{"id":3894,"date":"2005-06-11T21:25:21","date_gmt":"2005-06-12T01:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2005\/06\/11\/bashful-batters-seventh-innin"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:57:39","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:57:39","slug":"bashful-batters-seventh-inning-kvetsch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/06\/11\/bashful-batters-seventh-inning-kvetsch\/","title":{"rendered":"bashful batters? seventh-inning kvetsch?"},"content":{"rendered":"

.. . .\u00a0 potluck<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\"tiny <\/span>(Ex-)Judge Coleman\u2019s Comeback:\u00a0 I haven\u2019t thought about former
\nAlbany, NY, City Court Judge, Cheryl F. Coleman since she inglor-
\niously resigned from the bench last summer.\u00a0 But, this evening,\u00a0brief
\nads announcing her comeback appeared on our local ABC tv news
\naffiliate, WTEN.\u00a0 The commerical calls her an award-winning defense
\nattorney and prosecutor and ends with\u00a0\u201dif you need a winner, she\u2019s a
\nfighter who\u2019ll fight for you.\u201d\u00a0 Cheryl Coleman\u2019s story is a good object
\nlessons for lawyers trying to find their place in the legal profession:\u00a0 Do
\nwhat you enjoy and are good at, not what you (or others) think is
\nthe right career move, or the badge of success.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"ooh\" Coleman became a judge in January 2002.\u00a0 By March 2003, she was
\nin the news for, in the words of the Commission on Judicial Conduct,
\n\u201cimproperly assert[ing] the prestige and influence of her judicial office
\nduring a personal dispute between respondent and four women at a
\n[rock]\u00a0concert at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, which resulted in the
\narrest of the four women.\u201d\u00a0 Meanwhile, courthouse hands were compiling
\na litany of tales\u00a0about the rude and intemperate conduct of the testy ex-
\nprosecutor on the bench.\u00a0 The CJC complaint said that, in one incident,
\n\u201cduring the course of an arraignment of a defendant on felony and misde-
\nmeanor charges, respondent was impatient, discourteous and undignified
\ntoward the defendant, and summarily sentenced the defendant to 300 days
\nin jail for ten counts of contempt.\u201d<\/div>\n
\n

\"boxerSignNF\" Faced with formal charges, Judge Coleman tendered a Letter of Resignation
\non June 10, 2004,\u00a0and a Stipulation was filed that same day, which was
\naccepted and the\u00a0proceeding discontinued\u00a0on June 21, 2004 (see Stipulation,
\nwith Letter, Decision).\u00a0 Until Googling tonight, I had never seen Coleman\u2019s
\nLetter of Resignation.\u00a0 Although she doesn\u2019t admit to any wrongdoing or
\neven mention the charges, Coleman engages in embarrassing soul-searching
\nabout the traits that made her a good lawyer but not a good judge.\u00a0After
\ntalking about \u201cqualities which had made me so successful as a lawyer,\u201d
\nColeman states:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cIn the beginning, my instinct was to confront, to cross-examine,
\nand to meet disrespect with sarcasm or confrontation. My inability
\nto back down when confronted, both on and off the bench, made
\nsome question whether I was right for the job<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last several months, I have made peace with myself by
\nacknowledging who I am, and who I am not. I am not a judge;
\nNot really.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\"boxerSignN\" I hope Commission Counsel didn\u2019t demand such public self-assessment.
\nI can\u2019t believe Coleman\u2019s\u00a0veteran defense lawyers would advise her to say
\nsuch things in a Letter that would be made public\u00a0and placed on the internet.
\nThey do not seem to be words that would help rebuild a career as a tough-
\nminded criminal defense lawyer.<\/p>\n

I wish\u00a0Cheryl Coleman\u00a0well as she attempts to return to practice doing what
\nshe does best.\u00a0\u00a0 I wish she had never given in to the temptation (whether from
\noutside or within) to be a judge.\u00a0 Let\u2019s hope other lawyers will learn from her
\nmistake.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Meanwhile: \"ooh\" <\/span><\/div>\n
\n
I must be suffering from BBS — Bashful Blogger Syndrome.\u00a0 I just can’t seem to <\/span><\/div>\n
start writing the piece that’s been sloshing through my mind all day on potty parity <\/span><\/div>\n
and the new requirements for public restrooms in New York CIty.\u00a0 (<\/span>click here<\/a> to <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
hear yesterday’s <\/span><\/span>All Things Considered<\/span><\/em><\/a> <\/span>on the\u00a0Women’s Restroom Equity Act, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
June 10, 2005; <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>see Newsday<\/em>, “<\/span>Bloomberg signs potty parity bill<\/span><\/a>,” June 6, 2005) <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Just in case you hate waiting as much as the supporters of WREA, I’m posting a <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
trio of haiku\/senryu featuring baseball, by Barry George. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
curving left<\/span><\/div>\n
oh! curving even farther left<\/span><\/div>\n
the whiffle baseball <\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
retired Reds scout –<\/span><\/div>\n
still eyeing the field <\/span><\/div>\n
through dark glasses <\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\"restrooms\"<\/span><\/div>\n
my nephew’s fastball –<\/span><\/div>\n
I hand back his glove<\/span><\/div>\n
and keep the sting <\/span><\/div>\n
Barry George<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
“curving left” – Modern Haiku <\/em>23.3<\/span><\/div>\n
“retired Reds scout” – Mayfly <\/em>#23<\/span><\/div>\n
“my nephew’s fastball” –\u00a0 bottle rockets<\/em> #11<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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<\/span><\/p>\n

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