The Supremes
As hinted at in my last blog post, which was…oh, a couple of years ago, I argued before the Supremes last month.
Not these Supremes:
And not these:
But these ones here:
Yes friends, that’s the Supreme Court of Kentucky. This post contains a little background info, and a few words, about our Supreme Court (keeping in mind that they are basically the folks responsible for my licensure and livelihood).
First, unlike those snobs in Washington (and many other states, like Indiana*), our Justices are elected, not appointed. I have mixed feelings about this, but in the way that I have mixed feelings about democracy in general. And hell, anyone who lives in a democracy should probably have mixed feelings about it, but it’s what we’ve got and it mostly makes sense.
Anyway, they’re elected from each of seven districts in the Commonwealth, which means you get two justices from urbanish areas (Lexington and Louisville) and five from somewhat (if not extremely) rural areas. These folks are the final, final, final word on Kentucky law. Each year, they accept a very small number of cases for what is called “discretionary review.” It’s basically just like a petition for certiorari in the United States Supreme Court (they’re the group that looks like a retired Star Trek crew in the photo above). It means they take a case if the lower court really screwed things up, or if they need to resolve or clarify a point of law. The Kentucky Supreme Court also hears all the death penalty cases and stuff like that.
So the Supremes accepted one of our cases for discretionary review. In short, the case involved a public employee who went on medical leave, came back to work, and was demoted the same day. The original opinion is here. This opinion is “not-to-be-published,” meaning it doesn’t appear in the actual bound reporters that no one uses anymore. You can still find these “unpublished” opinions pretty easily online, which is where just about any lawyer under the age of 60 does virtually all of his/her legal research. Go on, Google the Plaintiff’s name. Sure, I’m generalizing, but cut me some slack. I’m trying to make a point here.
Anyway, we submitted our briefs to the Supreme Court. We filed a brief, they filed one, and we filed one again. Then the arguments. We thought (and still think) that the opinion is wrong, and if you’ve got 45 minutes or so to spare, I’ll tell you why:
Likins v. Oldham Co. Fiscal Court – Oral Argument
Now, the most puzzling part of all this was the end. Here’s the Court’s decision in its entirety:
[PDF Content]
You ask, “what does it mean, Mr. fancy-pants law-talking guy?” Well…I don’t know. Theoretically, it means that five out of seven justices changed their minds and thought they never should have taken the case in the first place. Practically, it means the end of the case, and the end of our client’s seven-year struggle for some sort of relief from the treatment to which she was subjected. The result: no opinion. No nothing. Resounding silence from the final, final, final arbiter of Kentucky justice. And an incorrect, unpublished, and easily findable opinion from the lower court. Why?
Arguing in front of the Supremes was a great experience. Perhaps not as great as singing with THE Supremes, but hell, you can’t have everything. And I still find representing people to be deeply fulfilling. But at times, it is frustrating and incomprehensible.
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* – A system of appointed justices has its pitfalls, too. Indiana is a pretty good example, as it currently has no female Justices at all. As you can imagine, they’ve been taking some heat for that.
