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Judicial Ethics

The good and bad of social media on display

Today’s title refers to two developments worth writing about that caught my attention in the last little bit that only have the issue of social media in common.  I will try to let the reader decided which is which (or if both are both) in due course. The first development is an example of a lawyer […]

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Judicial Ethics

About last week… (and some actual content too)

So, I didn’t manage to post last week and this is something of an apology to those of you loyal readers who kept coming to the site last week each day looking for content.  (Rest assured, there’s also some substantive discussion of a live ethics issue in the post as well.) I don’t have any […]

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Judicial Ethics

An inside-baseball view of judicial ethics and the media

For today, an interesting (at least I think it is interesting) story about a judicial ethics scenario and the ability of media to “shape” a story and how that ability can transform a question of judicial ethics. About three weeks ago, I spoke with a print reporter with The Nashville Scene about questions he had […]

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Judicial Ethics

Friday follow up – Sixth Circuit affirms Kentucky judicial speech case

So, I’ve been battling a bit of a stomach bug such that over the last 45 hours or so I have ingested a cup of yogurt, a sleeve of Ritz crackers, and a small bowl of chicken noodle soup.  Accordingly, this will be a short(ish) post – apologies in advance. Back in May of this […]

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Judicial Ethics

Hyperbole is the worst thing in the world – judicial ethics roundup

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important opinion on judicial recusal, Williams v. Pennsylvania.  It is the first instance in which the Court has applied the standard first announced in Caperton — that recusal is required when the risk of actual bias on the part of a judge is “too high to be […]

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Judicial Ethics

A word about B**chslaps

It’s a stupid and demeaning term.  In both contexts, whether you replace the asterisks with the original two letters, it, or the other two letters, en.  It is unfortunate that the second term was ever coined by this guy, and it is remarkable to think that this guy has included it for many years as […]

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Judicial Ethics

TACDL’s judicial disciplinary complaint and what really makes it unusual

The Tennessean has an article today about a disciplinary complaint filed by the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers against a General Sessions judge in Nashville.  (General Sessions court in Tennessee is our small claims court, on the civil side, and on the criminal side of things tends to be a misdemeanor court.)  TACDL says […]