(L-R) – Adam Zimmerman, Professor of Law & Gerald Rosen Fellow, LMU Loyola Law School; Bridget Mary McCormack, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Michigan; David Slayton, Vice President of Court Consulting Services, National Center for State Courts; and Jeremy Fogel, Executive Director, Berkeley Judicial Institute. Courtesy photo
David Slayton, the former top administrative official for Texas courts, said during the early stages of the court emergency spurred by the pandemic, he fielded daily phone calls from judges saying “Please tell us what to do.”
“I will tell you in Texas, I had never heard those words put together from a judge. But they didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know how to respond and they needed guidance,” Slayton said. “The other thing I heard them say was, ‘Please do not give us discretion’ — again, words I had never heard before, either.”
