Well, that wasn't fun. After receiving a barrage of emails from outraged readers calling us a "self-hating" so and so, the result of our dipping out blog into the middle east peace process had as much success as Jared Kushner's ill fated attempt. So let's get back to law, where our readers can send outraged emails calling us a "know-nothing so and so". Those emails we are used to.
In the Southern District of New York they have this odd practice of attorneys filing motions for their clients in the form of a letter, on legal letterhead. "Dear Judge so and so, I write this letter seeking an adjournment of the June 1, 2021 sentencing date...". The letter then has all the components of a motion, with citation to law, and the results of a conference with the opposing party.
Not every judge allows the practice. But those who do also require an email to the judge with the letter. We are fans of the practice for informal motions. It is just a bit easier and in a way it alerts the judge that the motion is more pro forma then say the motions to suppress that Mr. Markus so successfully files and litigates.
Pro forma motion practice is something that the criminal court judges of Miami should adopt and the window of opportunity was during Covid when courts were closed. "Dear Judge De La O, I write to ask the court to reduce my client's cost of supervision to ten dollars a month. He is currently supporting his family by working two jobs including one as an Uber driver and the probation officer and prosecutor both agree to the motion. My client has been on probation for one year with no violations and he has one year left and this is his first offense - the charge was resisting arrest with violence."
Now of course you will have to use your imagination because no client of Rumpole's is ever pleading to a ridiculous charge like that. But you get the point. Letter motions would help clear the judicial calendars of some of the jetsam and flotsam of legal motions and allows our Judges to focus their time in court on more serious matters- like motions to suppress in criminal mischief cases.
2 comments:
Kushner’s work was hardly ill-fated. He successfully negotiated the Abraham Accords, restoring full diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, and subsequently restoring Israeli relations with Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco, destroying the false narrative (advanced by people like John Kerry) that no Arab country would make peace with Israel until the Palestinian issue was resolved. Too bad Kushner couldn’t continue his work, but perhaps he will get another shot at it.
I think it was brave of you to post your analysis of the situation in the Middle East. You knew you'd get really harsh blow-back and did it anyway. The effort to silence critics is formidable, and our government tends to capitulate to Israel. I know professors who have been censured and dismissed for having open discussions on the issues. State governments are trying to criminalize BDS boycotts, which are supported by clergy of several denominations. The Metropolitan Opera was bullied into creeping away from its own production of 'The Death of Klingenhoffer,' a moving and important opera that had the temerity to try to explore the motivations of the assassins.
So I'm sorry to hear that being pelted by your readers may cause you to refrain from further posts on this issue. That's the whole purpose of pelting -- to silence critics.
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