�It�s the values,� gushed Day. �I love the values. Everybody is supposed to support everyone---and they do.� She was talking about the First Stage Theater Academy. The program makes it very clear that actors are a team and they support each other. With rare exceptions, the adults set the tone well and the students follow.

With all the lectures and snippy language I have seen from judges lately about civility, you would think that they could learn the same lesson. Good behavior starts at the top. They cannot treat people badly in the name of power and expect courtesy between those who come into their courtroom.

A recently retired judge here in Milwaukee demonstrates that principle in the best way. Although he could be a harsh sentencer, I always loved appearing in his courtroom and defendants rarely complained about his sentences. Why? Because he unfailing treated people as valuable and they believed that he had looked at them as people. For example, when I once had a motion hearing in front of him and the defendant had a difficult to pronounce name, he called me up to the bench before the hearing. �How do you pronounce the defendant�s name?� he asked. I told him and watched him write it down phonetically because he understood the power of names.

But it did not stop there. Attorneys were more courteous to each other in his court. Mean tricks such as faxing a motion to someone�s office after you knew that she had to leave for the courthouse did not tend to happen. No one wanted to see his disappointment and everyone knew that he would extend the time for response so it would be to no avail. No lectures, just demonstration of strength of character. People respected him and they did not want to lose his respect.

Contrast that with the judge here who most loudly whines about the need for respect for the court. I once was waiting for a case to be called in her court while a sentencing was occurring. She mispronounced the defendant�s name and became huffy about being interrupted when his attorney quietly corrected the pronunciation. No apology. No acknowledgement that names mattered. Her only concern was that interrupting the court showed disrespect. But it became worse. When the defendant had his opportunity to address the court, he told the court something to the effect of �I�m very sorry for what I done, Ma�am.� I don�t remember the exact words, except for the �Ma�am.�

The judge reared back as though she had been slapped. �Ma�am?� she bellowed. �Ma�am?� She ranted on. �You will address this court with respect. You will how this court the respect due. You will call this court � your honor.� This court deplores your attitude.� One look at the defendant told me more than I could stand. He was embarrassed. He was deeply embarrassed. Although he had no idea what deplored meant, he knew it was bad and that she was angry but he had no idea how he had failed to give respect.

Personally, I thought his reaction spoke well of him. He had tried in his uneducated way to give respect and had been rebuffed but he had not gotten angry like some hot-headed kid. He was embarrassed and sad. But she held it against him with all her harrumphing and preening through her sentencing remarks and I knew that no one would ever convince him that either the court or his sentencing were fair.

Everyone in the court that day felt something---and I doubt it was respect. Attorneys may be reasonably civil to each other in her presence but, as soon as she is gone, they snipe at each other. All that negative energy is bound to go somewhere.

And it is the values�but the value in that courtroom is that only the judge matters and even then only her own personal preferences matter. Just as it is the values when an adulterer or someone who has divorced a sick wife starts lecturing me, boring me with the original husband and the reasonably well-raised kids, about family values.

Never confuse being sanctimonious with having values because it is about the values---not the ones you talk about but the ones you follow.

______

P.S. to Elsinora--Read my guestbook and check your e-mail please! Inquiring minds need answers to specific questions I prefer not to post!!!!!!

|