perception

Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court “Kitty” Kimball attempts to defend the integrity of judges in the New Orleans area against comments made by some U.S. Congressmen. ( Story here.) These “outsiders” seem to think that there is corruption in the New Orleans area. Imagine that!

Perhaps that perception is a result of the fact that the U.S. Attorney’s office in New Orleans has, in recent years, been putting away corrupt public officials, including a disproportionate number of judges, in record numbers.

Some of the Chief Justice’s points are not comforting to me as a citizen and lawyer in Louisiana.

Her point:

“Let me assure you that New Orleans state judges, as well as judges throughout the entire state of Louisiana, operate under a very strict Code of Judicial Conduct and are subject to some of the most stringent financial disclosure rules in the country,” …. Ibid.

My discomfort:

As anyone who keeps up with Louisiana knows, ethics and financial disclosure laws per se are not exactly scaring our public officials into going straight. This is especially a problem in our state since those charged with enforcing the laws are loathed to do so or in the case of the ethics laws enforcement has been gutted by the lawmakers themselves.

To quote Aristotle: “Good laws, if they are not obeyed, do not constitute good government.”

Her point:

[W]hile “it is true that, as with any profession, there are a few incidents of alleged misconduct,” the vast majority of Louisiana judges work hard and do their jobs well. Ibid.

My discomfort:

It’s good to hear that a substantial majority of our judges are working hard and doing their jobs well. It begs the question of how many aren’t?

“Alleged” misconduct? I’m certainly no legal scholar like the Justice, but Judges that have been found guilty of crimes and those removed from the bench were not based on “alleged” misconduct.

She compares crooked judges to other crooked professionals.  However, the difference between judges and members of other professions citizens have a choice of professionals. If we don’t think a person is ethical, honest, capable or hardworking, we are free to get another lawyer, CPA or physician.

However, with judges, we don’t have that option. Whether it is a civil case or a criminal case, we are assigned a judge and for the most part, we are stuck with them.

Perception is reality

To quote the late writer and philosopher Elbert Hubbard: “No explanation ever explains the necessity of making one.”

Perhaps we should pay attention to the “outsiders.” How others view us is very important when it comes to the reputation of our state and our ability to grow and prosper economically.

I’d much rather have heard from the Chief Justice that we have a problem and that we are working to correct it. That would be much more comforting to me.

C.B.