Kentucky Law Review

WDRB News: "Louisville woman wanted to, "kill Judge King""

WDRB reports on theats against a district court judge in Louisville:

"LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville woman is facing a criminal charge after she allegedly said she wants to kill judge Katie King.

Police say Holly Buckley showed up on the second floor of the Hall of Justice and said she was going to, "kill Judge King."

She allegedly said she was angry because the judge did not allow her to handle her case. Police say she made fists and told an officer she was going to hurt herself.

Buckley was arrested and charged with third degree terroristic threatening, a misdemeanor."

What is disappointing are the comments following this story rehashing old news.  Click here for the online story and video.

Here is another story, totally unrelated to the above, that I thought I would post a link to revealing problems with our justice system:

Surveillance video released in shooting involving constable

From the Courier Journal: " Judge fines state over child-abuse records, orders legal fees paid to newspapers"

From the Courier Journal: 

Judge fines state over child-abuse records, orders legal fees paid to newspapers

"In a sharply critical decision, a judge has ordered a state agency to pay $16,550 in fines and $56,663 in legal costs to three newspapers for illegally withholding public records involving child abuse deaths and serious injuries.Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd also rejected efforts by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to heavily redact, or remove, information from such documents. He said the cabinet was continuing its “efforts to blanket the operation of the child welfare system under a veil of secrecy.”"

NOTE:  Have you ever noticed that Franklin County puts out some pretty good jurists?  Wow.  Judge Shepherd is making the hard decisions here with clarity of purpose and a conviction of what is right.  Remember you heard it here first, but this guy should be considered down the road for a Court of Appeals, or better yet a Kentucky Supreme Court seat on the bench.  Mark my words.  An appellate judge needs more than a good head full of sound reasoning, but a heart for what is right and the courage and decency to act upon his or her beliefs.

From CJ: "Bill Cunningham | King's legacy: a personal reflection"

From the Courier Journal, a "special" story written by Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Bill Cunningham:

Bill Cunningham | King's legacy: a personal reflection

Several years ago, on my birthday, a son asked me to recount the greatest changes in my lifetime.

Changes that I never expected to see.

The answer was easy. The end of the Cold War and civil rights.

I grew up in the segregation days of the Jim Crow South. Whites and blacks were segregated, always separate. Separate public rest rooms and water fountains, separate seating at public events. I remember the “Whites Only” signs, separate entrances, and separate seating. Mixed marriages were forbidden by law. A mixed couple suffered being ostracized, seen together at their own physical risk.

And we had separate schools. In old Eddyville, the blacks lived in a section of town called “Freewill,” its name derived from the days of emancipation when the slaves were at liberty to live where they chose of their own “free will.” The descendants of former slaves went to their own little shabby school up at the end of the hollow. There, they matriculated through the first eight grades. I remember seeing inside my own textbooks, issued by the County Board of Education, a stamp which allowed a check mark for either “white” or “colored.”

When my “colored” contemporaries finished the eighth grade, they faced a hard choice. They could quit school and go to work. Or if they wished to continue with their education — and few of them did —the Board of Education would send them to the Lincoln Institute near Louisville. They would be given a bus ticket to the big city in the fall and a return ticket home for Christmas. The school board also paid for their lodging there.

It is all true. Yet today it seems unreal — like something I dreamed. To my children, it is incomprehensible.

Of course, all that changed after Martin Luther King Jr., arrived on the scene and began his grand march for civil rights. A few years ago, as we commemorated Martin Luther King’s birthday, I went to Paducah to walk in the MLK March sponsored by the local NAACP. It was a cold, but brilliantly sunny day. We marched from the Cherry Civic Center to the cemetery and placed a wreath on a monument. There were over 100 people on that trek.

Click on linked heading above for the rest of the post.

 

LOUISVILLE: Judge Annette Karem's request to reduce contempt sentence if attorney agreed to pay judge's legal fees fighting the appeal has been attacked

From Courier Journal:

Judge's billing request attacked
Courier Journal 12/23/2011
Story by Andrew Wolfson

In an unusual plea bargain, a Jefferson County judge offered to reduce the contempt sentence of a lawyer from six months to one weekend in jail — if she agreed to pay any legal fees the judge incurs fighting the lawyer’s appeals.

Attorneys for Louisville lawyer Amelia “Mikki” Adams have asked Kentucky’s chief justice to disqualify Jefferson District Judge Annette Karem from further hearing the case, saying she injected “her own pecuniary interests into her decision-making process,” creating a conflict of interest and “the appearance, if not the actuality, of impropriety.”

Karem’s lawyer, Lee Sitlinger, said the judge did nothing wrong and that it was his idea to include the payment of fees as one of the conditions for settling the case. Karem hired Sitlinger when Adams named her as the defendant in her appeals.

But leading national experts on judicial experts say it was improper for Karem to propose resolving a case in a way that would benefit her financially. Monroe Freedman, a lawyer professor who teaches ethics at Hofstra University, said in an email that “the judge should be removed from the case, if not from the bench.”

Click on linked heading above for the rest of the post.

SCOKY: Justice Scott files for re-election. Looks like rematch of the close 2004 race with then Justice Janet Stumbo

From the Republic:

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Justice Will T. Scott has filed for re-election to the Kentucky Supreme Court, hoping to win a second term representing eastern Kentucky's 7th district.

Scott, a former Pike County Circuit Court judge, filed his candidacy papers for the 2012 race with the secretary of state's office on Monday.

He has already drawn a challenger, Court of Appeals Judge Janet Stumbo of Van Lear, who served on the Supreme Court until Scott defeated her in 2004.

Their first race was a close one with Scott winning by just more than 2,000 votes. It was also costly for a judicial campaign. Scott outspent Stumbo $245,000 to $175,000.

The winner of next year's rematch will represent a sprawling district that runs through such towns as Ashland, Booneville, Harlan, Morehead and Pikeville.

JUDGES: Kentucky Judge David A. Tapp receives national Drug Court awar

Kentucky Judge David A. Tapp receives national Drug Court award

Judge Tapp, who serves as Drug Court judge for Lincoln, Pulaski and Rockcastle counties, received the All Rise award from the National Association of Drug Court Professionals during a star-studded conference in Washington.

Courts: Social Media - Should judges FB or not?

Here are some thought-provoking posts from the Indiana Law Blog regarding the ethical propriety of judges "friending" lawyers who appear before them on Facebook.  The ethics of judicial propriety, appearance, and posting come into play with free speech, campaigning, politicing, and pandering to the voters.

I for one like judges to be judges.  They can read from afar, but commentary about the proceedings in their court, complimenting litigators, etc. is just a little over the top.  As a pat on the back is given to some, then what about the kick in the pants to those who get the silent treatment.  Negative pregnant at work. 

In any event, Marcia Oddi is keeping this alive:

Courts - "Is it Unethical for Judges to be Facebook 'Friends' With Lawyers who Appear Before Them?"

And let us not forget other social media as Marcia goes a little down under with a post from an incident out of Sydney, Australia:

 

Courts - "Chief Justice: Courts must use Facebook, Twitter to counter 'skewing of information"

Judicial Nominating Commission announces nominees for vacant judgeship in McCreary and Whitley counties

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The Judicial Nominating Commission, led by Chief Justice of Kentucky John D. Minton Jr., announced Aug. 10 the nominees to fill the vacant Circuit Court judgeship in the 34th Judicial Circuit, Division 2, consisting of McCreary and Whitley counties.

The three attorneys named as nominees to fill the vacancy are Thor H. Bahrman, Maxie E. Higgason and Paul K. Winchester.

Thor H. Bahrman and Maxie E. Higgason are attorneys in private practice in Corbin. Paul K. Winchester serves as the Whitley County attorney.

The judicial vacancy was created by the passing of Judge Paul E. Braden on June 3, 2011.

Bar Association: LBA to announce results of judicial evaluations Thursday, Apr. 11 at 11:00 am at LBA's Bar Center in Downtown Louisville

The public and the media are invited to the Louisville Bar Center this Thursday, April 14, 2011 @ 11 am for the announced results of this year's judicial evaluations.

Here are the where, when, who, whats and why of the story.

 

WHAT:  Louisville Bar Association to announce results of judicial evaluation

WHEN:  Thursday, April 14, 11 a.m.  
                        
WHERE:  Louisville Bar Center, 600 W. Main St., Suite 110

WHO:  Pete Karem, Chair, Louisville Bar Association Judicial Evaluation Committee;  Jim Lunger, Vice President, Thoroughbred Research Group;
D. Scott Furkin, Executive Director, Louisville Bar Association

*Various Judicial Evaluation Committee members will be present for interviews

WHY:   Members of the judiciary have the daunting task of deciding the fates of many in our community every day. As such, these judges must also balance other responsibilities within their respective court rooms while maintaining a high level of professionalism and legal ability. The judicial evaluation, conducted annually since 1979, assesses the performance of sitting judges and magistrates serving Jefferson County state courts and Federal courts for the Western District of Kentucky. The evaluation is designed for the purpose of achieving excellence in the performance of individual judges and the improvement of the judiciary as a whole while improving public confidence in the state’s courts.

Media are encouraged to stay on for live shots and interviews through 1 p.m.

DIRECTIONS:  Enter the Louisville Bar Center through the 6th Street entrance. Follow Main Street West bound turning left onto 6th Street – building located on corner. Parking is available on-street (metered) or off-street in the Republic Bank parking garage adjacent to the Louisville Bar Center.


 

Judges: Third recent unfavorable story on local judges -- "Attorney for St. Matthews store owner asks judge to recuse herself in arson case"

And the third recent negative news story about local judge's actions involves Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Audra Eckerle's conduct during a criminal trial.  The other recent stories involved federal disrict court Judge Charles Simpson and Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman.

Note.  All three stories are an outgrowth of criminal trials.

Here is the story written by Jason Riley with the Courier-Journal.  The allegations against the judge originally were an outgrowth of media remarks made by Clay conerning Judge Eckerle's bias in a criminal trial.  The recent allegations involve statements attributed to Judge Eckerle that a bar complaint should be made.  Attorney Clay sought the judge's recusal accusing her of conspiring to have her her election supporters file bar complaints against him.  In his allegations,  Clay also claims Chief Judge Willett apprised Clay of Judge Eckerle's statements that a bar complaint should be filed against Clay for disparaging remarks he made about Eckerle. 

Free speech issues arise on both sides of this controversy, and although the bar has regulatory control over its members and the judges (who are also lawyers).  These individuals are also citizens of the Commonwealth and the United States with rights as any other citizen to express an opinion, but there is also the criminal defendant's right to a fair trial which includes a fair judge.  Thus, procedures for insuring the criminal defendant's right to scope out any judicial bias should be established which not only minimize but guarantee no negative repercussions to the lawyers and the defendant.  Such should also apply with equal force to civil trials (even though the direct constitutional prescription is as explicity as in criminal cases), and the Seventh Amendment's guarantee to a right of a civil jury trial has not been held applicable to the states.

In any event, Clay wished to voir dire (question) the judge regarding her discussions with the Chief Judge.  If anyone has any comments on the procedure, please make them below.   Some might be interested in the recommended procedures to follow when an attorney wishes to make sure the judge is fair and questions motives for the judge's actions.  Keep in mind the risk of challenging judicial autority and how it might affect further actions.  Hopefully, this is only a theoretical risk.

Attorney for St. Matthews store owner asks judge to recuse herself in arson case

The attorney for a St. Matthews shop owner sentenced to 12 years in prison for burning down her business asked Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Audra Eckerle on Monday to recuse herself from the case and accused Eckerle of conspiring to have supporters file bar complaints against him for comments he made to the media.

Thomas Clay, who represents Susan Kay Lukjan, told Eckerle that he was contacted by Chief Jefferson Circuit Judge Barry Willett after Lukjan was convicted in July, with Willett telling him Eckerle had said a bar complaint should be filed against Clay for disparaging remarks he made about Eckerle.

In August, Clay said, two financial supporters of Eckerle filed complaints with the Kentucky Bar Association, alleging that Clay had been unethical in making false statement about Eckerle to the media, including The Courier-Journal.

On Monday, Clay asked Eckerle if he could question her about her discussions with Willett and what, if any, contact she had with the two people who filed complaints against him.

Eckerle called Clay’s motion “very creative” but not relevant to the hearing Monday, which was supposed to be about whether Lukjan could be awarded a bond pending her appeal of her conviction for second-degree arson, burning personal property to defraud an insurer and fraudulent insurance acts over $300 in the destruction of her business, Campbell's Gourmet Cottage.

“If people are filing complaints against you for behavior that they allege is unethical, that has nothing to do with the court and its determinations about issues connected with the trial,” Eckerle told Clay.

Clay has repeatedly criticized Eckerle's handling of the case, saying in July that the judge had shown a consistent bias against Lukjan, didn't properly follow the law and denied Lukjan a fair trial.

He said Eckerle ruled inconsistently on objections, giving favorable treatment to prosecutors; didn't properly review the qualifications of prosecution witnesses; failed to ensure the commonwealth turned over exculpatory evidence; and didn't allow a key defense expert to testify because he wasn't properly licensed, which Clay claimed was an error.

FOR REST OF THE NEWS STORY, CLICK ON HEADING ABOVE.