Inside the Robe: A Judge's Candid Tale of Criminal Justice in America by Katherine Mader

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As a huge fan of memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies, I could not go by this book when it landed in my email among other promoted titles. Not so long ago, I finally changed my reading preferences on BookBub and started receiving promo deals for the books I’m really interested in reading.

I am not as ardent a fan of crime fiction or shows, though. Since the time the only crime books we knew were written by Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle (yes, I’m exaggerating, but the gist remains), I never found myself immersed in untangling a murder mystery on the pages. As a teenager obsessed with books the way I was then, I, of course, read a few mysteries by renowned crime authors. And still, it ended there, and until this day, I haven’t developed a habit of binge-reading crime novels.

Having made this confession, I must say that Agatha Christie’s autobiography is one of the best books of this kind I have read so far. I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it to both fans of memoirs like myself and the author’s fans.

Returning to the book I am reviewing. “Inside the Robe: A Judge's Candid Tale of Criminal Justice in America” by Katherine Mader is an absolutely fascinating and eye-opening insight into the judge’s work. It is written in the form of a diary, which makes it easy to follow. The author meticulously documented a year of her life as a judge of one of the Los Angeles County courthouses.

Every job and every life role is more than the scope of duties a person performs. A doctor not only sets diagnoses and prescribes relevant medicine. A surgeon not only cuts flesh and sews it back. A cop does not solely capture the criminals and issue fine tickets. A parent’s tasks go beyond feeding, clothing, and educating their children. All of these people – all of us – along with performing what our various roles imply, must adhere to the rules of each group we belong to. Doctors and surgeons have to play by the rules of the hospital administration. Policemen must follow the internal rules and instructions as to how to use weapons on the job, which words not to use when performing an arrest, etc. Mothers and fathers are expected to participate in the groups formed within schools to ensure the interaction of their children with their class and teachers. It is the same for judges.

A judge not only presides in court and makes decisions about the punishment measures. A judge walks on the thin ice between colleagues, politicians, judges in more influential positions, trying not to stir wider public opinion, not to spoil the relationships with attorneys, and, ultimately, to ‘follow the law.’ Which, as we can easily see reading Judge Mader’s story, is much harder than can be expected.

Katherine Mader mentions that most people, unconnected with the world of justice, see judges as some superior beings. She says that the title ‘Judge’ clings to you even outside the courthouse, sometimes even among your friends. It is an interesting moment, demonstrating, in my opinion, most vividly how unique a judge’s profession is.

“Inside the Robe” by Katherine Mader is a non-fiction book. For lovers of crime books, it might be a drawback. This book depicts real life, and in real life, not every crime gets solved and not every bad guy gets what they deserve. Some trials the author writes about had started before she began writing this diary. Some weren’t finished within the limits of the year covered in the book. The aim of murder mysteries is to give the reader the satisfaction of seeing a murderer exposed and put in the hands of the justice system. The aim of Judge Mader’s memoir was to show what a year in a judge’s chair is. Some might find it unsatisfactory, but if we stop and think about it – can we imagine how incomparably more upsetting it must have been for the author?

The thing that struck me the most about this book is the realisation of how many crimes the justice system is forced to deal with are committed by people with mental health issues. Something about it nagged at me while I read and analysed the cases mentioned. It still scratches at my consciousness, but I am not ready to express my reflections in words. It is something about us treating the whole mental health problem in the wrong way. It seems that society in general understands that these people require a different attitude, but, at the same time, we expect them to adapt to the rules of conduct designed for everyone.

I am grateful to the author for the excellent read, which “Inside the Robe: A Judge's Candid Tale of Criminal Justice in America” proved to be, and for giving me the food for thought about the US system of justice.



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Inside the Robe: A Judge's Candid Tale of Criminal Justice in America