Delayed Justice

Okay, here’s a first: I acknowledge that I’m somebody who doesn’t know enough about the financial bailout to make comment on it.  It comes down to whom do you trust to tell you whether this is a good or bad or even necessary move.

And so we do move…along.

The Detroit News last week carried an article about the Michigan Supreme Court and Macomb County.  It’s interesting and points to more headed our way.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008809240349

What it shows is that Judge Sanborn-who was appointed on a temporary basis by the Michigan Supreme Court as Chief Judge of Probate-has given two versions of his reasoning for his actions.  This does not bode well.

Also this from the Macomb County Daily:

http://macombdaily.com/articles/2008/09/25/news/srv0000003593966.txt

Of real interest to me are the reader comments at the end of the story. There are those who have first-hand dealings with the court.  Now, you’re always going to have some malcontents, but this tends, I think, to be revealing beyond the measure of average anger.

There is more to come.

At the risk of turning into a one-trick pony, I’ve been editing away on a piece with theologian Dr. Martin Marty in a talk at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in early September.  I have been dragging my feet over getting started with almost anything in the last week.  I realize that my desk is a mess and that clearing that off is the first rule of business.  So, this afternoon, I’ll be filing and pulling the weeds that have grown up inside my office.  It’s amazing how little time it takes to be buried in the business of day-to-dayness.  This is obviously one of my struggles: clutter gets away from me.  At a certain point it’s no longer creative clutter, it’s just clutter. How does that work for you?

Last night an old friend and I were talking at a social event.  He is retired professional who is liberally and well educated, deeply involved in the life of the community, and someone who frequently does not share my political perspective.  That’s really of no matter, but-when I was explaining the situation at the Michigan Supreme Court-he offered “but, aren’t those lifetime appointments?”  Well, the U.S. Supreme Court, sure, but not Michigan.  Eight-year terms.  And this man couldn’t remember voting for or against the Justice who is up for re-election, Cliff Taylor.

 

Flat out, the Michigan Supreme Court bores most people…when it registers at all.  Most people figure that if they haven’t heard about it, the judges must be doin’ a good job.  They mistake the importance of the Court and the effects its decisions have.

The Democrats have fielded a candidate, Third Judicial Circuit Court Judge Diane Marie Hathaway.  Her background is interesting and she actually HAS trial court experience, unlike Justice Taylor.

Here’s her website address:

http://www.judgehathawayforsupremecourt.com/index.html

And in the interest of good decision making, here’s Cliff Taylor’s website:

http://www.clifftaylor.com/

I took the time to listen to Justice Taylor’s video comments.  He describes himself and the court majority as “conservative.”  Boy, that’s a distortion of the word.  This is an activist court and if you can take the time to listen to Justice Betty Weaver’s comments it will come clear what’s going on.  From my perspective they are making law as they go and the result is that they question and overturn lower-court decisions that have been upheld by the Court of Appeals, they issue rules that fly in the face of the Code of Judicial Conduct, they make a hash of appointing chief judges (Kent and more recently Macomb counties).

Will somebody out these who has the numbers checkout Justice Taylor’s assertion that the Justices turning in their cars saved the state $420,000 last fall.  I saw his move as a grandstand event, playing to the hustings.

And Judge Hathaway’s site looks like the Democrat’s town party.

Here’s the problem: The judicial positions are non-partisan and yet the candidates are appointed by the parties.  I fear the allegiances are too deep.

david.schock@delayedjustice.com

This morning in the garden I was reminded again of the freshness of nature…worms and all.  The season is changing: it’s chill and damp. My big challenge for the day had been to unearth a buried electric line.  I knew it wasn’t down there very far and I feared that as I weeded out several beds I might encounter it in an unseemly fashion.  No, no, I wasn’t worried about electrocution (the power to the line is switched off at the box; it’s used only to power the water pump to irrigate the lawn.  The former owners of this property had buried it probably thirty years ago and it has been sliced, diced, and otherwise un-niced over the years.  So, before I did some serious digging I wanted to bring it all to the surface.  I had pondered the HOW for a couple of weeks and finally just dug along it’s length, a little to one side…and there it was.  The next step is to bring in my electrician to run it above ground along the fence…after fixing a few really rough spots where it’s been nicked.  Wait…another metaphor for life: we have a lot of stuff buried, and sometimes it’s not so pretty.  Well, enough.

I am safely returned from the TriMedia Festival in Fort Collins, CO.  Oh, my!  What an event!  I had great trepidation about going; I’d never been to a film festival as a participant and I’m uneasy around people.  I more or less turned myself over to the festival organizers so they could make whatever use of me they wanted.  Tremendous people who are well organized and VERY pleasant to deal with.  This festival is only in its third year, but it’s well enough organized to have been going for decades…that’s the kind of expertise the volunteers bring to the event.  I had the great opportunity to offer a screening of Who Killed Janet Chandler? and to have that followed up with NBC’s Dateline segment, “Conspiracy of Silence.”  Producer Jack Cloherty was on hand and the two of us had a chance to answer questions, questions, questions.  The people there got it.  They saw that this crime was evil beyond understanding. I took great joy in conveying that Jack did a stupendous job in his work and that it was right…all right.  As I’ve told him before, if he’s not careful he’s going to give TV a good name.  He has a couple more projects coming up and I’ll alert you to them before they air.

And the other filmmakers!  Wow!  In particular, be on the lookout for anything by Susie Watson, a Londoner who crafted Small Dark Places.  And Ron Noble’s animation Hope Spring Eternal.  Dan Trezise delivered his special effects showpiece Outsource, a segment of what I hope will be a feature film.  Amazing technology expertly delivered.  I haven’t seen so many scenes in such concentration ever before, and I was pretty well wrecked by the time I got home, but there sure is a lot to think about and I am grateful for having had this opportunity.  Thank you event directors Francie Glycenfer and Carol Van Natta.  And all the others who give their time and talents…and, of course, the sponsors.  What a vibrant arts community.

And, oh, yeah, we were awarded the Audience Choice Award for Feature Documentary.  That’s really nice.

I have posted the low bandwidth segment of Conflict at the Court.  Yours for the viewing.  I will be mounting the medium bandwidth in a couple of days, probably when I get back from the TriMedia Festival this weekend in Fort Collins, CO.  

Yes, I’m a little anxious: I have no experience with film festivals.  Okay, take a breath and GO!

And Dateline will be rerunning the “Conspiracy of Silence” on the WEST COAST only this Sunday.  Certainly can’t hurt.

I was having breakfast with a colleague who was lamenting his lack of success in the film business.  He had been so close..just this close…to success any number of times, only to crash and burn.  That started me thinking about my own failures…teaching at CMU and teaching at Hope College.  From one point of view they were pretty spectacular failures in both places.  From another, though…well, I wouldn’t trade them; they have taught me much. I tried to reassure him that as long as we learn from our failures, it’s not a complete loss.  And there are many positive things we take away from them as well, especially our interactions.  In my case it was with students.  I loved working with them.  And I often enjoyed teaching colleagues, although most often from departments other than where I taught.  The other thing I stressed with my breakfast buddy was that we are NOT victims.  Bad stuff can happen and, really, it’s all a matter of how we choose to respond.  Choosing to be a victim results in giving authority to the situation (and to others) instead of taking it yourself.  There is a really good book out there called Beyond Blaming by William Frank Diedrich.  It’s well worth the time.