The Indelible Bonobo Experience

Renaissance Monkey: in-depth expertise in Jack-of-all-trading. I mostly comment on news of interest to me and occasionally engage in debates or troll passive-aggressively. Ask or Submit 2 mah authoritah! ;) !

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A Michigan judge whose smartphone disrupted a hearing in his own courtroom has held himself in contempt and paid $25 for the infraction. Judge Raymond Voet has a posted policy at Ionia County 64A District Court stating that electronic devices causing a disturbance during court sessions will result in the owner being cited with contempt, the Sentinel-Standard of Ionia and MLive.com reported. On Friday afternoon, during a prosecutor’s closing argument as part of a jury trial, Voet’s new smartphone began to emit sounds requesting phone voice commands. Voet said he thinks he bumped the phone, and the embarrassment likely left his face red. (via Judge Raymond Voet holds himself in contempt after phone disrupts court | World | News | National Post) If I’m reading this correctly, dude breaks his own rule for which he used to confiscate smartphones and pays only $25.

A Michigan judge whose smartphone disrupted a hearing in his own courtroom has held himself in contempt and paid $25 for the infraction. Judge Raymond Voet has a posted policy at Ionia County 64A District Court stating that electronic devices causing a disturbance during court sessions will result in the owner being cited with contempt, the Sentinel-Standard of Ionia and MLive.com reported. On Friday afternoon, during a prosecutor’s closing argument as part of a jury trial, Voet’s new smartphone began to emit sounds requesting phone voice commands. Voet said he thinks he bumped the phone, and the embarrassment likely left his face red. (via Judge Raymond Voet holds himself in contempt after phone disrupts court | World | News | National Post)

If I’m reading this correctly, dude breaks his own rule for which he used to confiscate smartphones and pays only $25.

Posted in raymond voet contempt judge judges cellphone blackberry justice imbalance fairness unfair fail
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THE Israeli judicial system has long flaunted its liberal credentials against Binyamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition. But in his documentary, “The Law in These Parts”, Israeli film-maker Ranaan Alexandrowicz offers an uglier portrait of the jucidiary, arguing that it has sanctioned many of the more insidious aspects of Israel’s 44-year military rule of the occupied territories, from the construction of Jewish settlements to the long-term detention of Palestinians without trial. (via An Israeli film: Judging the judges | The Economist, The Law in These Parts)

THE Israeli judicial system has long flaunted its liberal credentials against Binyamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition. But in his documentary, “The Law in These Parts”, Israeli film-maker Ranaan Alexandrowicz offers an uglier portrait of the jucidiary, arguing that it has sanctioned many of the more insidious aspects of Israel’s 44-year military rule of the occupied territories, from the construction of Jewish settlements to the long-term detention of Palestinians without trial. (via An Israeli film: Judging the judges | The Economist, The Law in These Parts)

Posted in law judges israel justice documentary palestine
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Ontario Family Court Justice Harvey Brownstone has been a member of the bench for 15 years. (via Judging would-be judges) ’(..) are they really applying for the position because they’re bored practising law and looking for a career change with a good salary and a pension?’ That’s a sample of the type of grilling candidates can expect when interviewed by the 13-member JAAC (composed of three judges, three lawyers and seven laypeople who serve for three-year renewable terms) — if those applicants end up on the shortlist. Becoming an OCJ judge is a gruelling and time-consuming process.  When a judicial vacancy occurs in Ontario, the chief justice notifies the attorney general, who in turn asks JAAC to find suitable candidates for the area of law involved and the location. ‘We don’t create a pool of candidates from which the Attorney General can draw,’ explains Hanny Hassan, a London, Ont.-based engineering consultant who chairs JAAC. Lawyers must complete a detailed Judicial Candidate Information Form and submit 14 copies of it to JAAC — or, if they have applied within the previous 12 months — send in a ‘short letter’ and forward 14 copies of that to the committee. ‘Candidates are required to not only provide information about themselves, but to also argue their case as to why they should be appointed,’ says Hassan, who estimates JAAC can receive over 200 applications for a judicial position in Toronto as compared to a smaller community, which may receive about one-quarter the number of candidates.  After reviewing all of the applications received, JAAC members create a short list that is eventually pared down to a select group invited for an interview. The seven lay members, including Hassan, contact the references (two from the legal community and two from outside of it) provided in the application, while the judges and lawyers on the committee make ‘discrete inquiries’ about the candidate from people not listed as references. The three judges phone other judges, while the trio of lawyers call colleagues. But as Brownstone points out, the inquiries were not that discrete, at least in his case. ‘I had people coming up to me for weeks saying, ‘Oh, I just want you to know I got a call from the committee and I said something great about you.’ And I was thinking, Oh my God, I didn’t even want these people to know I had even applied.’ And whereas ‘patronage appointments have always been’ a reality in the federal arena (the Ottawa Citizen-Canwest News Service recently discovered that 41 judges appointed by the federal Conservatives had donated to the party or its candidates since 2004, while not suggesting the promotions were ‘pay back for their financial support’), JAAC has ‘virtually eliminated’ the risk of political favours ‘because we’re the ones who control the names’ forwarded to the attorney general, says Murphy, who serves as counsel in the areas of estates and trusts law and civil litigation with Tierney Stauffer LLP in Ottawa. For more information on becoming an Ontario judge visit www.ontariocourts.on.ca/jaac/en ;  For information on becoming a federally appointed judge visit www.fja.gc.ca ; Finally, there’s Wikipedia.

Ontario Family Court Justice Harvey Brownstone has been a member of the bench for 15 years. (via Judging would-be judges)

  • ’(..) are they really applying for the position because they’re bored practising law and looking for a career change with a good salary and a pension?’ That’s a sample of the type of grilling candidates can expect when interviewed by the 13-member JAAC (composed of three judges, three lawyers and seven laypeople who serve for three-year renewable terms) — if those applicants end up on the shortlist. Becoming an OCJ judge is a gruelling and time-consuming process. 
  • When a judicial vacancy occurs in Ontario, the chief justice notifies the attorney general, who in turn asks JAAC to find suitable candidates for the area of law involved and the location.
  • ‘We don’t create a pool of candidates from which the Attorney General can draw,’ explains Hanny Hassan, a London, Ont.-based engineering consultant who chairs JAAC. Lawyers must complete a detailed Judicial Candidate Information Form and submit 14 copies of it to JAAC — or, if they have applied within the previous 12 months — send in a ‘short letter’ and forward 14 copies of that to the committee.
  • ‘Candidates are required to not only provide information about themselves, but to also argue their case as to why they should be appointed,’ says Hassan, who estimates JAAC can receive over 200 applications for a judicial position in Toronto as compared to a smaller community, which may receive about one-quarter the number of candidates. 
  • After reviewing all of the applications received, JAAC members create a short list that is eventually pared down to a select group invited for an interview.
  • The seven lay members, including Hassan, contact the references (two from the legal community and two from outside of it) provided in the application, while the judges and lawyers on the committee make ‘discrete inquiries’ about the candidate from people not listed as references. The three judges phone other judges, while the trio of lawyers call colleagues. But as Brownstone points out, the inquiries were not that discrete, at least in his case. ‘I had people coming up to me for weeks saying, ‘Oh, I just want you to know I got a call from the committee and I said something great about you.’ And I was thinking, Oh my God, I didn’t even want these people to know I had even applied.’
  • And whereas ‘patronage appointments have always been’ a reality in the federal arena (the Ottawa Citizen-Canwest News Service recently discovered that 41 judges appointed by the federal Conservatives had donated to the party or its candidates since 2004, while not suggesting the promotions were ‘pay back for their financial support’), JAAC has ‘virtually eliminated’ the risk of political favours ‘because we’re the ones who control the names’ forwarded to the attorney general, says Murphy, who serves as counsel in the areas of estates and trusts law and civil litigation with Tierney Stauffer LLP in Ottawa.
For more information on becoming an Ontario judge visit www.ontariocourts.on.ca/jaac/en ; 
For information on becoming a federally appointed judge visit www.fja.gc.ca ; Finally, there’s Wikipedia.
Posted in canada ontario judges jaac ocj harvey brownstone judicial appointment oba lsuc law litigation