State of the Judiciary Address Raises Questions

I’m sorry that the shoddy camera work looks like it came from a Parkinson’s patient off his meds, but it got difficult to take notes, pictures (with a bad camera phone), and Twitter while Chief Justice Jean Toal addressed a less than enthusiastic legislature yesterday. In case you’re wondering, that’s the honorable Jean Hoefer Toal circled in the photo.

MC and Bo hung out in the lobby while I sat in the House chamber waiting for, well, something.

Chief Justice Toal said that the judiciary is made of people of “decency and honor.” Of that, at least for the most part, I have no doubt.

There are still some things about the bar exam flap that still concern me, though. Her remarks yesterday just stirred them again.

The chief justice said that each exam was “key-coded” and that the key was only available to the Supreme Court’s clerk and the examination staff. She added that the results were certified, and a week later an examiner realized he or she “transposed several lines” which resulted in passing someone who failed.

That brings a couple of questions to mind, though. They are real questions, so I’m hoping someone can enlighten me on the examination procedure. First, why did an examiner have the records in the first place? Wouldn’t he or she have to turn them in order for his or her charged examinees to be certified? According to the chief justice the mistake was discovered one week after certification. I just don’t understand that logistically.

Second, how would a person know if the lines were transposed? Someone would have had to 1) have access to the grading records 2) known the identity of the examinees and their scores to know that lines were transposed 3) told the examiner about the problem — probably also having to identify examinees in the process.

I know she said that test examiners did not know and could not identify examinees or their law schools, and I am not calling her a liar by any means, but even she has to admit, there is strong circumstantial evidence to contradict her statement. In this great state known for swift justice, we’ve convicted people of crimes with far less evidence.

Bo already wrote about this in his own “direct” way a couple of weeks ago, but to reiterate, the altered results gave the Charleston School of Law the passing average it needed for accreditation, and one of the beneficiaries of the change (and daughter of respected lawmaker and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Harrison) openly bragged about the accomplishment.

It just seems like there are still discrepancies to be accounted for and questions to be answered.

– Wilson Charles

$169,300 Per Year for This?

In 2008, the league minimum salary is $169,300.

Of course there are financial incentives to move up the ladder, but starting salary ain’t that bad.

I’m not talking about NFL, MLB, or NHL. I’m talking about Congress.

Just for showing up and suiting up, rookies are making a solid six-figure income from taxpayer money. Why are we paying them?

I thought their collective job was to focus on national security, the economy, and other matters seen as vital to the advancement of this fine country of ours.

Why then are congressional members taking on these new areas of responsibility like the NFL and MLB?

Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) wants the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate the New England Patriots and the “Spygate.” Never mind that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell already handled the situation within the league and fined Pats coach Bill Belichick $500,000, fined the team $250,000, and took a first round draft pick.

That’s not good enough. We need to get Congress involved. They’re great at fixing business.

Is Congress also convinced that steroids and HGH use in baseball in some way impact this nation’s stability?

They must be. Otherwise why would the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform feel the need to hold hearings?

Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte admitted to using HGH in 2004.

Yeah.

Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens and former trainer Brian McNamee played a game of “He said – He said” over a series of alleged injections in the early 2000s.

So.

Should Bill Belichick have violated league rules to obtain strategic information about his opponents? No, but he violated NFL rules, not the Geneva Convention. As such, the NFL — a business, not a government entity — handled the matter swiftly and efficiently. The Senate Judiciary Committee should have no jurisdiction there.

Is there a black mark on baseball from the “steroid scandal” resulting from the Mitchell Report? Absolutely, but I am more upset that taxpayer money is being spent on congressional investigations.

From its own description, “The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction to investigate any federal program and any matter with federal policy implications.” What are the federal policy implications of steroids in baseball?

Never mind the fact that former Senator Mitchell’s report names a long list of Yankees as offenders and that Senator Mitchell is a director with the Red Sox (Note: I’m a Red Sox fan, so I hate having to go against my own team, but let’s face it. There could be some bias there, and Mitchell’s status with the Sox isn’t usually reported). His status as a former legislator does not elevate alleged violation of internal league policies to that of national security.

The bottom line is:

• Cheating is wrong
• Drug use is wrong
• Most of these guys never tested positive for roids
• When company/team/league policies are violated, they are handled within the private sector.

We have an election in November. Right now, our economy is shaky. Our employment rate is questionable. The housing market is uncertain.  The Euro is kicking the dollar up and down the street. We have a war to win in Iraq. We have our military under attack from our own citizens. We have an immigration problem where no one can agree on a definite solution.

Aren’t those the things we pay $169,300 per year for Congress to worry about?

– Matthew Wills