Letters

Fearing Judicial Anger
We write to express our chagrin with the article written by Mark V. Sykes (March 1998). Mr. Sykes would have us believe that western civilization, as we now know it, is in jeopardy as a result of an offhand, casual remark made by a clerk apparently in response to an improper, ex-parte question from a law student pro se litigant. (Perhaps the law student should have simply filed a motion to reconsider pursuant to Uniform Rule IV(h)). The advice that was given was to file a complaint with the conduct commission. The litigant was told, however, that that might make the judge angry. From this statement, from someone who is neither authorized to give legal advice nor speak on behalf of the judge, Mr. Sykes lectures in most ponderous and acerbic terms that judges must be diligent, follow the law, and, generally, in all respects promote public confidence in the judiciary. We suggest that Mr. Sykes’ reaction qualifies for the Guinness Book of World Records Quantum Leap category. Give us some credit.

Barry C. Schneider
Presiding Judge, Domestic Relations
Robert D. Myers, Presiding Judge
Maricopa County Superior Court

Diversity in the Courts

In response to Mr. Kahn’s letter in the March issue of Arizona Attorney: We do not need diversity in anything as long as we want to maintain the status quo. The people in power have always had a vested interest in maintaining the status quo, therefore the "best" candidate regardless of race, gender or age is supported by this group. Unfortunately, this group views the "best" candidate as someone just like them. For instance, in Mesa city court, Judge Harold Reeb was investigated for favoring his politically connected white Mormon friends; however, his friends continued to defend him and his status quo. No women, even the ones better qualified than at least two of the final judicial candidates in 1995 and 1997, were even interviewed for the Mesa city court positions in 1995 and 1997.

I often find that older men seem to think that everything can be justified by a sports analogy; however, I have found no value in that. Perhaps it’s because I’m a stupid female, perhaps because I’ve never had the opportunities afforded to the male athletes in my government-supported schools. After all, being a Minnesota Viking automatically qualifies one to sit on the Supreme Court of Minnesota; I’m sure no other candidate was better.

The judiciary should reflect the community it must judge. Our legal community is diverse in gender, race and age; therefore, it is reasonable to infer that some very qualified women and minorities have been overlooked for judicial positions in this state. No one is advocating appointing unqualified candidates. You may call this sexist-feminist nonsense if you wish; however, I would never personally attack Mr. Kahn by calling his letter the babblings of an old fogey.

Diana L. Braaten
Chandler

Indigent Post-Conviction Relief

The Stookey and Hammond diatribe on indigent post-conviction relief (March 1998) is another example of the fleecing of Arizona. The article assumes that the lawyers representing the indigent defendant at the state trial and appellate level are incompetent, which they aren’t. The article fails to inform the reader that most defendants are indigent and that the best public defenders are assigned the capital cases. Better known is the fact that Americans including Arizonans spend more time and money on representing criminals than any other country, large or small. This fact is also omitted.

What these two obviously competent lawyers do tell us is that there is no constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel at the PCR stage. Fair enough. Let the new law school graduates have interesting work and learn some law at the same time. The legislators are funding two law schools, shouldn’t they get their money’s worth.

John Beaver
Phoenix

Guide to the Internet

Thank you for publishing Judge Lankford’s practical guide to the Internet (March 1998). Well written and long overdue, the article teaches what lawyers need to know about a resource of vast potential and immense utility.

Arizona lawyers who want a quick, free, easy-to-use entrance to information on the Internet should visit http://www.goodmanlaw.com. At this site they will find an enormous free legal research library, multiple Internet search tools and lots of other things lawyers frequently need and use.

Mark N. Goodman
Prescott

Author’s Reply:

I have visited the writer’s law firm Web site. It is quite comprehensive, and would have been mentioned in the article had I known of it.

Hon. Jefferson Lankford
Phoenix