Rasputin

Comments

Mr. Nangle, both you and Mr, James are correct that it makes no sense to attempt mediation of a question of law. On the other hand, you seem to have no grasp of the complexity of the legal issue which pits an act of the legislature against a court rule (the transfer rule) pertaining to the internal operation of the Lake Superior Court. How often has The Times advocated for the judicial invalidation of legislation that it regards as an infringement of freedom of the press or otherwise unconstitutional? The premise of your article that judges should be made to follow merit selection exposes a disturbing ignorance oof the controversy. My point is that if Judge Schiralli is held ineligible to transfer to Juvenile Court (per the statute that you defend) the option of transfer will go back to the merit-selected Superior Court Judges. It is a near certainty that one of those Judges would claim the Juvenile Court Judgeship. It is obvious that you have sided with Governor Pence in his position that merit selection should fill the vacancy. That is not likely to happen.

April 07, 2013 2:03 pm on WILLIAM NANGLE: Make judges follow merit selection law
I agree with the observation that mediating the law is nonsensical. The rest of the article seems blind to the tripartite structure of government in Indiana. The judicial branch has considerable inherent power over the courts, as it should. I know of no statute that allows the Indiana Supreme Court to appoint a temporary judge to preside over the Juvenile Court. That appointment came from judicial authority. If the legislature passed a statute to "meddle" with that authority, the Indiana Supreme Court would most likely strike it down. The mediation order was likewise authorized by court rule rather than legislation. The statute that you mention that seems to bar Judge Schiralli from ever transferring to the Juvenile Court tacitly recognizes the transfer rule (adopted by the Lake Superior Court and approved by the Indiana Supreme Court) but then attempts to modify that rule. The only way that mediation will work in this case is if the magistrates get cold feet (they should) and bargain to keep their jobs under the administration of Judge Schiralli. By the way, any Juvenile Court magistrate who wants to apply for an open judgeship through the merit process can do so by applying for Judge Schiralli's County Court Division seat that will be available when his transfer is affirmed. As for the politics involved in all of this, here is an original Rasputin adage: "You can take the judges out of politics, but you can't take the politics out of judges."

April 07, 2013 12:00 pm on RICH JAMES: Children shouldn't see how judges are behaving
Mr. Masters, you need to get the facts straight. You wrote the Bobby Cantrell "won't be allowed to appeal" his convictions. He already appealed both his convictions and his sentence. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed his convictions and sentence on August 11, 2010. The recent court proceeding was obviously (except to you) a hearing on a petition for post-conviction relief. To those responders looking for Bobby to sing I have bad news. If he was going to cooperate to reduce his sentence, it would have happened already. Before you know it, he will be out of federal custody and sniffing arouind the old haunts for a new gig. Take the oath now to punish (on election day) any local pol who puts Bobby on a public payroll.

March 29, 2013 8:29 pm on Robert Cantrell's bid for appeal denied
Please get your facts straight, Mr. Dolan. The Superior Court judges did not "choose" Judge Schiralli to assume the Juvenile Court bench. The many divisions of the Lake Superior Court constitute ONE court. Judges within that court have been afforded the right to transfer to fill a vacancy at least since a dozen or so years ago when Judge Jeff Dywan transferred from Room One in Hammond to a new courtroom in Crown Point. Around 2007 there was a vacancy in Room Five in Hammond, and Judge William Davis transferred from Room Two in East Chicago. More recently Judge Dywan retired, and Judge Diane Schneider transferred from Room One to Crown Point. Every one of these transfers left a judicial vacancy to be filled by merit selection. If Judge Schiralli's transfer is not blocked, then there will be a vacancy in his County Court Division to be filled by merit selection. Since the transfer rule is based on seniority, Judge Schiralli himself chose to transfer to the Juvenile Court after the only Superior Court judge with greater seniority declined.

March 27, 2013 10:38 pm on Judge's view of Lake Juvenile Court dispute is no love letter
I agree that the Bonaventura letter didn't present a justiciable case to the Indiana Supreme Court. Now there's a real case (I checked) docketed in Indianapolis and assigned a case number. The first question that comes to my mind is whether the plaintiff magistrates have standing to sue just because they want the job. The Indiana Supreme Court is prone to find a lack of standing, for instance, in the analogous case of an unsuccessful bidder for a public contract. As for the loss of a chance of advancement, I offer the obversation that the magistrates are free to apply for the County Court vacancy that will be created when Judge Schiralli departs to Juvenile Court. I think it likely that the original action will be dismissed. To satisfy the standing requirement those opposed to Judge Schiralli may have to find an actual litigant in the Juvenile Court who preserves the issue by challenging Judge Schiralli's authority and then appeals after an adverse judgment. If the plaintiffs find their plight as well-compensated magistrates intolerable, they can always resign and hang out a shingle in the real world.

March 20, 2013 10:31 pm on Assistants sue their judicial bosses over Lake Juvenile Court succession
Mr. James, your opinion piece is about a week late since The Indiana Supreme Court has already declared that it will not block Judge Schiralli 's assumption of the Juvenile Court bench. I agreed with Judge Pera's legal reasoning, except that I took the "unconstitutional" conclusion to be unnecessary. Rules of Evidence may conflict with a statute. Rules for change of venue from a judge or for trial de novo may conflict with statutes on the same subjects. And whenever such a conflict manifests, the judicial department generally sides with the judicial rule in matters of procedure (entrusted to the courts) and with the statute in matters of substantive law (entrusted to the Legislature) You may call this preemption or resolving a conflict of law, but it is routine. Judge Pera could have made the point without inciting the passions that are aroused by the claim that an act of the Legislature is unconstitutional. No one should be surprised with the premise that the doctrine of separation of powers limits the meddling of one branch or department into the affairs of another. While Judge Schiralli's County Court experience is not the best preparation for Juvenile Court cases, I take offense that "Judge " (Isn't she gone yet?) Bonaventura would question Schiralli's qualifications. No one knows more than Bonaventura about unqualified applicants. She has the experience of having applied a year or two ago for a vacancy on the Indiana Supreme Court. She didn't make the cut (for a second interview) although a former Juvenile Court Magistrate from Tippecanoe County is the most recently appointed new Justice.

March 18, 2013 4:45 pm on RICH JAMES: Pope of Lake County's judiciary claims superiority
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." Count me among the skeptics, not about the violent nature of the ex but about the resolve of the complainant to make her clean break. And to you my advice is that your personal defense is primarily your own responsibility. The justice system cannot save you from your own bad choices. Prevention of (future) domestic violence begiins with the victim of past violence.

March 03, 2013 2:51 pm on PAPER PROTECTION: Persistent violations, bungled case shred faith in system
There is no charge of theft until a prosecutor files the Criminal Information. Let's hope that reason prevails. I agree in part with your theft/trespass analysis. Theft involves the unauthorized control over the property of another with an intent to deprive. The images and sounds that were perceived without paying were not stolen; nor was the owner deprived of those sounds and images. If you steal tickets there is a theft. Stealing a peak at a movie screen is not theft,. The apparent trespass is no crime until you've been asked to leave and don't or leave and then come back. The best evidence of a crime from this story is dressing like a pimp for a funeral.

February 25, 2013 7:01 pm on Couple face felony charges for sneaking into movie
I read speculation about Mr. Philpot learning a trade for life after prison. He already has two trades, law and podiatry. He'll never practice law again. The good news is that he has a medical trade to fall back on. The precedent is Doc Willardo, whose theft conviction rendered him morally unfit to practice law but moral enough to resume a medical career.

February 21, 2013 8:59 pm on Philpot sentenced to 18 months for public corruption
Did Judge Schiralli EVER practice law? In the Juvenile Court he will preside over paternity cases, CHINS (neglect) cases, delinquency cases, and some guardianships. No case in these categories was ever on his County Division court call. Unless he learned about these cases by being a persistent student of the law, he is intellectually ill-prepared for the job. A comment was that he will retire soon. He may be retiring NOW to become a mere administrator (not a bad idea) over Juvie. I will give Nick a thumbs up if he cleans house of the political patronage at Juvie. He can start with a double-dipping municipal judge who recently brought discredit to herself and to her court with financial misconduct, as determined by the State Board of Accounts.

February 15, 2013 9:35 pm on Schiralli to be next Lake Juvenile Court judge