Friday, February 02, 2007

No Judge is an Island: Ask Susan Criss

I couldn't be more pleased to see that Judge Susan Criss, a district court judge from Galveston and a past Grits guest blogger (who I frankly wouldn't mind seeing elevated to an appellate post one day), has launched her own new blog entitled, "As The Island Floats." Here's a taste from one of her initial posts:
I brought over a defendant this week who had notified the Court that he was having a problem with his lawyer.When I asked him why he was upset with his lawyer the defendant stood and said, "Judge, he's not lying for me.. he's lying to me."

Sometimes keeping a straight face on while on the bench is challenging. A bit more questioning revealed that the lawyer had not lied to the defendant. He had procrastinated about communicating with his client when plea bargain negoitioations came to an impasse. Lawyers sometimes avoid going to see their clients in jail when there is no good news to report. That only causes more anxiety for both the lawyer and defendant in the long run.
That's an excellent piece of advice for defense attorneys - the kind of thing nobody tells you in law school about how to keep your clients happy and the process running smoothly. If Judge Criss keeps this up she'll soon become a go-to resource for the Texas courthouse crowd.

Good job, Judge Criss, keep up the good work. And welcome to the blogosphere.

See some of Judge Criss' earlier writings here.

2 comments:

  1. Now I got it figured out, the author of grits for breakfast must be that Durst dude. You better stop with the Judge worship or she's gonna think you are obsessed with her, Mr. Durst.

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  2. Susan Criss is in no way a fair and impartial judge. She seems to have a very strong bias against men in general, especially if one is accused of either a sex crime or some kind of spousal abuse. I hope she is not re-elected, and I hope you will keep my post here even though we disagree. Let her record speak for herself and in the mean time differences of opinion are a good thing.

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