What are your thoughts on the New York Appeals Court overturning film producer Harvey Weinstein's 2020 conviction and 23-year sentence for sexual crimes against three women described by the article in USA Today? 

The next few paragraphs may be a little technical but please stay with me until the end. 

The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six associate judges who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state senate to 14-year terms. Wikipedia 

I am not an attorney and I am not giving legal advice but, according to Justia US Law, the New York Constitution, Article VI – Judiciary Section 23 – Removal of judges, (a) Judges of the court of appeals and justices of the supreme court may be removed by concurrent resolution of both houses of the legislature, if two-thirds of all the members elected to each house concur therein. 

The USA Today article stated, “In its opinion, the appeals court lambasted the trial court for having "erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes because that testimony served no material non-propensity purpose."” 

We all make mistakes but don’t we, also, improve ourselves so we do not make the same mistakes again? If the evidence was against Weinstein’s actions with other women, when do the courts allow that type of information as a character reference and when do they not allow it? 

There are too many questions about mistakes within our legislature and judicial system without any answers that show improvement. Are our courts, working with our legislature on how a law is written, learning to do it better? 

How do you feel about the enormous number of bills that are initially written by an elected legislator and then converted to legalese by lawyers that make the bill complex and incomprehensible? Is it too late for the victim(s) when a law is mis-interpreted by a lower court and then must go to a supreme court for legal interpretation after the victims have already suffered from the crime? Please read How Our Laws Are Made: A Ghost Writer's View.  

Do we have any belief or faith that our judicial system is working to improve itself in helping to communicate law that is understandable by U.S. Citizens? The same U.S. Citizens that are expected to obey the law? Do we believe our legislature is continually improving since they are generally the initial “author” of bills that are turned into law? 

As the site from Cornell Law School states “Legalese is notoriously difficult for the public to understand.” I wonder if our courts have grown too complex in “legalese” that the lawyers and judges themselves can’t understand the bills once they become law. We must begin electing only legislators that will confirm that all future law is based on standard English grammar, not legalese. 

Our elected legislators, yes, the ones that you and I elect, may write the initial bill but too many court cases are ending up in the supreme courts for interpretation because too many lawyers or judges may not follow or understand the current court law during the court proceedings. 

And, in too many cases, it seems a judge may be able to introduce a previous case, case law, that could also change a prior court’s decision based on the higher court’s judge’s bias nature and what that judge may feel could be a precedent for them. Is the law that is legal in court A legal in court B? The law, or legalese, has become too incomprehensible for anyone to follow. 

We must ask, is the legalese too difficult to understand for the victims of Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 sexual crime conviction to receive a fair trial? 

We must begin electing legislators that will confirm that non-legalese readers will understand all written law, everyone in and out of the courtroom, before and after the hearing or conviction.  

We have numerous interpretations of the scriptures in the Bible but those scriptures were written over 2,000 years ago. We must write laws today, through our legislature, which do not need interpretation. We must write law today that can be understood and the victims of any crime, including the Harvey Weinstein's 2020 conviction, are not thrown into another set of hurtful, heart-breaking court hearings and questioning that the citizens, victims, lawyers and judges do not understand. 

If the higher court, the supreme court of New York, is going to overturn a lower court ruling because the lower court did not understand the law or procedures, why isn’t the higher court also improving the laws that the lower court must use under the higher court’s authority? The law must be the same for everyone and the law must be understandable by everyone. 

If the legislature and the court want us to obey the law, the laws must be written where we, U.S. Citizens, can read it and understand it. Are sex crimes illegal in all cases or just the cases where the judges feel they are illegal based on who was charged with the crime? 

We do not want to be angry at anyone, including lawyers and judges, but we must draw the line when our legislative system and our judicial system are not performing as they committed to under oath. They ran for the office where they were elected to serve, or the court where they were appointed, to serve as our elected officials. 

We do not want to be angry but, if the New York Appeals court is not going to work together and build a better court system, a system the lower court can understand, we must do our work to impeach the New York Appeals Court. 

No sex crime should go unpunished.

If you, or someone you know, has been a victim and would like to learn more about transforming their challenges of today into a better tomorrow, please schedule time with me immediately. I coach and collaborate with individuals, parents, groups and enterprises as a Sr. Transformational Coach to develop new habits and sustainable improvements as we resolve issues by creating solutions at home, in the office and socially.  

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