Separation of powers
Apparently, April is National Problem-Solving Court Month. A lot of emails have been flying around inviting people to events celebrating problem-solving courts. One email I saw recently said, “Problem-solving courts significantly improve substance use disorder, treatment outcomes, substantially reduce addiction and related crime and do it at less expense than any other criminal justice strategy.” None of those claims is even remotely close to being true.
Faithful Judex readers know that I have written an entire series on problem-solving courts, debunking the myths and highlighting the problems. If you haven’t seen it, you can check it out here.
Free speech
This week, Uri Berliner, a twenty-five-year veteran reporter for NPR, released a column in The Free Press critical of National Public Radio, where he still works. He points out that NPR has always been left leaning, but was tolerable for conservatives, and at least sought objectivity. Now, however, Berliner describes NPR as a political advocacy organization rather than a public news outlet. He points to several examples to make his point. Berliner describes how NPR exhibited breathless coverage of the Trump Russia collusion story, but declined to cover the fact that the whole thing turned out to be unfounded. Berliner also discusses the Hunter Biden laptop story. NPR declined to cover the fact that the laptop and its contents were real, after first running stories that the laptop might be a Russian plant. One NPR reporter even told Berliner that they couldn’t run the Hunter story because it would help Trump. Berliner also cites NPR’s coverage of COVID-19. He says the organization blindly followed the statements of Anthony Fauci and company and showed no interest in investigating alternative sources. He specifically notes the suppression of the lab-leak theory, which later turned out to be accurate. Berliner attributes these lapses in journalistic integrity to the fact that NPR is consumed with woke ideology. He says, “There’s an unspoken consensus about the stories we should pursue and how they should be framed. It’s frictionless—one story after another about instances of supposed racism, transphobia, signs of the climate apocalypse, Israel doing something bad, and the dire threat of Republican policies. It’s almost like an assembly line.”
Organizations are certainly free to be woke activists. Companies can even spout biased news if they think that is a good business model. The problem with NPR doing so is that it is publicly funded. It’s improper for tax dollars to fund Democrat political communications operations, which is totally what NPR has become. Congress should eliminate public funding for NPR. When Republicans have tried to do so in the past, they have been accused of trying to kill Sesame Street. Oscar the Grouch was my favorite Muppet as a kid, but I’m willing to throw that dirty, little, misunderstood guy directly under the bus if that’s what it takes to keep my tax dollars from promoting woke causes.
Other
I did not attend the Indiana Spring Judicial Conference this week, but many of my friends did. Several relayed that the conference included a “tranquility room.” Attendees were advised that, “you can find a pocket of serenity in the Tranquility Room if you need peace and Zen during the conference. Room 116 is a calm and comfortable space where you can breathe, relax, and take a little break when you need it.” The room, I am told, contained dimmed lights, infused water, scented oils, and coloring books. This is standard for the court services organization that puts on Indiana judge conferences. They tend to treat judges like delicate little children, offering “tranquility rooms” and meditation apps. When I attended the mandatory new judge training last year, they had coloring books and crayons on the tables. They encouraged us to carry a “serenity stone” in our pocket, which, in case you are unfamiliar, is a just a rock, but they said if you get stressed and rub it, it can have a calming effect.
I have been a judge a little over a year now. It’s not that hard. I don’t dispute that sometimes people, including judges, have a tough time. But that is the extreme exception. Fragility should not be normalized in this way. Judges are called upon to make important decisions. If they can’t attend a conference at a nice hotel without retreating to a tranquility room, then they can’t be relied upon to make serious decisions on cases. Judges are adults, they are lawyers, many have been courtroom litigators, and they have been elected by the people of their community. They are not delicate little children. They are not weak. They do not need tranquility rooms, coloring books or serenity stones.
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