This concerns the very private affairs of a woman who is not presently able to speak for herself or give consent to her private affairs being shared with anybody who calls up the judge, and of the other family members involved in the dispute, who likewise should have an assurance of privacy when they seek court intervention in a matter like this. It's highly irregular for a judge in a non-appellate court to be sharing information about an out of court settlement (or for that matter, about an in-court decision re a family matter).
Appellate courts are somewhat different, in that the issues they take up are generally more about interpreting the legalities of procedures followed in a case, and only tangentially discussing facts of the case as needed. Since appellate courts are largely in the business of creating law (because under the common law, prior decisions essentially ARE the law, until pre-empted by legislation or overruled by a higher court), there is by definition a need to make their decisions public, along with enough facts to support the decision.
Perhaps in this case, the family did authorize the judge to make this information public, to help quiet down the barrage of phone calls and e-mails and who knows what else that all the people involved have been getting bombarded with. But it's still really odd that it's being done in an informal way, rather than as a formal press release, with language previously agreed upon by the interested parties. It's a pretty bizarre idea that whenever some total stranger gets wind of a painful family dispute that has reached the courts, that stranger can call up the judge and get a briefing on what agreement the family finally came to -- especially where it was, officially speaking, an out of court settlement.
Don't forget, this Judge for Mae in Alabama is NOT an Attorney!
IT IS A MATTER OF PUBLIC RECORD!
SHEESHK!
PLUS, THE FAMILY WANTS THIS INFORMATION OUT!
What you think all court decisions are supposed to be private?
So if a judge continues to rule the wrong way- we never know and keep alecting him?
YOU REALLY DON'T GET IT! THIS IS A REPUBLIC!!! NOT AN OLIGARCHY!