Doing Justice: A Trial Judge at Work

In 15 years on the bench, Satter, judge of the Connecticut Superior Court, has heard cases involving murder, rape, custody, child abuse, medical malpractice, divorce, juvenile crime, robbery, housing and inheritance disputes, and even a plane crash. Although stiffly written, this unusual report offers a rare personal glimpse of the judicial decision-making process. For Satter, the art of judging consists of finding valid ways to implement the stirrings of his heart. He stresses that he often goes by intuition, and that he is sensitive to the connection between urban poverty and crime. A parade of stumbling or theatrical lawyers, dubious or solid witnesses marches through this brief, which includes sensible proposals for remedying defects in the way jury trials are conducted. Author tour. (Feb.)