Should judges' moods be allowed to direct judgments?

[Lord Canuck]

I was quite recently involved in a hearing/trial/I don't know the technical term, and I won't go into the details, but something happened which I thought only occurs in fiction.

My friend's lawyer/barrister kept going on about how the judge we'd be seeing was in a bad mood all week. We all laughed until we realised she was being deadly serious and was basing a large part of what evidence she'd present on his mood.

I have to tell you, I think justice is a business just like any other, but this flabbergasted me. The man's mood had major relevance not only to his decision-making process but also to what kind of evidence he would entertain, and this was accepted as a given, accepted as a slightly humourous quirk of judicial process.

Am I wrong or is that just incredibly daft? In reality, the man is there to serve me, a member of the public. What bearing should his mood have on anything?

 

[KSwizzle]

I sat in court one day and watched a lot of cases with Judge Uinsin MacGruairc presiding and I thought he was the definition of a moody judge.

I could be wrong and Matty might have more experience with him but he seemed impatient for the sake of it.

 

[Goatz]

"I was quite recently".

Spake praper Engrish!

Jaysus, how come this intellectual isn't in the running for IOTY?

 

[doppellanger]

Some academics studied prisoners' chances of early release, I think it was in Israel, and they found that prisoners were most likely to get off if their case came up straight after lunch.

 

[Lord Canuck]

I could be wrong and Matty might have more experience with him but he seemed impatient for the sake of it.

These clowns should have their coughs softened for 'em. We no longer kowtow to the man behind the altar, why do we kowtow to the man behind the bench?

 

[Lord Canuck]

"I was quite recently".

Spake praper Engrish!

Jaysus, how come this intellectual isn't in the running for IOTY?

It's perfect English, Goatz. I refuse to be limited by your limited education.

 

[KSwizzle]

These clowns should have their coughs softened for 'em. We no longer kowtow to the man behind the altar, why do we kowtow to the man behind the bench?

Well in one instance I understood it. A guy turned up one hour late for his case in dirty ripped paint overalls because he had come from a job and started getting smart. He actually got 3 months there and then and was taken away. Although I can't remember what the offence was.

In another case however he called the mother of a guy up for assault to come to the stand give evidence. She was distraught and I got the impression that he was raised pretty well and she was devastated that he was in any kind of trouble. She was sobbing and trying to compose herself. This guys 10 year old kid (who shouldnt have been in the courtroom imo) then started crying at the back so the judge got really frustrated with the guys mother and she was very visibly shaken. At the end of the day, she didnt commit the crime. I can understand her being distraught and I thought him taking his frustration out on her was just wrong.

That was a long day

 

[Goatz]

It's perfect English, Goatz. I refuse to be limited by your limited education.

Feck off Canuck. I won Super Brian of 1988 and still have the trophy. Yes, Super "Brian". See, even the guy who inscribed the trophy couldn't spell "brain". I can.

 

[Lord Canuck]

Feck off Canuck. I won Super Brian of 1988 and still have the trophy. Yes, Super "Brian". See, even the guy who inscribed the trophy couldn't spell "brain". I can.

Have you ever licked a window?

 

[Goatz]

Have you ever licked a window?

No. I did lick a plate clean alright.