The Knoxville News Sentinel has an article about Judge Young [1] in today's paper.

It basically says that he asks for patience until he can tell his side of the story. According to the article, the Judicial Code of Conduct prevents him from talking about it until thirty days after the hearing.

There are also remarks by a representative from the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

Commentary after the jump...

Based on the reports so far, the letter to the editor in the Daily Times from the husband's lawyer, and some of the discussion here, it's probably safe to conclude that there are many sides to the story and that we still don't know all the facts yet.

The letter to the editor was interesting, because it stated that neither Judge Young nor the husband's lawyer had a thorough understanding of the law regarding the issues in this case.

Because there was no interpreter, and no transcribed record of the hearing, it's hard to say what really happened. It's possible that Ms. Calixto was understandably scared, confused, and not understanding what was being said or the context.

On the other hand, there's wide-ranging consensus that everyone has equal protection under the law regardless of their immigration status. Whether Ms. Calixto made a convincing argument for an order of protection is another question entirely. But language barriers and lack of a translator may have affected her ability to do so (and perhaps her lack of an attorney as stated by her husband's lawyer in the letter to the editor).

It sounds as though there should be translators available to all parties for situations like this. And as a note to myself for future reference, I'm thinking it's a good idea to have a court reporter at any kind of hearing, even if I have to pay for it myself.