TIES THAT BIND II

It's summer time (you can tell because it's raining.)

We have discussed before that for all their short comings our colleagues North of The Border have an enlightened approach to summer time dress codes.

Do you think our Administrative Judges should show some leadership here and issue an order allowing attorneys, if they so choose, to appear in Court sans Tie for soundings, reports, and miscellaneous hearings?

Dressing in a suit and tie shows respect for the court and jurors. However, our female colleagues manage to pull it off without wearing a Tie most of the time.

It's something to consider.


We've been pondering the Brendlin decision from the US Supreme Court (there is a link to the decision in the previous post). The decision extends the protections of the Fourth Amendment to Passengers in Vehicles.

We have two thoughts: 1) Justice Souter wrote: A traffic stop "necessarily curtails the travel a passenger has chosen just as much as it halts the driver," …. "a passenger's "attempt to leave the scene would be so obviously likely to prompt an objection from the officer that no passenger would feel free to leave in the first place".

Sort of undermines all those decisions that say that citizens are free to leave an "encounter" with the police any time they wish.

2) Extending the "protections" of this court's view of the Fourth Amendment to passengers is sort of like handing a broken umbrella to an attorney scurrying from their parking lot in the rain. The thought is good, but they still get wet. We read this decision as giving passengers standing to file motions, which can then be denied on grounds other than lack of standing. Woo Hoo! What a big day for the rights of citizens in the good ol' USA

Judge Seidlin (he of Anna Nicole Smith weeping fame) resigned North of The Border to pursue ventures in Hollywood. You can read about it on the Broward Blog.

Judge Speiser withdrew from the race to be the new chief honcho in Broward. The race is now down to Dale Ross, Mrs. Dale Ross, and Judge Stacy Ross, Dale Ross's daughter, and a Judge in her own right. What a coincidence!

See You In Court, wearing a tie until we are told otherwise.