Reply #12: .

[merh]

On Oct. 28, 2005 the Montgomery Chapter sponsored a reception to honor the new federal law clerks. The reception was held at the Frank M. Johnson Federal Courthouse in Montgomery, Ala.

left to right, front row: Chief Judge Mark E. Fuller, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama; Court Reporter Jimmy Dickens; Judge Edward E. Carnes, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; Glory McLaughlin (District Court Law Clerk), Rachel Lary, Law Clerk for Judge Joel F. Dubina; Julie Reed, law clerk for Judge Edward E. Carnes; Wes Gilchrist, law clerk for Judge Edward E. Carnes; and Emily Marks, Montgomery Chapter president. Back Row: Judge Joel F. Dubina, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; Kristin Henson, law clerk for Judge Edward E. Carnes; and Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles S. Coody, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

http://www.fedbar.org/montgomery.html

Published Tuesday, January 8, 2008
No good reason for Siegelman's appeal to languish
Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman shouldn't have to wait in prison for months and months until a court finally hears his appeal.

~snip~

The death in August of Jimmy Dickens, the court reporter who recorded the trial, has led to a series of delays in completing the transcript for the case.

Siegelman has asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to release him on bond while he awaits a final decision on the appeal. But the lengthy transcript from his two-month-long trial has to be available before the appeals process begins.

The new court reporter initially was granted an extension until Dec. 31. When she said she couldn't do the work in time, U.S. Circuit Judge R. Lanier Anderson on Friday extended the deadline to March 31.

A reasonable delay in the transcript as a result of Dickens' death could be expected, but this is ridiculous.

As University of Alabama political scientist William Stewart observed in November, every day that Siegelman is in jail when the appellate court might rule that he shouldn't be, "it's one more day of suffering."

Fuller has failed to comply with the canon of judicial conduct that requires a judge to promptly dispose of business before his court. And the Siegelman case is a testament to the truth of the old axiom that justice delayed is justice denied.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20080108/NEWS/801080302/1012/TL05