Conservatives often complain about judicial activism.

Many on the left, on the other hand, would much rather let judges make society’s important decisions.  Which is a bad idea in a democracy other than, y’know, the law, but more importantly depends on the integrity of the judiciary.

Which, sometimes, seems like a very bad idea:

Williams, 33, attended his cousin’s July hearing at Will County Courthouse in Joliet. His cousin, Jason Mayfield, pled guilty to a felony drug charge. As the judge sentenced Mayfield to two years probation, Williams let out a yawn, an involuntary faux pas in such a formal setting.

Circuit Judge Daniel Rozak thought the yawn was criminal and sentenced Williams to six months in jail, the maximum penalty for contempt of court without a jury trial.  Rozak’s order said that Williams “raised his hands while at the same time making a loud yawning sound,” causing a disrespectful interruption in court.

So in a strange turn of events Mayfield, the felon, will be able to walk freely, while Williams, the yawner, will have to spend at least three weeks behind bars for his offending yawn.

So in other words, the criminal walked, but the spectator had his life ruined; three weeks in jail plays hob on peoples’ jobs.

What was it they said about “absolute power?”

But it’s not out of character for Rozak.

Contempt of court charges are typically issued when a judge feels someone is challenging or ignoring the court’s authority, e.g., yelling at a judge, ignoring subpoenas, appearing in court drunk, etc.

But Rozak runs a tight ship. He has charged people who cuss in reaction to a sentencing and even jailed spectators whose cell phones interrupt proceedings. In fact, the Chicago Tribune found that Rozak has sentenced more spectators to jail for infractions involving cell phones than any other judge in Will County in the last decade.

Of the 30 judges in the 12th Judicial Circuit, Rozak has brought more than a third of all the contempt charges in the last 10 years.

I don’t suppose it’s possible to throw a judge out for frivolity?

This entry was posted by by Mitch Berg on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 8:04 am and is filed under Crime and Punishment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.