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When is breaching an "oral tradition" different from violating an "unwritten rule"? When you're Judge Sharon Keller

Readers of this blog by now surely have heard about the fact finding report issued yesterday in Judge Sharon Keller's case before the Commission on Judicial Conduct. From the moment I posted about this on Grits, it was clear lots of people have strong opinions about the ruling. Here's mine.Having now had time to read and digest Judge David Berchelmann's findings of fact (pdf), I think I've honed in on what bothers me most about this outcome. Berchelmann concludes that Judge Keller "did not violate any written or unwritten" rule of the court. But his own description of facts in the case defies that conclusion. He describes the detailed, unwritten procedures followed by the court in death penalty cases - rotating turns as the "duty judge" in charge of all after-hours communications in the case...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on January 21, 2010 (boomark / email).