DCAs and PCAs.

A recent News story indicated the Supreme Court has established a committee to examine DCA workload and rejected a request to eliminate PCAs. As to the workload, I suggest that DCA and Supreme Court law clerk positions be eliminated and more appellate judge positions be created.

My reason is that clerks usually have no courtroom or appeal experience. But they have been given unfounded authority to summarize experienced lawyers' briefs with one page summaries upon which DCA judges or justices often decide cases. But there is no way for appellate lawyers to challenge clerks' summaries for accuracy and understanding or to examine if the clerks have any bias in favor of, or against, an appellate lawyer or firm. For example, one panel of DCA judges asked me in oral argument what relief I was seeking. What? Hadn't they read my brief which contained relief sought in three places, including a one paragraph conclusion? They were obviously depending upon their clerks' summary. Judges should be required to read all briefs and cases and law. If necessary, lawyers filing briefs could send along copies of statutory and case law highlighted just as they now provide to trial court judges and opposing counsel in trial court motion hearings. But law clerks should be totally eliminated from the appellate decision-making process.

As to PCAs, one Supreme Court justice said that the only power judges really...