To the Editor:

When I started as a volunteer CASA in 1994, I had not given much thought to what qualities I expected of the judge other than an impeccable character. When I was preparing a report for a complex case and I needed the judge to read the report and conclude the same as I had—that the child needed to be removed immediately from what was planned to be its adoptive home—I started mulling over the qualities needed for a judge to effectively carry out his or her responsibilities and assessing what qualities the judge I was addressing had. I started the following list and it grew with time: [Read more…]