Senior Judge John Kane in the District of Colorado enjoys a benefit that many of his juniors can’t.  As he’s not on the short list for the Supremes, and doesn’t plan to displace Nancy Grace as the most dangerous mouthpiece misleading the public about the law on television, he’s left to think long and hard about the failings of the system and ways to improve it.

I’ve become a huge admirer of Judge Kane.  It’s not that we’re necessarily on the same page on every issue (which is said in concession to him, since he’s a federal judge and I’m just some lawyer with a keyboard and internet access), but he does what few have the balls and gall to do: He looks squarely at a system that too often fails, says so and tries to find a way to do better.  Sometimes it’s good to be a senior judge with life tenure.

In Stephanie West Allen