ages and market slumps, watch for this kind of accident to happen more often...

Gopher Law

Posted on June 03, 2009
Today's Talk of the Nation features a discussion about the Minnesota Supreme Court's upcoming decision in Franken v. Coleman. MPR's legal correspondent Elizabeth Stawicki is on hand to talk about Minnesota election law. Later in the hour, Tom Goldstein talks about Sonia Sotomayor's DC tour.

More Counseling for Texan Jurors

Posted on June 03, 2009
Two bills increasing post-trial counseling for jurors are on their way to the governor of Texas to be signed. The first would give county commissioners courts the option to offer a maximum of 10 hours of counseling to jurors in criminal trials involving graphic evidence or testimony...

Reverse Paparazzi

Posted on June 01, 2009
In a switch from the traditionalist paparazzi approach, weatherman Al Roker was chastised for taking photos of his fellow New Yorkers as they all showed up at the courthouse for jury service. Evidently he did not see the sign banning snapshooting in the courthouse...

So Much Empathy, So Little Time

Posted on May 30, 2009
Empathetic is not usually the word one uses to describe (at least one of) the people behind court-o-rama. Other words, yes. Judicial empathy has been the talk of the virtual town lately. See (or, rather, hear) the discussion from last Friday's Left, Right and Center...

Please Don't Bite the Volunteers

Posted on May 28, 2009
...or the hired help. See Police: Woman Bit Court Mediator, Seacoastonline.com (May 23, 2009).

Saved by the Gov

Posted on May 28, 2009
Iowa's court budget problems have been solved -- for now. Governor Chet Culver approved $760,000 for courts, nixing planned furloughs and other cuts. See 7th Judicial District Won't Get More Judges, Furlough Days Canceled, Quad City Times (May 27, 2009).

That Guy

Posted on May 26, 2009
Sing it with us! Defendant fendant bo-bendant, banana fana fo fendant, fee fi mo mendant, Defendant! When a defendant has several aliases and one of the issues is his sanity (proof being that he believes himself to be one of the Rockefellers), what to call said defendant during trial is a puzzle...

Wonks, Rejoice!

Posted on May 26, 2009
Tuesday was an exciting day in legal news, but with all due respect, the real story emerging is California, not Judge Sotomayor. Sure, there's an exciting confirmation process to look forward to, long discussions of empathy v. hard-hearted legalese, and the elusive what-makes-a-good-justice answer...

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