Judicial Reports: Bashed Judges Bash Media

By Jason Boog
jasonboog@judicialstudies.com
Posted 08-08-2008

Brought together to compare notes on the current state of judge bashing, a trio of jurists on Friday engaged in a little media bashing.

“We can’t really depend on the media to do all of the job for us. The media has an interest in doing sound-bytes,” said Cook County Circuit Judge E. Kenneth Wright, Jr., reportedly the first sitting judge to helm the Chicago Bar Association.

“Many times, they want to spin it the way they spin it,” he later concluded.

Wright joined two other jurists, a former New York State Bar President, and a journalist on a panel sponsored by the American Bar Association to explore “Judges Under Fire.”

Overall, the judges agreed that members of the bench should be insulated from the press during active cases, toying with different kinds of groups that could maintain that separation: public relations specialists, bar association teams, or some other independent organization.

Coincidentally, the panel convened the same week as Judicial Reports revealed the existence of a stream of threatening web videos aimed at Southern District Judge Louis L. Stanton for his handling of Viacom’s $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube and its owner, Google. The videos contained everything from accusations of senility, bribery, and bestiality to at least one that could be construed as a death threat. Click here to read that story.

Friday’s discussion began with footage of Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly’s 2006 campaign against Vermont District Court Judge Edward Cashman. O’Reilly’s inflammatory editorial attacked the judge for a lenient sentence in a child molestation case.  

The panelists agreed that the video had misinterpreted the case, ignoring the fact that the judge had actually approved a plea agreement, rather than having issued the decision on his own. “This is a plea bargain. The prosecutor agreed to it,” explained Acting Supreme Court Justice Patricia Anne Williams, who was appointed to the Bronx Criminal Court in 1986, and has been an Acting Justice since 1989.

“It’s easier to blame the judge because he’s such an easy target to hit,” she explained, accusing journalists of seeking only “60-second cutesy sound-bytes,” rather than a judge’s true motivations.

Worried about the press’s ability to manipulate a case, U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman advised his fellow jurists not to converse with reporters during a case. “It’s not a one way conversation, it’s a dialogue,” he said, worrying that journalists could actually influence a judge’s opinion in a pending case.

“Maybe we have to explain ourselves, not just orally in court, but in a written opinion that can go up on the [court] website, so responsible reporters can go to the written opinion,” said Friedman, offering that as the most appropriate means for judges to explain themselves to the public.

“The media is not the enemy. You have to take advantage of these teaching moments,” said Kathryn Grant Madigan, the former president of the New York State Bar Association and a partner at Levene Gouldin & Thompson.

The legal leader urged all bar associations to create “rapid response” teams to speak on behalf of judges and help jurists deal with controversial cases. To that end, the American Bar Association offered copies of a pamphlet entitled “Rapid Response to Unfair and Unjust Criticism of Judges” to all attendees.

Justice Williams agreed, telling how New York’s court spokesperson, David Bookstaver, helped her after she was assigned to hear the criminal case against the four police officers accused of murdering Amadou Diallo during a botched police action. While the case was eventually sent Upstate, the press scrutinized her career in 1999.

“Bookstaver made a personal visit. If there was a problem at anytime, I could call him,” she recalled.

Dale Van Atta, the only journalist on the panel, stayed quiet during the media debate. The reporter compiles the yearly “America’s Worst Judges” list for Readers’ Digest magazine — bestowing the “Broken Gavel Award” on hapless jurists.

When asked whom judges could trust in the media, he had a simple response. “It’s difficult to trust a young reporter. It is safer not to [go on the record]. I’m moving towards the ABA’s side,” he concluded, urging more bar associations to follow the association’s rapid response team model.

Grinning, Acting Justice Williams patted the muckraking journalist on the back.

Posted by Jason on August 8, 2008 06:37 PM to Judicial Reports