“Physician, heal thyself!” is most probably quoted from time to time, but have you ever heard of a judge who actually fined himself due to contempt of court? I am quite sure that some bizarre things have happened in the courtroom before, but Judge Raymond Voet in Michigan certainly did raise some eyebrows recently, as he issued a fine to himself for contempt of court. Basically, Judge Voet’s courtroom policy is this – any owner of an electronic device that goes off in the middle of court and creates a disturbance, will be cited for contempt of court, and this is what happened to him as he forgot to turn off this handset right smack in the middle of a prosecutor’s closing argument.
Apparently, the smartphone of his started to ask for voice commands without Judge Voet fiddling with it, which meant that it happened by accident, and Judge Voet continued, “I’m guessing I bumped it. It started talking really loud, saying ‘I can’t understand you. Say something like Mom.'” This resulted in him fining himself $25 for contempt of court during a break. Glad to see he is as human as us, and does not throw his weight around. It is such humility that brings a smile to yet the start of another work week.
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