Sunday, March 18, 2018

REMEMBERING JUDGE COBURN

https://www.robbrobb.com/NewsPressDetail.aspx?Id=21 TRIBUTE TO THE LATE MISSOURI STATE JUDGE MICHAEL COBURN One of my favorite Jackson County, Missouri, state court judges was the late Hon. Michael Coburn, who fell through a ceiling during a "view" and died from his injuries. His death was emblematic of the type of judge that he was. A view is discretionary with the Court, rarely used, due to its risks and limited evidentiary value. But this building condemnation case was so hotly contested. One side said it was hazardous; the other side denied it! The judge's death disposed of the question summarily, dispositively. Just wanted to send a shout-out to the memory of this wonderful man, and judge who was also a wealthy, white, Republican. He had enabled me to employ an "Islamic Court" as the arbiter between two sects of disputants over rights to land that was being held in a charitable trust. Each side appointed an Islamic judge from different schools of Islamic jurisprudence to a panel, who jointly selected a third judge to hear evidence under Islamic law. At the end of our hearing their written findings of fact under Islamic law were submitted to Judge Michael Coburn, who applied Missouri law and rendered a legal judgment. In the end, both sides were happy! One never knows, does one?