Judges' Discretion

This month's Chairman's Message ["A Day In Juvenile Court"] is perhaps for some readers a refreshing departure from the usual stuff about plans and projects, commitments to excellence, and obligatory obeisance to the powers that be that chairmen are usually obligated to grind out. It should give us something real to think about. Section Chair Carol Gravitt's holiday-season message is also something more: it voices an idea that is being heard increasingly these days, both within the Section leadership and without. That is that much as we may distrust, and even dislike, our trial judges at times, it is not the worst thing that can happen in family law if the trial judge is allowed to exercise a little wisdom and discretion. That is, it is just possible that five-page property statues and nine- page support statutes that attempt to tie the trial judge's hands in every way are no better in the end than the old law that trusted in a judge's wisdom do what seems right, and perhaps get it "wrong" no more than half the time.

An inevitable outgrowth of such statutes is the kind of multi-page form order very lucidly explicated in this issue's lead article by Fairfax practitioner Richard Byrd. Also dedicated to the task of helping practitioners make their way through a statutory maze is the practice note on the juvenile justice system contributed by Arlington practitioner John Wasowicz, author of another article on how you and your calculator may just possibly make sense of the statutory formulae in Code Section 20-108.2. For those ready for something completely different, new Board of Governors member David Masterman has contributed an article on prime-time (apparently an important distinction there) television's portrayal of marriage and divorce. The astonishing volume of David's accomplishment in the field of marathon TV-viewing certainly shows us that not all family lawyers are overworked these days.

As the season of joy and good will is upon us, or at least it is by the time people get their newsletters, let us all confront the various outrages in this quarter's issue with a certain sense of forbearance, perspective, generosity of spirit and largeness of mind.