It used to be people slipping and tripping appeared before judges. Now judges themselves are slipping and tripping.
Here comes the judge. Whoosh! There goes the judge.
All rise, while the judge plotzes.
Judgments are supposed to come down, not judges.
What is it with judges slipping, tripping, and falling? Is this a new trend? A nationwide phenomenon, or a craze confined to Madison County? Are we contributing to this craze by publicizing it?
Is the expression “sober as a judge” getting outdated? You be the judge.
Four and a half years ago, on Dec. 17, 2013, while donning socks astride a saddle stool, former Madison County judge Nicholas Byron fell and injured his tailbone.
Two years later, on Oct. 8, 2015, Byron filed suit in Madison County Circuit Court against the Glen Carbon Walmart from which he purchased the stool. With Byron being a judge and all, could it possibly have been his fault?
But now there’s been another incident, which raises several questions: Are ex-judges like Byron prone to mishaps, or did his suit inspire a copycat? Are retired jurists still wearing their old robes and tripping on the frayed hems?
Whatever the case may be, retired Madison County judge Ralph Mendelsohn took a fall two years ago and is now trying to cash in on it just like Byron.
On May 17, 2016, Mendelsohn allegedly fell on some “uneven” steps at Morrison's Irish Pub in Alton. Last month, almost two years to the day from the date of the incident, Mendelsohn filed suit in the Madison County Circuit Court against the pub and its owners, alleging they failed to exercise ordinary care to avoid harm to their patrons.
With Mendelsohn being a judge and all, could it possibly have been his fault?
Somewhere another ex-judge might be reading this and thinking, Hmm.