After the NFL conference championship games a couple of weeks ago I wondered whether we were in for two more weeks of dumb behavior from Steelers and Seahawks fans. I didn't hear of anything really stupid until yesterday and from a Federal judge, of all people. Beverly G. Grant (that's right - a female football fanatic), a District Court judge in Tacoma, Washington started a sentencing hearing in a manslaughter case last Friday by asking everyone in the courtroom to cheer "Go Seahawks" before the proceedings got underway. She issued a written apology on Monday:
'I take full responsibility, particularly as it has impacted the Patricelli family, the judiciary system and others,' Grant wrote. 'I have consistently tried to treat everyone in my court with dignity, fairness and respect ... my sincere regrets to all.'Aside from the judge's initial actions, I'm disappointed at a conspicuous absence from her list of people to whom she expresses regret: the defendant! She mentions the victim's family by name and presumably encompasses both the prosecutor and defense attorney with "the judiciary system." But the only person whose life was impacted in the end during the pep rally cum sentencing hearing was the guy who got sent to the pen for 13.5 years. Perhaps the judge should apologize to him for taking the bench with such levity before condemning him.
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