Judge Elizabeth Monroe

Rating: Pretty good.

Elizabeth Monroe heard a case that I filed in Shoreline against The Dohring Company, Inc., for spam that I received with the subject line, "Congratulations Bennett!" Judge Monroe dismissed the case on the grounds that "Congratulations" was not a misleading subject line.

I filed a motion for reconsideration citing what I believed to be several legal precedents to the contrary:

• a consumer advisory from the office of the Massachusetts Attorney General which lists "Congratulations!!" as an example of a misleading "come-on" in sweepstakes advertisements
• a news release from August 2000 from the New Jersey Attorney General's office in which they entered into a settlement with Time, Inc. under which Time was to 'refrain from using the terms "congratulations" or other similar terms' in sweepstakes promotions
• an excerpt from a consumer advisory from the Rhode Island Attorney General which lists "Congratulations -- It’s Your Lucky Day!" as an example of a misleading sweepstakes advertisement
• a consumer warning about sweepstakes from the New York Attorney General which lists "Congratulations!" by itself as an example of a misleading sweepstakes advertisement
• a copy of North Carolina Code Chapter 75, Section 32, which specifically prohibits companies from using the word "congratulations" in promotion of a sweepstakes
• an excerpt from a judgment agreement in Ohio case CHV-01-635, State of Ohio v. Publishers' Clearinghouse, in which Publishers' Clearinghouse was permanently enjoined from using the word "congratulations" in solicitations to consumers to enter its sweepstakes

So, why the "pretty good" write-up? Judges are not listed here based on their rulings but only whether they conduct themselves according to the rules. Judge Monroe was one of the six judges that were part of my "booby-trapped filings" experiment, where I filed motions with the pages stuck together so that I could tell afterwards whether the judges had actually read the motions or not. In Judge Monroe's case, after she denied my motion for reconsideration, I went to the courthouse to check the file and the pages were indeed separated, so at least she read it.

Reading over what I've written, it occurs to me that my idea of what qualifies as a "good judge" reminds me of this article, but I'm letting the "pretty good" rating stand. But this page and this page are better examples of what I think judges should actually aspire to.