A Chambers Tour

A Chambers Tour

www.JudgeBernstein.org

What is it like behind the doors of justice?

This post is the beginning of a chambers tour, a guide to the objects that surround one judge as he works.

The first object you will see when you enter the doors of my inner chambers is Napoleon Crossing the Alps. This painting by French Neoclassical artist Jacques Louis David (1748-1825) celebrates Napoleon Bonaparte carrying cannon over the Alps in his effort to surprise and defeat the forces of Austria.

Everyone knew it was impossible to carry cannon over the Alps. Likewise, in the early 1990s when Philadelphia County courts had 27,000 cases waiting 7 years to get into court it was thought impossible to become current.

Through efforts like Day Backward/Day Forward, the impossible was achieved. The Court of Common Pleas became current in 2000.

Visit www.JudgeBernstein.org for selected publications and opinions and important links, including the first chapter of my new novel, The Trials of a Common Pleas Judge.

Here’s an excerpt — the opening paragraph from Chapter One, “A Strange End to a Normal Day”:

“MANY HAVE ASKED me why I run my courtroom the way I do. They know I am a stickler for knowing and following the rules and that I am a strict constructionist for rules and statutes. I am sometimes asked why I spend so much time concentrating on the language of the Rules and principles behind them. Finally, after years of dodging the questions with glib responses, I have decided to reveal a true story, so fantastic that had it been told earlier I would have been accused of making things up to garner attention or justify eccentric behavior.”

Visit the following link to read more of Chapter One: www.judgebernstein.org/#!the-trials-of-a-common-pleas-judge/ek8uo

I will be publishing the novel on JudgeBernstein.org in serial form, chapter by chapter.

Watch for Chapter Two on May 1, 2016!

Sincerely,

The Hon. Mark I. Bernstein