"I'd say he needs some more time in traffic court."

by folkbum

This is not about Lena Taylor--you can tell by the pronoun, although I think the same is true for her--but about Jefferson County judge Randy Koschnick, who is running for the state Supreme Court against Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson. What prompted the declaration that Koschnick needs time in traffic court? His own decision to just make the law up as he goes along:

Incredibly, Koschnick managed to get reversed in presiding over a traffic citation. In County of Jefferson v. Demler, Judge Koschnick determined that the County's failure to subpoena a witness was excusable neglect. Now, the standard for excusable neglect is well-known and long established. But Koschnick gave the County a free pass, without explanation, when the County was negligent in failing to subpoena a witness. (If you're a judicial conservative, you don't make the law up, you follow the gosh darn standard.)

In finding that Koschnick erred, the Court of Appeals noted that Koschnick failed to provide any legal basis for his decision. [. . .] As a result of Koschnick's error, the traffic citations were dismissed.

I realize that when you're SCOWI CJ like Abrahamson, it is hard to get overturned on appeal, what with there not being many higher courts to appeal to and all. But it should be pretty embarrassing for a judge to be overturned on a traffic ticket because he just makes stuff up.

And note who the complainer is here--Super Id, a self-described Republican and fan of Atlas Shrugged. If Koschnick could potentially be losing that demographic, well, congrats Justice Abrahamson.