| Daniel DeBusshere and Bill Fischofer have it right. I went through a spectrum of personal reactions to JJ's judicial misconduct. At first I thought it was ridiculous that he would be allowed to get away with such shenanigans. Then a legal friend explained to me that nothing can be done, since federal judges are appointed for life and are basically immune from any significant punitive process. We must live and learn to take the good with the bad. At that point I became resigned to the fact that our judicial process, as good as it can be most of the time, has a severe flaw, but until someone has a better idea we just have to live with it. That was very difficult for me to do, realizing that the only people who profit from this flaw are lawyers, politicians, and judicial demigods. And God help any of us who is ever falsely accused. Sure, whether you get a good judge or a bad one can be a roll of the dice. But if it happens to you, it's 100%. At that point it became apparent to me that it was irrelevant whether MSFT was guilty or innocent, because this case's process generalizes to any and all cases. How could the only punishment supposedly be to retroactively remove him from the latter portion of the case, and any hearings going forward? In other words a reward, and in all probability, exactly what JJ wanted, a perverse incentive for professional violations in any future federal judge who feels obliged to ignore judicial canons in order to achieve a personal agenda. For the first time in my life, it was difficult to be 100% proud of America. But what can you do, but accept it. With the recent appeal to the supreme court I feel now for the first time that there is a chance for our country to regain unquestionable respect. I find myself in total agreement with Bill, and Daniel that the only way to restore confidence in our system is for the Supreme Court to set a precedent which removes the perverse incentive for future judicial misconduct. Regardless of how Dave, Charles Tutt, Bill, Daniel, myself or anyone feel about MSFT, the only way we have of ensuring judicial integrity is for the Supreme Court to declare a mistrial. |
