A whole series of judicial misdemeanours, ranging from the titillating to the outrageous, has emerged over the past year. Take the Florida state judge, John Sloop, who was ousted after complaints about his “rude and abusive” behaviour. This included an order to strip-search and jail 11 defendants for arriving late in traffic court after being misdirected. Or the Californian judge, José Velasquez, sacked in April for a plethora of misconduct, including extending the sentences of defendants who dared question his rulings.
Then there was the Albany city judge, William Carter, in New York, censored for his “utterly inexcusable” conduct after jumping down from the bench during a trial, shedding his robes and apparently challenging a defendant to a fist-fight. Another time, he suggested that the police “thump the shit out” of an allegedly disrespectful defendant. Mr Carter wasn't carrying a gun; many judges now do. In Florida, Charles Greene, chief criminal judge in Broward County, had to step down after describing a trial for attempted murder involving minority defendants and witnesses as “NHI” (No Humans Involved). Then there are the sexual peccadilloes. In Colorado, a (male) judge resigned after admitting having sex with a (female) prosecutor in his chambers. In California, a former judge was jailed for 27 months for downloading child pornography. And in Oklahoma Donald Thompson, a judge for more than 20 years, was jailed for four years for indecent exposure and using a “penis pump” to masturbate during trials.
More serious are the cases of corruption. On June 5th Gerald Garson, a former judge in Brooklyn, New York, was jailed for taking bribes to rig divorce cases. Another judge was convicted of accepting money to refer clients to a particular lawyer. Rumours of buying and selling of judgeships in the district abound. At one time, one in ten Brooklyn judges were said to be under investigation for sleaze.
You think judges in India are underpaid? Well, low salaries are a problem in the US as well although US judges aren't exactly below the poverty line.
The meagre salaries of judges, whether at state or federal level, do not help raise standards either. Federal judges have not had a real pay rise for 17 years; a district court judge earns $165,000 a year, about the same as a first-year associate in a top law firm. John Roberts, chief justice of the Supreme Court, earns just $212,000—half the salary of England's top judge and one-fifth of the average income of a partner in the majority of America's 100 top-grossing law firms. Around 40 judges have left the federal bench over the past five years.
3 comments:
I am shocked.. that you did not notice the HUGE difference between the two systems while putting them in the same bag: Judges over there seem to be getting investigated, convicted, jailed and fired for the wrongs that they do. Does that happen over here?
It feels good to say that Corruption is a global problem, but that does nothing to absolve our systems of the rot that has set in.
There are corrupt officials in all countries. The difference lies in how the corrupt are treated. That is what separates good systems from bad ones, not the absence of corruption (which is a utopian ideal).
Point taken, Vivek. My point was a more limited one, namely, that there are serious problems in developed country systems as well.
-TTR
A rascal is a rascal is a rascal anywhere. There are issues of corruption ofcourse - but also judicial overreach and arrogance for sure. AlCee Hastings was a Judge who was impeached - but managed to get himself elected to Congress! ... Senator Sessions of Alabama was not found fit to be confirmed for some Federal Judgeship (he was nominated by President Reagan) - so Sessions got elected to the US Senate and now sits on the panel/committee that holds hearings on Judges (!) ... Justices Scalia and Thomas do not really give a damn about precedents - they have been willing to overturn anything they do not like ... Roberts seems to be a bit more cautious - The bigger problem is really with this system that allows frivolous law suits that are often heard by Judges/systems that have a stake to keep such a system in place ... When there are grumblings about outsourcing here in the US and about how all the jobs are leaving the US and so on - I suggest that one way to stop the job outflow is for the US to export attorneys to other countries (and pay those countries to take them in) ... and let them run amok ... ! The US Department of Justice is also running amok with white collar prosecutions and the case against KPMG may wither/die due to prosecutorial abuse ...
Post a Comment