Andy, I’m happy to yield to your superior knowledge of the relevant statutes, but my problem with Judge Reggie is one of tone as much as anything else. Putting aside his complaints about “angry, harassing, mean-spirited ” letters, which make him sound like a whiney twerp, and the cheesy populist pandering – “If that’s going to be how we have to operate, our system is going to be in serious trouble with the average Joe on the street who thinks the system is unfair already” – let’s consider his thoughtful response to a six-page brief from a dozen eminent constitutional jurists of diverse political dispositions (from Alan Dershowitz to Robert Bork).
“The submission was not something I would expect from a first-year law student,” sneered Judge Reggie, sweeping it aside. No magistrate with a care for the reputation of the court would be so crude. Perhaps he’s auditioning for Court TV or the Paris Hilton appeal, but, if he’s all hemmed in by controlling statutes anyway, is it too much to ask a judge to be a bit more judicious?