June 28, 2007

Court? I thought this was Bonnaroo

It's not too often that you get to read a blog by a disbarred p.d.:

Preparing for Battle

This morning I have to go to a local circuit court house to testify in a post-conviction matter involving a former client I represented in 2000/2001 back when I was a public defender. There are a couple of things that make this difficult. One, I used to be a pretty successful criminal defense attorney in our area, but, a little over a year and a half ago, I got federally indicted, after which I got convicted and disbarred. You can read about that in my very first post...


Interesting person, OceanShaman, whose blogroll has something in common with this article from the Tennessean:

Judges lay down law on uncourtly clothes

Fed up with defendants coming to court wearing flip-flops, wife-beater t-shirts, saggy drawers and gangster couture, some Nashville judges are saying, "Enough!..."

Other judges have ordered people to put on smocks or have put them in jail for repeatedly refusing to dress appropriately... The legal question over whether a judge can sanction a person for being dressed improperly is murky. Some judges have argued that inappropriate dress can disrupt a courtroom, just like talking too loud or letting a cell phone ring...


Smocks?! Yes, I have a problem with the urge to humiliate people with some government-issue smock or orange coveralls over the way they dress for court. Me, usually I'm just happy that my clients make it to court at all.

The common thread - Widespread:

A court date is not the same thing as going to watch Widespread Panic...

Remember that (greetings go out to my former co-worker Julia, who introduced me to {southern Georgia accent} Widespread {/southern Georgia accent}).

1 Comment:

Oceanshaman said...

I was happiest as a lawyer when I was a public defender . . .

Your post reminds me of a certain judge in Snow Hill District Court who would send people home to change into better clothes . . . quite terse . . . now a Circuit Court Judge . . . his stock phrase at the end of each case? "Step back, Counselor . . .

I've never been to Bonnaroo, though I wouldn't mind checking it out sometime . . .

Finally, I do like Widespread Panic, having been turned on to them in the past two years by a friend . . .

See ya . . .