Appellate Law

Selya on Blogging

By S. COTUS

The Boston Globe reports that US District Court Judge Nancy Gertner has been a contributor to Slate.  Judge Selya, who is known for his constant use of big words in cases that send poor people to jail says this:

I think it would be a great strain on me to be careful not to say anything that could come back and make it seem like I prejudged a matter when it actually came before me,

But, here is the problem: Do judges really have to make an effort to appear not to be biased, when everyone knows where their sympathies lie?  Wouldn?t it be better to have a nice stream of  consciousness from every judge, so we could know if they are predisposed to rule a certain way.

Tnx. HA, SL&P.

Full post as published by Appellate Law and Practice on May 27, 2008 (boomark / email).