Word: courtly
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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There are exceptions. The courtroom of Erie County, Ohio, Judge James L. McCrystal is one. It is equipped with a videotape machine and television monitors. McCrystal does not need to bring all the lawyers, parties and witnesses into court at the same time for a trial. Witnesses can be questioned by lawyers and have their testimony video-taped at their convenience. One local law firm has fixed up a large mobile van with video-tape recorders so the court can come to the witness, rather than the witness to court. Judge McCrystal edits the film in his chambers or sometimes...
...Getting cases out of court that should not be there to begin with. Some argue that no-fault auto insurance can help clear the civil courts by eliminating many lengthy personal injury suits. Decriminalizing so-called victimless crimes, such as vagrancy, drunkenness, gambling and marijuana possession ?often randomly enforced?would ease the strain on criminal courts. Perhaps the most promising alternative is to arbitrate or mediate disputes rather than take them straight to court. Neighborhood justice centers set up by the justice department in Atlanta, Kansas City and Los Angeles have worked well, informally settling disputes like neighborhood squabbles...
...Court reorganization. Fragmented or overlapping jurisdictions keep some judges underworked, others overworked, and still others doing the same work all over again. Seventeen states have adopted measures to streamline their court systems since 1970; reform came to Massachusetts in July, when its reorganization plan went into effect. No longer will criminal cases be tried de novo?from scratch?on appeal, and it will be easier to move judges around from court to court to even up work loads. Some courts have also improved efficiency by hiring professional administrators to set schedules and assign cases...
...Plea bargaining. This is the most common solution to delay in the criminal courts. It is frequently denounced. In theory, criminal courts determine guilt or innocence only by the most thoroughgoing "due process." In reality, justice is usually done by way of a deal: a guilty plea in return for a lighter sentence or reduced charges. The accused's "day in court" lasts only a minute or two. In one such case in California, a defendant pronounced guilty of assault with a deadly weapon exclaimed in bewilderment: "What? You mean I've been tried...
...took the Fifth Amendment when questioned by a grand jury. He resigned last year before any disciplinary action was taken against him. Federal Judge Willis Ritter, infamous for an abusive temper that led him to bully lawyers and to hale a postmaster and 29 aides into court because their mail-sorting machinery in the courthouse was too noisy, was allowed to stay on the bench until he died last year at age 79. Examples like these, not to mention frequent charges of senility and laziness, have spurred congressional interest in disciplining judges. A Senate bill, supported by Attorney General Griffin...