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Hewes v. Langston9/11/2003
t participating" on only one circulated proposed opinion. In every other instance, I participated in the case on the merits.
.Any concerns that my service in the Guard interferes with my work as an appellate judge should be laid to rest. Court records show that I rarely miss the deadlines for votes, memoranda, and opinions. I work hard and am consistently among the three justices who have written the most opinions for any given time period, be it on a monthly or a yearly basis. I also chair the Rules Committee which has been very active in working to reform and modernize court procedures and systems. My record will stand up under any scrutiny.
.I exhort Presiding Justice McRae to cease making attacks on his fellow Justices and on the Court as a whole. As he himself has stated, " ustice delayed is justice denied." Hawkins, 775 So. 2d at 110 (McRae, J., dissenting). When we are forced to respond to Presiding Justice McRae's unfounded allegations, time is taken away from the work that the Supreme Court is supposed to do: the dispensation of justice. I am not implying that there is no room for legitimate dissent. But dissents should be based on differing interpretations of fact or law, not personality conflicts or sour grapes.
.Furthermore, the appropriate procedure to allege that a judge has committed an unethical or unlawful act is through the Commission on Judicial Performance, not through the official opinions of the Court. Opinions should not be used to attack the integrity of the Court and its members. They should be written to clarify existing precedent or, in some cases, make new precedent. Busy attorneys and litigants who rely on our decisions do not want to waste time reading about Court squabbles.
.In closing, I fervently hope that the Court can once again work together with an esprit de corps and that we can respect each other's opinions without regard to personalities. Attorneys are held to professional standards, so judges should be held to an even greater standard. This standard demands dignity, decorum and integrity, not dirty tricks, backbiting and innuendo. Please, let us no longer delay the work of justice.
PITTMAN, C.J., SMITH, P.J., COBB AND CARLSON, JJ., JOIN THIS SEPARATE WRITTEN STATEMENT.
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