Yield: A Judge's Fir$t-Year Diary: A Judge's Fir$t-Year Diary

by Janice Law

Book Overview

What is it like to be a judge? At nearly every event I attend, people ask me that.

My short answer is: Great or It's fine What it is like to be a judge is much too complex to be answered in any brief manner.

Shortly after I was elected as judge in Harris County, (Houston, Texas) Criminal Court No. 5, I attended New Judges' School in Dallas with other newly elected judicial colleagues from all over Texas. One December evening, our...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1733942149
• ISBN13: 9781733942140
• Release Date: July 2020
• Publisher: Judgejanicelaw
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A stunning indictment of the Harris County, Texas Criminal Court System

"Yield" is a non-fiction work that reads like a fast-paced action novel. It is a well-written, easy reading account of Judge Janice Law's first year on the Harris County, Texas Criminal Court. Judge Law describes in chilling detail the cold blooded, heartless individuals who frequent the corridors of the Criminal Court system, preying on the innocent as well as the guilty. And those are only the lawyers and judges working the "system" for their own personal gain! Defendants brought before the Criminal Court system for adjudication are often at the mercy of lawyers and judges who should, themselves, be brought up on charges. This book is not about individual cases brought before the Criminal Court; it is about the Criminal Court itself and is a stunning indictment of the judicial system in that one Harris County court. One hopes the worst of the lawyers and judges described in this book are no longer practicing their brand of "justice" in Texas, but one is left with the uneasy feeling that politics, power, and money may still trump justice in the Harris County Criminal Court. This book was a finalist in its category at the Texas Book Festival - Violet Crown awards.

A rare glimpse into our legal system

Judge Law certainly captures your attention through excellent, entertaining writing giving the public a rare glimpse into our legal system. She uses her judge/journalist background to give us a fascinating peek behind-the-bench and at court house politics. Judge Law's diary of her tumultuous first year on the criminal bench contains marvelous anecdotes of humorous and poignant court room drama. But on a larger scale, Yield also explores the shocking inequities of the Texas criminal court system where judges are elected in often brutal partisan political combat, lawyers who practice before the courts contribute to the judges' political campaigns, and the judges appoint lawyers to represent indigent defendants. Judge Law dramatically shows why there is a $ sign in Yield's subtitle.