EDITORIAL; Judicial temper

Publication info: Courier - Journal ; Louisville, Ky. [Louisville, Ky]10 Feb 2008: H.2.

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ABSTRACT
 
The irony is that a grandstanding Judge Delahanty accused prosecutors of - you guessed it - grandstanding, and of
wasting the court's time.

FULL TEXT
 
District Court Judge Sean Delahanty should have behaved like - well, like a judge, if he had a problem with what he
considered "obnoxious, ridiculous, abundant and useless objections" made by prosecutors during probable-cause
hearings.

He should have sat down with County Attorney Irv Maze and discussed the problem. Instead, he threatened to hold
offending prosecutors in contempt. Mr. Maze only found out about the brouhaha when word reached his office
door that some of his employees might be headed to jail.

That's no way to conduct the court's business, as a veteran like Judge Delahanty should know. Allowing
prosecutors a "standing objection," instead of letting them raise specific issues, is no way to do business either. It
doesn't produce a "clean record" for later review. And it puts defense and prosecution on unequal footing.

Judge Delahanty had no written policy that prosecutors could use as a guide in voicing objections, and that's no
way to do business. He only produced such a document after the fact.

Somebody ought to hold Judge Delahanty in contempt of good management practices.

The irony is that a grandstanding Judge Delahanty accused prosecutors of - you guessed it - grandstanding, and of
wasting the court's time. He could, of course, save even more time if he simply dispensed with having prosecutors
involved at all. Justice might not be served, but there would be more opportunities for everybody involved to enjoy
an afternoon round of golf.

Most curiously, Judge Delahanty charges that prosecutor Matt Golden is "abrasive" and "obnoxious," qualities not
unknown in successful litigators. The judge also complained that Mr. Golden feels the need to "object to each and
every question (by defense attorneys) that may be impermissible." In other words, he is accused of doing his job.

DETAILS

Subject: Court hearings &proceedings

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 Publication title: Courier - Journal; Louisville, Ky.

Pages: H.2

Publication year: 2008

Publication date: Feb 10, 2008

Section: Forum

Publisher: Gannett Co., Inc.

Place of publication: Louisville, Ky.

Country of publication: United States, Louisville, Ky.

Publication subject: General Interest Periodicals--United States

Source type: Newspapers

Language of publication: English

Document type: News

ProQuest document ID: 241438072

Document URL: https://search.proquest.com/docview/241438072?accountid=3730

Copyright: Copyright 2008 - Courier-Journal Louisville, Ky. - All Rights Reverved

Last updated: 2017-11-06

Database: Courier-Journal (Louisville)

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