EP 21 Short and Bitter

: 00:00:00

You are listening to The Judgemental Podcast.

2

: 00:00:03

Speaker 3: We're Hugh and Christine, the

Minds Behind Judgy, the revolutionary app

3

: 00:00:06

that empowers you to judge the judges.

4

: 00:00:08

Speaker 2: It's pastime for

judicial accountability and

5

: 00:00:11

transparency within the courts.

6

: 00:00:13

Speaker 3: Prepare for sharp

insights, candid critiques, and

7

: 00:00:15

unshakable honesty from two lawyers

determined to save the system.

8

: 00:00:18

Speaker 4: We need some justice.

9

: 00:00:19

Justice, my fine justice.

10

: 00:00:21

And I wanna ring, be in public.

11

: 00:00:23

I wanna ring, be in public crowd.

12

: 00:00:25

Yeah.

13

: 00:00:27

Speaker: Hey everyone, this is

Hugh from The Judgemental Podcast.

14

: 00:00:30

I'm flying solo again today, which is

not something we normally do or plan

15

: 00:00:34

on doing too much in the future, but

I felt it was important to address

16

: 00:00:38

some things that have been weighing

on both Christine and on me lately.

17

: 00:00:42

So if you're a regular listener, you

know that Christine and I have been

18

: 00:00:45

working together to build Judge-y

and app and website as well as this

19

: 00:00:49

podcast as a platform for judicial

accountability and transparency also

20

: 00:00:54

for education for those in the public

going through the court system.

21

: 00:00:58

But this week we sort of needed

to take a step back, honestly.

22

: 00:01:02

And part of that is we are taking a

deep look at the reform movement and our

23

: 00:01:08

place in it and how we're gonna interact

within that movement in the future.

24

: 00:01:12

So here's what's been happening.

25

: 00:01:14

Christine has been receiving a flood

of nasty, hateful comments, and they're

26

: 00:01:18

not from judges or those resisting

judicial reform, but from people

27

: 00:01:23

within the judicial reform movement.

28

: 00:01:25

These are people who supposedly share

our goals of improving the court

29

: 00:01:29

system, and they've been attacking her

personally, questioning her motives,

30

: 00:01:33

primarily because she's an attorney and

frankly, they've been downright nasty.

31

: 00:01:38

And this breaks my heart a bit

because it's exactly the opposite

32

: 00:01:41

of what we reform should be about.

33

: 00:01:44

We're supposed to be fighting for

fairness, accountability, transparency

34

: 00:01:47

in our courts, but when we can't even

treat each other with basic respect.

35

: 00:01:50

Hard to see how we could expect

to make real change or frankly be

36

: 00:01:55

taken seriously by anyone else.

37

: 00:01:57

I've also noticed something else

troubling, and that's that there are

38

: 00:02:00

people trying to hijack the movement

for their own political agendas.

39

: 00:02:04

They want to turn judicial reform

into a partisan battlefield.

40

: 00:02:07

Or worse, they're trying to use the real

trauma that people have experienced in

41

: 00:02:12

family courts and in other courts to

radicalize them toward dangerous extremes.

42

: 00:02:16

And let me be crystal clear,

that's not what Judge-y is about.

43

: 00:02:20

That's not what this podcast is about.

44

: 00:02:23

Christine asked me to share

something with you as well.

45

: 00:02:26

She remains deeply committed to

the judicial transparency because

46

: 00:02:29

she believes, and I agree, that

a fair and effective legal system

47

: 00:02:34

relies on public confidence that

confidence is diminished when court

48

: 00:02:38

proceedings and judicial decisions

lack visibility and transparency.

49

: 00:02:43

But here's what she wants

everyone to understand.

50

: 00:02:45

Transparency isn't a

threat to the judiciary.

51

: 00:02:48

It's a fundamental

prerequisite for its integrity.

52

: 00:02:51

At the same time, we have to be careful.

53

: 00:02:53

The act of radicalizing vulnerable

individuals often for the gain

54

: 00:02:57

of personal agendas is something

that concerns both of us deeply.

55

: 00:03:02

We can't let our pursuit of transparency

become a tool for exploitation or

56

: 00:03:06

manipulation of people who have already.

57

: 00:03:08

Who are already hurting and need

support and not radicalization.

58

: 00:03:12

So what is our position?

59

: 00:03:15

I want to be really clear.

60

: 00:03:16

Judgey has no interest in

politicizing judicial reform.

61

: 00:03:20

We're not there to advance talking

points, be they Republican or Democratic.

62

: 00:03:26

We're not interested in

dangerous radicalization.

63

: 00:03:30

We have zero tolerance for racist or

sexist angles to reform, and we will

64

: 00:03:34

not be baited into those discussions.

65

: 00:03:37

What we are interested in is common

sense judicial accountability,

66

: 00:03:41

ensuring efficiency, legal

competence, and the protection of

67

: 00:03:45

constitutional rights for everybody

that steps foot into a courtroom.

68

: 00:03:49

I'm saddened that infighting

and petty rivalries within what

69

: 00:03:52

should be a dedicated group of

reformers is threatening the

70

: 00:03:54

influence of the entire movement.

71

: 00:03:56

And if we can't work together

respectfully, if we can't disagree without

72

: 00:03:59

being disagreeable, then frankly there's

no hope of making a real difference.

73

: 00:04:04

The judges and court administrators I'm

sure love seeing the infighting and the

74

: 00:04:08

movement working to tear itself apart.

75

: 00:04:12

So while we're fighting amongst

ourselves, nothing changes

76

: 00:04:14

for better in the courtrooms.

77

: 00:04:17

Christine and I didn't start this to

become targets of the very people we

78

: 00:04:20

thought we were working alongside.

79

: 00:04:22

We didn't create Judge-y to

become a platform for political

80

: 00:04:25

extremism or personal vendettas.

81

: 00:04:28

We started this because we saw real

problems in our court systems, and we

82

: 00:04:32

started here locally and we noticed

that there were problems throughout

83

: 00:04:36

the nation, we had inefficiency,

lack of judicial accountability,

84

: 00:04:40

judges acting outside the law and

violating basic constitutional rights.

85

: 00:04:45

We wanted to create a space where

attorneys, litigants, voters, judges, and

86

: 00:04:50

even people within the system can have

an honest discussion and access honest

87

: 00:04:55

information about judicial performance.

88

: 00:04:57

And that mission hasn't changed.

89

: 00:04:59

We're just taking a step back this week to

sort of reassess how we move forward in a

90

: 00:05:04

way that stays true to our principles and

ignores some of the static and infighting

91

: 00:05:09

that's going on within the movement.

92

: 00:05:11

This isn't to say that

we're victims of anything.

93

: 00:05:13

We're just simply frustrated

professionals who wanna do meaningful

94

: 00:05:16

work without getting dragged into

toxic infighting or dangerous rhetoric.

95

: 00:05:22

Especially in light of the

political violence that's been

96

: 00:05:26

going on and escalating over the

last year or more in this country.

97

: 00:05:31

We just want to be very

clear about our position.

98

: 00:05:34

If you're listening to this podcast

because you genuinely want to see

99

: 00:05:37

improvements in our judicial system,

you are the audience we wanna serve.

100

: 00:05:41

If you believe in transparency,

accountability, and fairness for

101

: 00:05:45

everyone, regardless of politics,

race, gender, background, et

102

: 00:05:48

cetera, then we're on the same team.

103

: 00:05:50

But if you're here to push a political

agenda, radicalized vulnerable people

104

: 00:05:54

attack those working toward the same

goal just because they don't do it

105

: 00:05:57

exactly the same way as you this

probably isn't the place for you.

106

: 00:06:02

Christine and I will be back next week.

107

: 00:06:03

Refocused on what matters, calling out

judicial misconduct when we see it,

108

: 00:06:07

celebrating good judges when we find them,

and building tools that help make our

109

: 00:06:12

court system work better for everyone.

110

: 00:06:14

Until then, please keep submitting

your stories to Judge-y.com,

111

: 00:06:18

judge-y.com,

112

: 00:06:20

and remember, we're all in this

together or else we're not in it at all.

113

: 00:06:26

Thanks.

114

: 00:06:27

Peace.

115

: 00:06:31

Speaker 5: Next call.

116

: 00:06:31

We need some

117

: 00:06:32

Speaker 6: justice, justice, justice.

118

: 00:06:34

And I wanna ring bells in public.

119

: 00:06:36

I wanna ring bes in public nor crowd.

120

: 00:06:38

Yeah, but I To the fo Yeah.

121

: 00:06:40

I To the fo Yeah.

122

: 00:06:42

Speaker 7: I to the fo fo

123

: 00:06:45

teaser.