PARDON THE INTERRUPTION

 There was white smoke* coming from the Wilkie Ferguson courthouse on Monday, signifying that the conclave of federal judges for the SDFL had, finally, selected a new Magistrate Judge. As the SDFL Blog reported going into the weekend, there was apparently a split among our collegial federal judges,  with the possible log jam being 5-5-5! 

On Monday after the white smoke was seen, Mr. Markus reported that YOUR new federal magistrate is Ryon McCabe, who will sit in West Palm Beach at the old, decaying courthouse that has a strong resemblance  to 1970's  Soviet-boxy style-soul-sucking  architecture. It is a courthouse where you cannot even get  decent cup of coffee (but there are plenty of cafes if you perambulate down the street a bit). 

PARDON THE INTERRUPTION

A 2017 study of the Supreme Court found that female Justices were the most frequently interrupted, by both male attorneys and their colleagues.  A 2016 study of that year's oral argument found that the top two justices that were interrupted were Sotomayor (57 times) followed by Kagan (50 times). Justice Thomas was not interrupted because, well, he didn't speak in court that term.

So is gender to blame for "justice interruptus" ? Or are Justices/judges who speak the most interrupted the most? It is hard for us to form an opinion because rather than interrupt a judge, we tend to ignore them. 

So we ask our female judges and lawyers: do you believe you are interrupted in court more often because of your gender? 

At the Supreme Court there are new rules for OA. After the lawyer's time for argument has expired the Justices, in order of seniority, are given the opportunity to ask questions. If nothing else, the new procedure has made Justice Thomas a virtual chatterbox, as he now is much more engaged at OA, for whatever that is worth. 

* For those readers and judges not steeped in the minutiae of how the Catholic Church's college of cardinals selects a new pope, they meet in a conclave in the Vatican and smoke is created after each vote. Black smoke signifies that a new pope has not been selected. When a new pope is chosen, white smoke is generated through the burning of straw and a fancy chemical cartridge. After each vote the paper ballots are also burned.  We have advocated this process for jury deliberations for decades, to no avail.