“Judge Robert Altice’s extensive work in the Marion County judicial system and experience presiding over civil and criminal cases make him a uniquely qualified candidate to serve on the Court of Appeals,” said Governor Pence. “The Court of Appeals serves an important role in the judicial system for the state of Indiana, and I’m grateful to Judge Altice as he carries his work to a higher judicial court. His varied legal experience in both criminal and civil law will serve him well as he continues to serve the people of Indiana as a fair-minded and measured judge.”
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Friday, July 17, 2015
Pence Appoints Judge Robert Altice To The Court Of Appeals
This probably won't come as a big surprise to most observers. Gov. Mike Pence chose Marion Co. Superior Court Judge Robert Altice over Wabash Superior Court Judge Christopher Goff and Indianapolis attorney Patricia McMath to fill the Court of Appeals spot being vacated by retiring Judge Ezra Friedlander of the Second Judicial District. Gov. Pence said of Judge Altice in today's announcement:
When asked how he would enhance the integrity and credibility of the Court, Judge Altice said he would like to see a judicial performance evaluation program implemented here in Indiana. With such a program, citizens can see objective evaluations of judges based on certain criteria. He recently attended a conference at the University of Denver and explained how such evaluations, which includes a detailed review by a commission and include courtroom observation, has been done effectively in other states.
ReplyDeleteJudge Altice described his finest contribution as the Hamilton Avenue slaying case, which involved seven murder victims. Two defendants were tried separately: one in a bench trial and one by jury. He discussed the many challenges posed by the case, including the heightened media exposure, sequestering the jury, security issues, and a defendant with a difficult courtroom demeanor. Judge Altice, who has 250 criminal felony trials under his belt and 75 murder trials, has been quoted as saying he wants to move to a civil court because “twelve years of dead bodies” had been enough. He recently polled as the most respected Marion County Court judge in a poll of lawyers. And he cites as the most significant Supreme Court decision Brown v Board of Education, a rare case that took ‘guts’ to correct something that was ‘just wrong.’
The "just wrong" doctrine of adjudication.
ReplyDeleteDidn't see that in Blackstone.
Solid pick by Gov. Pence! Congrats to Judge Altice, who was always thoughtful & fair whenever I had cases before him.
ReplyDeleteFor too long, too many judges have been too quiet about an evil of which we are a part: the mass incarceration of people in the United States today. It is time that more of us spoke out.
ReplyDeleteThe basic facts are not in dispute. More than 2.2 million people are currently incarcerated in US jails and prisons, a 500 percent increase over the past forty years. Although the United States accounts for about 5 percent of the world’s population, it houses nearly 25 percent of the world’s prison population. The per capita incarceration rate in the US is about one and a half times that of second-place Rwanda and third-place Russia, and more than six times the rate of neighboring Canada. Another 4.75 million Americans are subject to the state supervision imposed by probation or parole.
Most of the increase in imprisonment has been for nonviolent offenses, such as drug possession. And even though crime rates in the United States have declined consistently for twenty-four years, the number of incarcerated persons has continued to rise over most of that period, both because more people are being sent to prison for offenses that once were punished with other measures and because the sentences are longer. For example, even though the number of violent crimes has steadily decreased over the past two decades, the number of prisoners serving life sentences has steadily increased, so that one in nine persons in prison is now serving a life sentence.
1:25, the police are the enemy of freedom in America, but nobody wants to talk about massively downsizing police departments.
ReplyDeletePolice pose a much greater danger to any one of us than ISIS ever could, but how often do you hear the police being spoken of in the same unflattering terms as ISIS?
American police have killed more people this year than ISIS, often with just as little justification.
When a judge supports the current mission of the police, he or she is just as bad as the police.
Judges on the Court of Appeals are anonymous in the sense
ReplyDeletethat the overall general public doesn't know who they are.
The general public doesn't really understand nor care about
precedents in legal decisions.
I know I don't often speak favorably of judges (inside joke), but I have a very favorable view of Judge Altice. I had a quiet title trial before him a couple years ago, and Judge Altice handled the case with professionalism and a temperament you don't see with many judges. He was particularly adept at handling unrepresented and sometimes unruly parties in the case. When those parties started getting out of line, Judge Altice could have gotten heavy handed and confrontational and maybe made things worse. But instead, while he immediately nipped the behavior in the bud, he did so in a way that was polite and respectful. I think everyone walked away thinking Judge Altice was fair and was willing to listen to everyone regardless of whether they were represented by counsel. You can't ask for much more than that.
ReplyDeleteJudge Altice is a great selection!!!
ReplyDeleteGary:
ReplyDeleteWhile it may not come as a surprise to folks in Indianapolis, there are some of us in the hinterlands that were hopeful that one of our own would be picked for the position. This is not to say that Judge Altice wasn't a good selection, as I understand him to be a thoughtful, kind and intelligent jurist.
What it is meant to say is that for many in District Two, we had hoped that a representative from the smaller counties might be chosen, rather than perennial favorite Marion County. There are many fine judges in the smaller counties that would make excellent picks for such a position, who could bring a unique perspective that may not be found in the larger cities. Judge Christopher Goff would have been an equally impressive selection.
Perhaps one day it will not come as too much of a surprise if a qualified judge is selected from a smaller county in District Two. Until then, we can only hope.
Beware of wolves in sheep clothing...Judge Christopher Goff has knowingly and willfully tarnished the Judiciary. Honesty, integrity and laws do not apply to this Judge...he makes his own rules.
ReplyDeleteThomas Pasquale (Logansport) has a lengthy documented history of domestic violence against Sandra Pasquale (wife) which includes but certainly not limited to; domestic battery charge for choking and biting her on the face. In 2007, Tom Solicited and Conspired with a police informant to murder Sandra (the commission of the crime is on audio-obtained by the Logansport Police Department) with “more than sufficient evidence” for conviction…he was never charged. Sandra petitioned the court to move out of State due to ongoing harassment and violation of Protective Order via threats to burn down her home while in it…he pled “Guilty” and was sentenced to 6 month probation.
While serving said Probation, Domestic Violence Committee Member (Christopher Goff) denied Sandra’s request to continue Order of Protection. Custody of their 3 minor children was handed to the perpetrator. Sandra was ordered to have a psychological exam to prove the children would be safe with her…she’s the victim! The results of the psych exam determined her to be a fit parent Judge Goff deemed the findings “Inadmissible.” Tom harassed Sandra during her visitation so she contacted the Police to report him for stalking. Opposing council and the GAL conspired with each other to request the psych evaluation be re-done by someone they chose. Tom was not subjected to any psych evaluations throughout the pendency of the case. The Judge Ordered that Sandra have supervised visitation….Seriously!
Sandra has not had visitation with her children for over 2.5 years. She petitioned the court for unsupervised visitation which was DENIED. The children have now been alienated against their mother and the Court is to blame. Reprehensible actions sought to torture the victims (mother and children). This case is the MOST EGREGIOUS in the State of Indiana.
“Equally Impressive Selection”…I THINK NOT!!!
MURDER FOR HIRE GUILTY OR NOT?...YOU DECIDE (SEE AUDIO LINK) http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-638722