You Have to Earn Respect

By John Brown's Ghost

To start off, I don't know this judge.  I don't know anything about him.  He could be a terrific judge.  However, this action seems pretty pretentious.  Yes, the idiot criminal deserves to be in jail, albeit for his crimes.  However, does giving a judge "the bird" REALLY qualify someone for 6 months in jail??  If the judge was just using the finger flipping as an excuse to give this treasure of society another 6 months in jail - fine, I might applaud him.  However, it doesn't at least appear that this is the case. 

In thinking about the ramifications of this, I thought "How much does it cost to house an inmate for a year?"  There are a lot of answers, but I saw numbers on-line that ranged from $17,000/year in Kentucky, to $22,000/year in Wisconsin and Florida to $47,000/year in California.  Just to make the math easy, let's say it cost $20,000/year.  Because the alleged criminal gave a one-fingered salute to the judge, and his feelings were oh so terribly hurt, the tax payers will be left with a bill for an additional $10,000.  Perhaps a better option might have been for the judge to order the criminal to buy him a box of bon-bons so he could salve his hurt feelings.

I know, I know, we have to have members of society be respectful of authority figures and behave nicely.  I'm sure if the same judge heard that a criminal flipped off a police officer, the criminal would get an extra 3-4 months in the slammer, right? What about those war protesters that yell "baby-killer" to our soldiers.  Now that has to be a lot worse than displaying a singular digit, right?  I'm sure the judge would give the anti-war protesters at least 9 months for that.

I think what bothers me the most about this story is that criminals get off all the time with probation for truly serious matters.  In this case, a criminal gets 6 months in jail for offending a judge.  I guess I'm not seeing the logic.  You can try and seduce a child and get probation, but if you offend a judge, whamo- straight to jail.

Not all, but some judges believe that they are the epitome of righteousness.  The supreme rulers of all that is wise and learned.  "Why, doesn't that criminal know who I am? How dare he flip me off."

Judges have such wisdom, as demonstrated in this case, or by this case.  How about the acts of this judge?

Sometimes judges make decisions that have no rational underpinnings to the financial and social realities that become of their decisions.  Years ago, a judge, a SINGLE JUDGE, decided that taxpayers in the Kansas City Missouri school district had to cough up millions of dollars to rectify inequalities in the school system.  What was the result?  Practically nothing.

Judges are not gods.  Why they believe that they deserve more respect than police officers, military personnel or even the common man, befuddles me.

It goes back to an old joke:

Q:  What do you call an attorney with an IQ of 80?

A:  Your Honor

Comments

[Illinois Patriot]

It has been suggested by several close friends, including a police officer and a trial lawyer, that he did this heinous act of single fingered birdsmanship in order to get off the street for the winter since he is homeless. Sorry but if this is the case I have to give the man props for a well played plan...

[Louis G. Atsaves]

It goes to respecting the position, not the individual. Flipping off the bench is flipping off our judicial system. Although the punishment may have been harsh, if he was flipping off the judge to mock him in front of his friends watching in court, or to show off or prove that he was a punk, then the judge nailing him was appropriate.

As a lawyer for nearly 30 years, I have seen the system deteriorate. People no longer dress up to go to court, baggy pants, hats worn gang-banger style, dirty T-shirts are the norm. The respect for the position is gone. I tell my clients to dress like they would be going to church or somewhere important. Maybe that makes me old school.

I for one would love to see more decorum and respect in our court rooms. Not all judges are perfect and some do some pretty stupid things on the bench. That what Appellate Courts and Supreme Courts are for. But then again, none of us are perfect and we all do some pretty stupid things.

That is what makes our legal system the best in the world, even with its flaws.

[Dennis C. Ryan]

Louis, I agree. I would not even dream of going into a courtroom improperly dressed, even for interview as a possible juror.
First impressions are important, and the courtroom represents our government, a government of laws, not of men. If we expect justice, then we should show respect for the instiution wherein justice is being sought.