An Update to the Typography Post

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This week, I received an email from Don Roch at Bowers & Roch in Canton, Georgia, in response to a post on a CLE talk I gave on typography.

He took issue with my claim that, in Georgia appellate courts, you are stuck with Courier New 12 or Times New Roman 14. Don did a “double take” because he has been using fonts other than those. He goes on to point out that you can go beyond those two suggested fonts and not run afoul of Georgia Court of Appeals Rule 1 or Georgia Supreme Court Rule 16. Technically, he is right. Both rules are concerned with type size. The former calls for type no smaller than “10 characters per inch.” The rule says that Times New Roman 14 is fine. While the latter calls for type no smaller than Times New Roman 14 or Courier New 12, meaning that you are safe if you use those.

Don is absolutely right.

Thanks for the “catch” Don. I did misstate the rules as being more restrictive than they are. The better way to have said it is that you know you are safe if you go with those fonts. You may choose different ones as long as your font size is otherwise in compliance.

Please, if you do, make sure that you are otherwise in compliance. Get the ruler out before you submit your filing.

My Controversial Talk on Typography (No Kidding)

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If you read this blog regularly, it is no secret that I am a recent convert and evangelist for Matthew Butterick’s Typography for Lawyers. I have a long way to go in my legal writing before I reach a point of mastery, but I am happy to be paying attention. One of the chairs for the Spring Seminar of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is also an acolyte, and I was invited to speak on typography for an hour. It turns out that I spoke on a little more than typography — subtopics included the need to provide a succinct summary of the desired result, the issues on appeal, and the reasons the court should grant relief, and the need to limit the number of issues on appeal as much as possible. Most cases, after all, are about just one thing.

I was the next to last speaker on the last day. And, as passionate as I am on the topic, I feared that the topic was a bit nerdy and perhaps boring for some. I hedged my bets by putting some serious work into my presentation and the Keynote slides. Writing materials for a talk on typography is also an intimidating task. The project invites a more critical look than others might. And I put as much planning as I could into making the topic engaging.

It turns out that I was wrong to be afraid. Lawyers, even criminal defense lawyers, are a conservative lot and sometimes not good with suggestions about the need for change. And so it came to pass that I was the only speaker of the entire conference to get heckled. That’s right, in a talk on fonts and the structure of appellate briefs, given on the last day of a three day seminar in Savannah, Georgia, I had a heckler. The guy who spoke on abortion, contraception, and the right to privacy sailed right through without as much as a sigh.

I’ll add that I was thrilled to be heckled on this topic. It is heartwarming that anybody is passionate about typography to such an extent that she told me that an example brief I put on the screen “looked like [shiitake]” because I didn’t turn on full justify and that I was off my rocker for criticizing Times New Roman and Courier. I like passion, even when such passion is misplaced. I am thankful that the reception was so intense, and I also want to take a few lines to say more about these three things — justification (in a graphic design sense not in a theological sense, though I will strive to be graceful), the Courier font, and the Times New Roman font.

Full Justification is a Matter of Personal Preference

The audience member was a serious proponent of full justification, noting by way of simile, that my decision to left-align the text rendered an excrementitious product. The opinion was as wrong as it was hyperbolic. As to the hyperbole: at no point during the presentation did green flies begin to buzz about the screen where my Keynote was being projected. As to the heckler being wrong, I’ll respond here.

Butterick writes (and I defer to him because he wrote the book and because he is credentialed in this area) that “compared to left-aligned text, justification gives text a cleaner, more formal look.” He also notes that justification “alters the ideal spacing of the font, but in paragraphs of reasonable width it’s usually not distracting.”

In the end, he notes that “[j]ustification is a matter of personal preference. It is not a signifier of professional typography.” He cites as an example the fact that many newspapers mix it up.

I will add that I never endorsed either way. I just used a previous brief of mine, one where the text was left-aligned, as an example. The audience member has a strong preference for justification. She’s not wrong to have it but was wrong in the extent of her criticism of left alignment.

A Defense of Courier, Really?

I took some heat for my criticism of Courier. And I was actually quite surprised that anybody but a prosecutor or bureaucrat would feel so strongly about this font. This font served its purpose in 1955 when it was invented. The font was created for the “golfball” typing head that IBM was developing and would later premier in its 1961 Selectric Typewriter. The font, and other monospaced fonts, was created to deal with mechanical issues with the typewriter. To quote Mr. Butterick, “[monospaced fonts] were not invented to win beauty contests.”

To quote an article from Slate, “its design principles are little more than phantom limbs: Like any other typeface, it is whisked from the digital ether without regard for its original use. … What is most remarkable of all, of course, is that a typewriter font is still being used at all in the post-typewriter age.”

With the exception of Robert Caro, I do not know of anybody who still uses a typewriter. So, it really isn’t necessary to use a monospaced font.

When you use monospaced fonts, you get fewer words per page, and the font is hard to read when compared to proportional fonts. There really is no reason to use Courier unless a court rule requires it.

In 2004, Courier fell out of favor with the State Department. The preferred font is now Times New Roman 14.

It’s Time for the Decline and Fall of the (Times New) Roman Empire

The heckler also has a special place in her heart for TNR. It’s an okay font. Though its problem is its ubiquity. Using TNR is essentially not choosing a font at all. According to Mr. Butterick, the problem is the blah factor:

When Times New Roman appears in a book, a document, or advertisement, it connotes apathy. It says, “I submitted to the font of least resistance.” Times New Roman is not a font choice so much as the absence of a font choice, like the blackness of deep space is not a color. To look at Times New Roman is to gaze into the void.”

Finally, he advises, “if you have a choice about using Times New Roman, please stop. Use something else.” A person can choose Times New Roman and be passionate about it (I know one person who does and is). But that choice conveys apathy.

A Final Word

If you are in the Georgia Supreme Court or the Georgia Court of Appeals, you have little choice about your font selection. You can go with Courier New 12 and look like a prosecutor, or you can go with Times New Roman 14. At either of those courts, TNR conveys that you don’t want your appeal dismissed and that you don’t want to be sanctioned. It does not convey apathy. In client letters and in filings in other courts, you can and should (in the name of all that is holy) choose other fonts.

 

 

 

Lessons I Learned from This Month’s Appellate Losses

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It’s been a bad month for my most recent crop of Supreme Court cases, both in terms of cases where I represent the party and in cases where I am amicus counsel. But I try to learn from them all. And here’s my takeaway from the month. To have and cite a case is not the end of the story, particularly if the precedent was set in the Court of Appeals and hasn’t been heard yet by the Supreme Court. This was the lesson I take away from State v. Thackston. The Supreme Court there overturned a few decade’s worth of precedent to hold that the exclusionary rule does not apply in the probation revocation context. Blue Line Lawyer aptly points out that officers who search in violation of the 4th Amendment can still be held liable  in a civil rights action. Then again, we’re in the 11th Circuit. My initial reaction was, “this is terrible.” Then came Black Monday, where two cases of mine (one as amicus counsel and another as party counsel) went south. I’ve now had a few days to reflect. And during that time I was writing a brief in a murder case.

In that murder case,an issue arose where the precedent looked pretty bad on an issue. So, taking some advice from an appellate judge who spoke to my class earlier this year, I dug a little deeper to see what lies behind the holding in the recent cases. I took the Court of Appeals holding that I did not like, and I began tracing the precedent backward, all the way back to when the Supreme Court first commented on it. How old was the case? It involved a search incident to arrest in a buggy (the horse-drawn variety). I learned that the Court of Appeals, in the 1970s and 1980s took the line of cases from the Supreme Court and twice took the precedent way out of context. And the Supreme Court never adopted the new reasoning. If the Supreme Court could reverse decades of precedent from Thackston because it wasn’t their precedent, then surely they wouldn’t appreciate the Court of Appeals taking their case law out of context and expanding it.

But my point is that it is important not to view precedent as the end of the story, particularly if the Supreme Court has never visited it before or if a line of precedent has developed in both courts. It’s important to track the history of the cases with Article I, Section 1, Paragraph 3 in mind (“The decisions of the Court of Appeals insofar as not in conflict with those of the Supreme Court shall bind all courts except the Supreme Court as precedent.”). In the murder case, the Thackston case reminded me that the bad case I found wasn’t necessarily the end of the story. And an issue I might have been tempted to abandon became a significant part of the brief. With a Supreme Court more willing than ever to consider old arguments anew, it is important to look a little deeper even if the first wave of cases on your Lexis or Westlaw search are less than inspiring.

How Much Longer Before The Georgia Appellate Court Rules?

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As a father of three children (one still in a car seat and one in a booster) and as an appeals lawyer in Georgia, I get two recurring and related questions. From the children, on car trips, I frequently hear, “Are we there yet?” From my clients and their families, I frequently hear, “when will the court decide my case?” For the former, there never really is an answer. Atlanta traffic mandates that today’s twenty-minute trip will be tomorrow’s three hour journey. But for the client’s question, there’s a pretty straightforward answer. And I always have to look it up. But after I finish this post, I won’t have to look it up again and neither will you.

One caveat. I’m speaking of direct appeals only in this post. The timing for applications from habeas, cert. petitions, interlocutory applications, or applications for discretionary review is a good subject for another post. And if any of those things get anywhere, though, you’ll find yourself back in a situation where merits briefs have been submitted, the case has been argued, and you’re waiting for a decision. Then you’ll get this question. And when you find yourself there, this post is for you.

The Two-Term Rule

We’re lucky here in Georgia. If cases aren’t decided in two terms of court in the Georgia Court of Appeals or Supreme Court of Georgia, they’re affirmed by operation of law. In the whole history of Georgia, a case has never been affirmed this way (cases have been remanded and docketed creatively as a work-around, but such a situation is truly rare).

Our two-term rule is a creature of the Georgia Constitution. In Article 6, Section 9, Paragraph 2 of the Georgia Constitution, you will find this language: “The Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals shall dispose of every case at the term for which it is entered on the court’s docket for hearing or at the next term.”

When Does the Countdown Start?

The clock starts running in the term that the case would be set for oral argument, if oral argument were held. This provision is a little tricky. What if you don’t get oral argument or don’t ask for it? Check out your docketing notice. It will tell you when oral argument would take place if such were set. Regardless of whether you have oral argument, the clock starts ticking in the term of court oral argument would happen, if at all (regardless of whether oral argument ever actually does happen).

The Court must come to a decision in your case in the term of court when argument is set or the term of court immediately afterward.

But What are the Terms of Court?

The Supreme Court of Georgia and the Georgia Court of Appeals each have the following three terms every year:

  • The January Term begins the first Monday in January (the January term ends on April 14; 15 days before that is March 31)
  • The April Term begins the third Monday in April (the April term ends on July 31; 15 days before that is July 16)
  • The September Term begins the first Monday in September (the September term ends on December 16; 15 days before that is December 1)

By law, no second term case can be decided within the last fifteen days of the term, except upon a motion for reconsideration. So, if your case reaches the term, do the math accordingly (or check out the parentheticals above).

If you want to cite to something more authoritative than Scott Key’s blog (yes, there could be such a thing), the terms of court and their closing dates may be found at OCGA Section 15-2-4. And the law that makes the terms of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals the same is OCGA Section 15-3-2.

Lessons I Learned About Doing Appeals from the Georgia Appellate Practice Seminar

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Every now and again, I attend a CLE that does more than satisfy the hours requirement. Occasionally, there is a seminar where I walk out of the room with a new set of tools to become a better lawyer. Such was the case with the Georgia Appellate Practice Seminar sponsored by the Appellate Practice Section of the State Bar of Georgia. I moderated a panel titled, “The Winning Brief: How to Capture the Judge’s Attention (And How to Lose it).”

When I introduced the panel, I confessed up front that I was shamelessly taking advantage of the situation. In essence, the panel was made up of people I would like to corner at a cocktail party and ask questions about how to write a brief until they run away or leap from a window to stop taking questions from me. Friday, they were a captive audience for well over an hour, and I had a big outline of questions prepared to ask them. I asked all the stuff I wanted to know about the most. I hope that the audience (and it was a big audience) didn’t notice that I was taking notes to try to remember as much as I could of what the panelists were saying. I’m going to share some of it with you here. Later this week, I will share with you the great lessons I learned from the panel that spoke on oral argument (most of the lessons they taught were things that I have learned over the years by making the mistakes and learning from them).

The panel was made up of Presiding Judge Herbert Phipps, from the Georgia Court of Appeals. Also on the panel was Judge Stephen Dillard and Judge Christopher McFadden. The practitioner on the panel was Gerard Kleinrock, who is the appellate division for the DeKalb County Public Defenders Office. I was trying to moderate the panel and take notes at the same time. So, there may be some wisdom that doesn’t make it here. I also may be giving the wrong panelist credit or not attributing some of it to anyone because I don’t remember who said what. So, here are things I learned moderating the panel on Oral Argument.

Read more

Georgia Appeals Court Rules “Mandate Ugliness”

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In his blog yesterday, Kendall Gray referenced the Rules of the Georgia Court of Appeals, citing it as “a jurisdiction with rule-mandated ugliness.” Kendall’s blog post comes at a time when I am reading Typography for Lawyers by William Butterick. I’ve learned a great deal about fonts and layout and was all excited about using my new-found knowledge on a future appellate brief when I re-read the Georgia Court of Appeals Rules and found, well, “rule-mandated ugliness.” But it’s not quite as bad as it sounds. Here’e the language from Rule 1(c) of the Rules of the Georgia Court of Appeals:

All documents filed with the Court shall have no less than double spacing between the lines including quotations and footnotes. Letter spacing and type or font size shall be no smaller than ten characters per inch. Notwithstanding the 10 characters per inch requirement, the Court shall accept in lieu thereof Times New Roman Regular 14pt.

Also, there’s a little more good news. Now, to the issue of margin. According to Rule 24(c), there must be a “margin of not less than two inches at the top and a margin of at least one inch on the sides and bottom of each page.”

Matthew Butterick recommends two-inch margins, which you could do under the Rules of the Georgia Court of Appeals. He also recommends moving away from system fonts, which you can do as long as you meet the 10 characters per inch requirement. Of course, you still have “rule mandated ugliness” because you must double space. Butterick recommends spacing in the neighborhood of 1.2 to 1.3. inches. Which sounds odd if you’ve never written a brief like that. But it’s really not so odd. Are you reading a novel right now or a new non-fiction book? Take a look at it. I bet your margins are at least two inches, and I can pretty much guarantee that the lines aren’t double spaced. Why? Well, for one, because the publisher wanted to keep you reading. Two, it’s a book and not a term paper. In fact, pull random books off your shelf. See any Times Roman 14? See any double spacing?

Why, you might ask, would the rules mandate ugliness. First, I believe Kendall is correct. The rules were likely originally crafted in the typewriter era. However, I suspect that there’s a little more to the story. I think the rules were likely amended at the beginning of the personal computing era. I’d be willing to bet that the courts got worried that there would be an attempt to manipulate how many words could fit on a page with those new-fangled computers.

Of course, there was a better solution. The Court could have provided a word count limit instead of a page count limit. But that was a little too easy, I suppose.

And I wonder if any lawyer really gamed the system or if there was fear back in 1982 that somebody might potentially try to game the system. You know how appellate lawyers are. We’re a bunch of James Dean types and that’s been the case for a long long time. It ain’t ever gonna change. When I decided to become an appellate lawyer, it was hard to focus. Women with a penchant for the bad boy heard that there was an appeals lawyer in town.

Scott Greenfield’s review is what actually led me to buy the book. He wrote this about briefs with a pleasing layout:

No, they won’t make a loser appeal into a winner, but like wearing a decent suit to court, or polishing your shoes, it’s one less detriment and one more benefit. Butterick’s point, and mine, is that there’s no good reason not to do it as well as it can be done.

If good typography is like a good suit, then a brief typed in conformity with the Rules of the Georgia Court of Appeals is a powder blue polyester leisure suit, with bell-bottomed pants, huge lapels, and a wide flannel tie. It was a great suit for the day it was written and great for a 70s party now. I’m just not sure I’d wear it to court.

Now, over at the Supreme Court, the look is a little more modern. You might not look out of place on the show 21 Jump Street. Supreme Court Rule 18 reads:

 All filings shall be printed or typed with not less than double-spacing between the lines, except in block quotations or footnotes. Margins shall be no less than one inch at the top, bottom and sides. The type size shall not be smaller than 12-point courier font or 14-point Times New Roman.

The good news is that you can single-space block quotations and footnotes. The bad news is that they reference the courier font — literally the ugliest font ever made if you don’t count comic sans (which I don’t).

With all that said, you have some room to think about design and to make your brief stands out. Lawyers are a careful lot, particularly when sober. So, most will use the “example fonts” to play it safe. You may choose another that is the same size and be okay. Also, you can go for bigger margins to provide more white space.

And, if you think this is just kooky Mac user talk, check out the Rules of the United States Supreme Court (PDF), that hotbed of flashy design. In particular, check out Rule 33. Actually, check out the layout of the rules themselves. Mr. Butterick would approve. And there’s a word count limit, not a page limit. The things is, if your brief looked like the United State Supreme Court Rules, you would likely not be able to file it in the Georgia Court of Appeals. Though it was be the most readable brief in the stack.

If the United States Supreme Court Rules were a suit, it would look nice in court today.

But, in Georgia, it’s Ron Burgundy time. So, here’s hoping that the rules are modernized. Until then, stay classy Atlanta.

Nahmias and McFadden Win Election to Georgia Supreme Court and Georgia Court of Appeals

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Justice David Nahmias and Judge-Elect Christopher McFadden have been elected respectively to the Supreme Court of Georgia and Georgia Court of Appeals. Both won by wide margins. Georgia votes made the right choice in both elections. Justice Nahmias is likely to continue to do excellent work on the Court. I look forward to his well-reasoned and finely crafted opinions. And I am eager to continue to be challenged by him at oral argument. Judge-elect McFadden is going to be a great addition to the Court of Appeals. He will be fair, and his opinions are going to be scholarly. Yesterday’s election was good for the Georgia judiciary and the people of Georgia. Our legal system is as good as the professionals who occupy the bench and those who argue from the bar. Yesterday was a great step for Georgia.

The voters who braved yesterday’s Georgia weather did the right thing. While it might be easy to be cynical that such a small percentage of eligible voters showed up to vote, it appears that they made an informed decision on both parts of their ballot.

I will look forward to Justice Nahmias’s continued work on the bench and the days ahead with Judge McFadden.

 

Georgia Appeals Election Day

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If you haven’t already done so, please vote in today’s election. Polls close at 7:00 p.m. this evening. I voted at 8:00 a.m. this morning, and the woman at my precinct told me that I was only the fifth voter to darken their doors. This is a very important election, and much is at stake. If you are a lawyer, then you know why this election is important. If you have less experience in Georgia Courts, let me tell you a little more about why this election is important.

  • Our appellate courts make decision on individual cases that shape the way future cases are decided. Most decisions that come out of our Supreme Court and Court of Appeals become the law in terms of how we interpret our the United States Constitution, Georgia Constitution and Georgia statute. Though the governor’s office and the legistlature get the bulk of the attention, much power is placed in the hands of our appellate judges. An individual appellate judge is arguably more powerful than an individual state senator.
  • The Supreme Court is ultimately responsible for regulating attorney discipline in the State of Georgia. The Georgia bar is self-regulated, but decisions on how or whether to discipline lawyers are left in the hands of the justices on the Supreme Court, with the hard work and assistance of lawyers who work for the State Bar of Georgia. It is important to put the best person for the job in that office.
  • Finally, though many people will never end up in court, I meet with many moms, dads, uncles, brothers, spouses, sons, and daughters who are good “regular people.” They come to me because they have found themselves supporting a loved one who has been convicted of a crime or who has some other type of matter pending before our appellate courts. If you get sick and require the assistance of a specialist in the medical field, you have some choice in your doctor. When you appear in front of a judge, the moment to choose has already passed.
  • “The people get the government they deserve.” Alexis de Tocqueville is credited with saying it, but he more likely source is Joseph de Maistre. It rings true.

I’ve shared with you in previous blogs my choice for the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. I’ve also shared resources with you where you can read up on the candidates. Even if you think my choices are way off base and you are going to vote the other way, please vote today. This election is just as important as any other election. And these offices deserve the involvement of the people.

So, About the Rest of My Ballot for Georgia Appeals Seats

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I recently wrote about my decision to vote for Justice Nahmias over challenger Tammy Lynn Adkins. That post was picked up by Aly Palmer on the ATL Law Blog, the blog of the Fulton Daily Report. The post has generated thoughtful emails to me about the election. I hope that you’ll research the candidates yourselves and make the choice you believe is best for the Georgia Supreme Court bench. For what it’s worth, I’ve always valued competence over philosophy in judges. I’m not a big John Roberts fan, but I thought that he was well-qualified to be an Associate Justice for the United States Supreme Court and now Chief Justice of the United States. And Senator Lindsey Graham’s stock went way up in my book when he broke from the Republican ranks and voted to confirm Elena Kagan to to an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Anyway, I tried to research some more about Ms. Adkins after some emailers suggested I had been hasty. I’m still in the dark about her. This voters’s guide is a good example of what I’m talking about.

Enough about that race. Over at the Court of Appeals, there is a great deal of information about Chris McFadden and his opponent, Toni Davis. Both have run campaigns intended to inform Georgia voters about the importance of the Court of Appeals and their respective positions. Both have experience in the appellate courts.

I’m casting my ballot for Chris McFadden for several reasons. One, he is a lifelong student of our appellate courts and an experienced appellate practitioner. He will bring a lifetime of experience and a wealth of knowledge to the Court. He’s the author of the hornbook on Georgia appellate practice. His book sits on my desk, in arm’s reach at all times. It’s dog-eared, highlighted, tabbed, and heavily annotated. He’s the founder of the appellate practice section of the State Bar of Georgia and is active in that organization. He’s also worked hard as a candidate and will work hard as a judge. I also consider him a friend.

So, please research the candidates and vote. Also, take the time today to inform your friends that the upcoming election is important. Tell them what you know about the candidates, and encourage informed voting for these very important offices. Help them by guiding them to some places where they can learn about courts and the candidates.

The Curious Way the Media is Covering Georgia Judicial Run-Offs

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As I mentioned in a previous post, there are two run-offs for Georgia appellate seats — one for the Georgia Court of Appeals and one for the Supreme Court of Georgia. According to the Atlanta Law Blog, the Blog for the Fulton Daily Report, there are many judicial seats that will be decided by a run-off. Of course, the Daily Report’s audience consists of the Georgia legal community, and not much explanation is necessary there for what the courts do or what’s at stake in those elections. The readership knows the offices and the players involved.

The more interesting phenomenon is the way the media is covering Georgia Judicial Run-Offs. The Newnan Times Herald ran an editorial suggesting that “More Judges” should be selected by appointment. The editorial does not exactly define which ones should be appointed versus elected. But the article suggests that the Run-off is essentially a nuisance and that most voters know neither the candidates nor the issues

While the possibility of a runoff in the Georgia governor’s race did not materialize, every polling place in our state will have to be open on Nov. 30 for two judicial races because no candidate received a majority of the vote a race for the Georgia Supreme Court and another race for an open seat on the Georgia Court of Appeals. … It will costs our state hundreds of thousands of dollars to hold this election in which few voters will participate. This raises another question: Should these judgeships be appointee positions instead of elective positions?

There are many reasons why judges should be appointed instead of elected. In fact I wrote about some of those reasons in previous post. But I’ve never considered that it’s just too darned expensive to have an election or that it is just plain annoying that such an election will require a run-off.

I suppose that most voters don’t care about judicial offices, particularly appellate courts, because most have never had a case before any of those officers. Of course, as all of my clients can attest, those offices have a way of becoming important when your brother, spouse, or loved one has a case before an appellate court. Yet, many of these officers will hold peoples lives in their hands.

An editorial introducing the candidates and discussing what our appellate courts do might have been an interesting angle instead of the one the editorialist chose.

If the public doesn’t know the issues at stake in the election, to what extent does the Fourth Estate bear some of that blame? According to Justice Nahmias, who is in a run-off, quite a bit. He told an Associated Press reporter

We would have liked to get 30,000 more votes to end it yesterday,” he said. “But it’s a three-candidate nonpartisan race toward the end of a very busy and long ballot, and our race got virtually no media attention. Our hope is that the voters will have a very clear choice after they learn about my experience.”

The ones who show up for the run-off will know about the candidates, we would presume. They may actually be related to the candidates. The other media coverage I read about this Run-off either reports the fact that there will be a run-off, the fact that turnout will be low, or expresses what a nuisance this election is.

The real problem with elections is the possibility that special interests will use judicial seats to advance a particular political agenda, an agenda that threatens the notion of impartiality. I heard an episode of NPR’s On Point today that discussed these possibilities. It’s also an issue that judges call upon attorneys to donate money to political campaigns. Of course, attorneys are a natural constituency, but the whole business is a little strange, particularly when you will end up before that judge eventually or the other guy if you “bet on the wrong horse.”

The appointment system is little better in Georgia. I have appeared before the Judicial Nominating Committe in Georgia to speak on candidates the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers had vetted. I felt like the process was a rubber stamp and that my voice was pretty much like the teacher on Peanuts. The appointment system feels even more political when you’re inside it, particularly in a State like Georgia that seems like it will be a one party state practically forever.

I just wish so much of the media would inform rather than whine about what a bother these elections are. Too much is at stake to continue the current trend

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