Judge Lippman continues to parade his incompetence. Now it is the presumption of innocence that the judge does not seem to be aware of.

I wrote on this blog before about lack of competence of Judge Lippman who ascended to be the Chief Judge of the State of New York through influence of his now-indicted buddy Sheldon Silver.

In his addresses to graduates at law school graduations Judge Lippman calls graduates who yet have to sit for the bar and obtain a law license "lawyers".

Yet, New York criminal statutes make it a crime for anybody without a license represent him- or herself as being a lawyer.

I guess, for a judge the law is different.

Moreover, in his decisions at the Court of Appeals level Judge Lippman picks and chooses which constitutional violations are substantial and which are insubstantial, even though there is no such distinction under the U.S. Constitution that he is sworn to uphold and protect.

I made a whole series of posts about Judge Lippman's "State of the Judiciary" address in 2015, self-praising judges and paying no attention in his speech to the rampant judicial misconduct permeating state courts and the culture of fear that is spread among attorneys who are afraid to raise their voices against such misconduct for fear of retaliation from judges, against themselves and their clients, to the point of losing their licenses, reputations and livelihoods.

You can simply word-search the word "Lippman" on this blog to see my previous posts about Judge Lippman's accomplishments.

Yesterday, Judge Lippman made yet another blunder that shows just how unprepared this judge is for the job he is doing.

In an interview pertaining to the new system of issuing tickets instead of summonses for possession of small amounts of marijuana in New York City, Judge Lippman was quoted by the media to have said the following:

“These are people who are not hardened criminals, they are normal people.  They have jobs, they have families and there has got to be a way to treat them with respect and dignity and get them back to their lives.”

Last time I checked, presumption of innocence equally applied to ALL criminal defendants, whether charged with possession of "small amounts of marijuana" or - and especially - those who are charged with murder.

The more serious the charge - the higher the risk for the criminal defendant - the more seriously presumption of innocence must be handled and treated by the court.

Yet, to Judge Lippman, the Chief Judge of a large state no less, people who are ticketed are "normal people" and "not hardened criminals" - as opposed to whom?  Defendants charged with felonies?

Isn't it included into every jury instruction that a court must deliver to a criminal jury that even an indictment for a felony - no matter what kind of felony - is not evidence, and lay candidates for trial juries are eliminated for failure to understand the concept of the criminal defendant's presumption of innocence.

When the Chief Judge of the State of New York has no understanding of that concept, and instead, publicly professes an amateurish belief that people must be treated differently based on what they are charged with - that is downright scary.