This Miami judge scoffs at the petty responsibilities of teachers

A judge’s time on the bench can be a very cloistered experience. They’re surrounded by their favorite bailiffs, familiar lawyers, and regular criminals. After a while, maybe all the deference and adulation can go to a judge’s head, causing pomposity to increase and courtroom rambles to make less sense. That’s the only excuse we can think of for ol’ Third District Court of Appeal Senior Judge Alan Schwartz’s latest comment to the Florida Bar News on the topic of whether felons should be able to become lawyers again- a softball topic, we would think:

“We just felt it was inappropriate to have convicted felons barred from being on the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission and being teachers and masseurs, and a whole slew of what would seem to be non-responsible positions, and not have it impossible to be a felon for a lawyer.”

Huh? While we find no fault with the potshot at conservation agents and teachers- who needs ’em, really?- we take the insult against masseurs quite personally. If you’ve ever leafed through the back pages of a New Times, you know the massage industry funds our checks.

Thanks to blog South Florida Lawyers– a specialist, by the way, at skewering judges for baffling comments- for the find.