JUDGE GREENE/CHIEF JUSTICE LEWIS/AHEARN
As many of you know, there has been another incident involving a judge possibly making racially insensitive statements. I was not there, but the 17th Circuit's Diversity Committee (headed by Elijah Williams), is now involved, supposedly addressing concerns that Judge Greene may have explained a not guilty verdict involving a minority victim and a minority defendant as "no human involvement" (I guess he thought the defendant was guilty, and that the jury discounted the evidence because the participants were not very sophisticated people).
Please see the comments section on the previous JAABLOG post "An Onlooker's Tale" for background. In addition to the usual anonymous banter (anyone can post anonymously, just leave the field for "Name" blank, and it will automatically post as "Anonymous"), there is a thoughtful post by one of the witnesses, ASA David Di Pietro, explaining what he saw.
In any event, with the issue of our senior judges making insensitive statements raising it's ugly head again, I thought it was time to post an update on Chief Justice Lewis' aggressive follow-up to the meeting held in March between himself and the minority bar groups in response to Chief Judge Dale Ross' racially insensitive behavior at magistrates.
In addition to appointing Judge Scott Bernstein to Chair the statewide Diversity Training Subcomittee of the Standing Committee on Fairness and Diversity (previously reported on JAABLOG), Justice Lewis has written letters to Governor Crist, to Judge Silberman, Chair of the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC), to Judge Palomino, Jr., President of the Florida Conference of County Court Judges, to Judge Menendez, Jr., Chair of the Florida Conference of Circuit Judges, and to Judge Webster, Chair of the Committee on Judicial Evaluations (asking for a meeting to discuss valid judicial evaluations).
To Governor Crist:
"A concern was voiced...that persons selected to become judicial officers must have not only all of the necessary background academic in nature, but must also have the depth of character to absolutely exclude matters unrelated to the substance of the case presented, such as racial, ethnic, cultural, and any similar, irrelevant factor. I agree with this assessment and urge that this concern be factored into the exercise of your good judgment when potential candidates for judicial positions are to be selected."
To the JQC:
"A concern was voiced...as to a lack of information or full understanding of the JQC and its operation. Concern was expressed that things occur that may not be to the level of JQC action, but may still be wrong and escape review. I promised that I would ask you to meet with them to explore issues of concern and to seek a better understanding of the JQC..."
To the Circuit and County Conferences:
"Your Conference has sent a very strong and clear message rejecting my attempts to coordinate educational and other programs from a centralized point within this Court, but I again urge that your Conference recognize this area of concern and develop educational and other continuing programs to address these important issues..."
Please email me at wgelin@yahoo.com if you want copies of the full text of the letters. I find it interesting that, if true, it's another member of judicial administration that has stepped in it. How can our good judges restore the 17th Circuit to credibility if their leaders don't take diversity seriously and refuse to accept that times have changed? In any event, if this latest incident is true, some good may come, namely that Justice Lewis will hopefully be able to use the 17th as an example to push through his much needed reforms statewide. Thank you again Justice Lewis for your aggressive, proactive attention to this most important issue.
As to Ahearn's post, I didn't express a "gleeful tone" at the demise of the wheel. If it came across that way, I apologize. Really, I posted over many months trying to get the private bar on board, to stop the legislative train from steamrolling over the wheel, obviously to no avail (the idea that I started this whole thing in Tallahassee, through my attempts to stop the judges from going off the wheel wholesale, is, of course, as plausible as my picking up the phone and getting Governor Crist on the other end). I'm trying to find the silver lining here, and, beside possible contested elections, I think the private bar may get additional business since some defendants, no matter how wrong they may be, just don't want a PD, whether one of Howard's, or one of the new conflict PDs. I'll miss you Mike, I just hope your post wasn't another misguided attempt by some of your judge buddies, who hate this blog and the free flow of information, by having you write this illogical stuff in an attempt to discredit me and my true goal, namely (yup, here it comes again): STOP BROWARD FROM INCARCERATING NON-VIOLENT AND DRUG SICK OFFENDERS AT TWICE THE RATE PER CAPITA OF OUR NEIGHBORS PALM BEACH AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTIES.
Bill Gelin
This time something substantive must be done to correct this obvious systemic problem. No sooner do we have Chief Justice Lewis address this problem concerning the nature of insensitive statements made by Chief Judge Ross, do we have a Senior Administrative Judge making much worse statements with even broader implications providing an all to real glimpse into his thoughts. This must stop. It is undermining public trust and confidence in our Judiciary. "Men and nations must use their power with the purpose of making it an instrument of Justice and a servant of interests broader than their own." Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History, 1962.
The Media is going to have a field day with this.
Recommendation: Immediate Removal.
why, because he thinks some people are sub-humans? come to think of it, isn't that how Nazis categorized his people not too long ago?
The wheel is dead! The wheel is dead! Weeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!
Exclamation points - what's your definition of "Gleeful"?
Apology accepted
Get ready Broward, here it comes again!
Prepare yourself Broward, here comes another volley of Judicial Misbehavior.
Only this time it looks like it's being taken very seriously!
Such unbridled arrogance from a public official. He's a judge and used to dealing consequences. Wow!
The Blog is GREAT! Its hard to believe that all these years before the Blog existed that nothing wrong happened. Its hard to point out over the last twenty previous year period, as many things that have been exposed in only just the last 8 months. Now we all get to know what goes on, nothing gets swept away. That is true Sunshine.
Much of what I see constitutes just additional layers of bureaucracy all designed to further insulate judges from charges of misconduct. The JQC is still the best way to hold their feet to the fire when they abuse public confidence. Don't be distracted by lame attempts to add additional blankets of protection. JQC Complaints are forever added to their files and serve as information to be considered when they seek advancement to higher office.
The ones running the show were drawn to the political aspects of the judicial spectrum. There's a reason for that. I feel sad for the Great Judges we have that try to stay out of the silly games introduced into the equation by the former mentioned but get drawn into it. The day is fast approaching that we will see a return to worthy administration with the introduction of new blood into the decrepit body politic of Broward.
Greene ain't going anywhere. No advancement. Even with all his alleged family dough and connections, he remains forever a bottom rung judge. No wonder he takes such pride in his title administrative judge.
Not any more!