As the story of convicted Speedway bomber Brett Kimberlin’s assault on free speech continues to gain traction in the media, National Review has Mark Steyn’s thoughts on Kimberlin and Walker’s recent court date:
Aside from the merits of the case, I was struck by the appalling performance of the presiding judge, one C. J. Vaughey. As is increasingly the way with our decaying justice system, there is no easily searchable court transcript, only an audio tape that a few individual bloggers have been painstakingly transcribing. Judge Vaughey comes across as a near parodic combination of bluster, ignorance and narcissism.
After quoting Judge Vaughey, Steyn laments:
Over the years, I’ve faced unsympathetic judges in various courts around the world, but I can’t recall ever listening to such a stream of unjudicial drivel from the bench as that which poured from Judge Vaughey. If Andy McCarthy or Ed Whelan or our other legal eagles can help me here, I’m genuinely curious: Is this Vaughey clod unusually awful? Or all too typical?