I understand your points. It may be more difficult for noreika to impose her will on the clerks in a matrix management civil servant situation. These guys punch in at 9, punch out at 5, and maybe even take a 90 minute lunch hour. They don’t answer to a particular judge.
This being Delaware, they are perhaps already geared towards the white collar corporate criminal elements, and perhaps Hunter is just one of many “friends” that they “help” when the need arises.
The kids need college, the beach house and the summer Europe vacation needs to be paid for, etc.
Norieka is in a rough spot. If she leans too hard on the court clerk staff, she alienated them and also some or all of her peer judges in that courthouse. This is a side effect of evil— it begets more evil. Every time someone overreaches, the remaining honest people get squeezed a little bit more.
“It may be more difficult for noreika to impose her will on the clerks in a matrix management civil servant situation.”
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I get what you’re saying. And I’ve worked in matrix situations. Some of those managers demanded more respect and more of your time than others. You quickly learn which managers you have to toe the line with and those you have more slack with. Noreika may have been in the latter category. I don’t know, just a possible explanation to your question.