This is a wild story. It's about Sameera Ali, a Virginia lawyer, and Thomas Cullen, a Virginia judge:
One of Cullen’s clerks repeatedly asked her to represent a youth charged with a felony and two misdemeanors when no other attorneys were available, according to a court filing from her attorney. Ali agreed, if a preliminary hearing set for Nov. 19, a Tuesday, could be rescheduled to accommodate a prior court commitment in Fairfax County.... The Alexandria prosecutor’s office filed court papers in support of Ali’s request. Ali told Cullen’s clerk twice, on Nov. 8 and Nov. 15, that she could not take the case otherwise, her attorney said.
When the judge took the bench Nov. 19, a prosecutor asked to delay the hearing. Cullen refused and instead issued an order calling on Ali to defend herself from a charge of civil contempt, court records show.
What the actual fuck? Judges can be pretty demanding about controlling their fiefdoms, but this Cullen dude sounds like someone who's let his emperorship over his court go to his head.
According to the story, other lawyers are either contemplating or have already removed themselves from the list of attorneys willing to take indigent cases. It's a thankless job and they don't want to risk a random jail sentence from a maniac judge. Nice work.
Care to guess who appointed this jackass of a judge?
no guess needed, but google did confirm.
I will say, he did good work on the Charlottesville rioters
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2019/08/07/feature/the-trump-appointee-whos-putting-white-supremacists-in-jail/
I don't think that's the right guy. Oddly, seems like there are two judges named Thomas Cullen.
The first is the one appoiinted by Trump to the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia.
The second is this guy who is a jusge at the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, at Supreme Court of Virginia.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-cullen-844234108/
The second judge is clearly much older than the first one. And his postion fits more with what Kevin metnioned in his article. Plus the case is in Alexandira, Virgina. Whuch again, fits with the second one.
You might think it's a father-son thing but the first judge has a Wikipedia page which says his dad's name is Richard.
So maybe an uncle and nephew?
i think it is the same guy
https://www.furman.edu/people/thomas-cullen/
edit. ah, I see. yeah, there are 2 of them serving in the state. awkward
M-O-O-N. That spells Tom Cullen.
Yeah, the article mentions "Judge Thomas K. Cullen of the Alexandria Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court" which would clearly NOT be the guy Trump appointed.
The Virginia legislature.
So, did the clerk ever tell the judge about the need to rearrange the docket?
That's what I'm wondering. Telling someone you need X and them agreeing to give you X are two different things. Letting them think you agree to get something done is pretty rotten.
Good question-- sure sounds like a judge who'd just read up on all the case filings-- except somehow he missed that part-- and was royally pissed. Maybe he didn't notice it, didn't look for it, the correspondence wasn't logged, he didn't connect that correspondence with this case, it wasn't flagged by the clerks for some reason, the particular clerk was sick that day. A world of possibilities!
Interesting that his immediate reaction was to throw the book at the lawyer; one might think he'd be interested in knowing something about why the non-appearance. Of course it would be gauchely woke to point out that this one is female and has a seemingly non-Anglo name. I'm certain that's just a coincidence.
Can the other judge put this judge in jail for contempt by trying to interfere with something that's already scheduled?
It’s rough out there.
If as a result, fewer attorneys will take pro bono cases before this judge, some would consider that a win. Not for the plaintiffs or defendants, of course.
Certainly not for plaintiffs or defendants, but rather for much of the GOP tribe of course! The Have Mores, Haves, those with descent jobs all sharing a the common goal that poor folks should be given every advantage, so long as it doesn't cost a nickel. After all those criminal welfare cheats already have public defenders, ERs, soup kitchens and shelters. What else do they need??
1987's 'Suspect' got above average reviews, and the big reveal is spoiled now by the fact that a certain unknown actor is far better known.
But every lawyer has a soft spot for it . . . .
. . . because the judge did it.
Seems unusual for a judge to refuse the request of a prosecutor and lay blame on the public defender. People make mistakes all the time, but this seems more personal.