Rightwing (and other) Judges Behaving Badly

[raison de arizona]

After federal judge says Black man "looks like a criminal to me," appeals court tosses man's conviction
AUGUST 4, 2023 / 3:32 AM / AP

Detroit — An appeals court on Thursday overturned the drug conviction of a Black man, saying his rights were violated by a Detroit federal judge who was upset over delays in the case and declared, "This guy looks like a criminal to me."

"Such remarks are wholly incompatible with the fair administration of justice," the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Murphy III, who is White, apologized nearly two years later when the case against Leron Liggins finally was ready for trial. He explained that he was mad at the time "and I regret it."

Nonetheless, the appeals court said Murphy should have removed himself, as Liggins' attorney had requested. The court threw out a heroin distribution conviction and 10-year prison sentence and ordered a new trial with a different judge.

Allowing the conviction to stand "would substantially undermine the public's confidence in the judicial process," 6th Circuit Judge Eric Clay said in a 3-0 opinion.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-step ... hrown-out/

[bob]

I don't know this judge's politics, but: AP: California judge who’s charged with murder texted court staff that he shot his wife, prosecutors say:

A Southern California judge accused of killing his wife during an argument while drunk texted his court clerk and bailiff afterward to say he had shot her, prosecutors said Friday as they charged him with murder.

A court filing from prosecutors says Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson texted minutes after last week’s killing: “I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m so sorry.”

[Sam the Centipede]

This is one aspect of the tragedy of having guns everywhere. A drunken domestic argument that should have ended with sleeping in separate rooms and an awkward breakfast the following day instead leaves two lives ruined, one terminated, one probably to continue in prison, and I doubt that their son or other family feel their lives are better as a result.

[pipistrelle]

This is one aspect of the tragedy of having guns everywhere. A drunken domestic argument that should have ended with sleeping in separate rooms and an awkward breakfast the following day instead leaves two lives ruined, one terminated, one probably to continue in prison, and I doubt that their son or other family feel their lives are better as a result.

Amen. And:

Ferguson is free on $1 million bail. But prosecutors said they’re seeking new bail conditions to protect public safety and ensure he doesn’t flee after authorities found 47 weapons, including the pistol used in the shooting, and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition at his Anaheim home. The weapons are legally owned but a rifle registered in his name is still missing, they said.

[somerset]

This is one aspect of the tragedy of having guns everywhere. A drunken domestic argument that should have ended with sleeping in separate rooms and an awkward breakfast the following day instead leaves two lives ruined, one terminated, one probably to continue in prison, and I doubt that their son or other family feel their lives are better as a result.

The court document says the wife said something to the effect of “why don’t you point a real gun at me?” and he pulled a pistol from his ankle holster and shot her in the chest.

Yeah, but don't expect the NRA to agree. They'd have been happier if the wife also pulled a gun from her purse to protect herself from the bad guy wearing an ankle holster.

[RTH10260]

Georgia Supreme Court removes appeals court judge from the bench after ethics investigation

By Tom Jones, WSB-TV
August 17, 2023 at 6:44 am EDT

After a nearly three-and-a-half-year battle, a Georgia judge has been removed from the bench.

The Georgia Supreme Court decided Appeals Court Judge Christian Coomer’s behavior undermined public confidence, so he had to go. Coomer’s attorney sent Channel 2′s Tom Jones a statement from Coomer where he acknowledges errors in judgment.

The former Director of the Judicial Qualifications Commission said this decision shows that all judges will be held accountable.

“When you take that job and you put on that robe you’re held to a higher standard,” Chuck Boring said.

Boring said the Supreme Court’s decision is unprecedented.

“I think it’s the first time it’s happened in this state for a judge at that level to be removed involuntarily by the Supreme Court,” he said.

The Supreme Court decided Coomer should be removed after it said his behavior regarding the use of campaign funds and his dealings with a legal client undermined public confidence.


Georgia Supreme Court removes judge from the bench
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Georgia Supreme Court removes appeals court judge from the bench after ethics investigation

By Tom Jones, WSB-TV
August 17, 2023 at 6:44 am EDT
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Georgia Supreme Court removes judge from the bench

After a nearly three-and-a-half-year battle, a Georgia judge has been removed from the bench.

The Georgia Supreme Court decided Appeals Court Judge Christian Coomer’s behavior undermined public confidence, so he had to go. Coomer’s attorney sent Channel 2′s Tom Jones a statement from Coomer where he acknowledges errors in judgment.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]


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The former Director of the Judicial Qualifications Commission said this decision shows that all judges will be held accountable.

“When you take that job and you put on that robe you’re held to a higher standard,” Chuck Boring said.

Boring said the Supreme Court’s decision is unprecedented.

“I think it’s the first time it’s happened in this state for a judge at that level to be removed involuntarily by the Supreme Court,” he said.

The Supreme Court decided Coomer should be removed after it said his behavior regarding the use of campaign funds and his dealings with a legal client undermined public confidence.

Coomer responded in this statement: “While I am certainly disappointed with this outcome, I acknowledge that my own errors in judgment resulted in the Supreme Court’s decision. I will use this setback as an opportunity to reexamine my flaws and do better. I remain committed to my core values of dedication to God and my family, and engagement in service to others.”

Boring questioned Coomer when a three-judge panel recommended he be removed.

He says Coomer took advantage of an elderly client with questionable loans and a will where Coomer was the beneficiary.

Boring said Coomer also used campaign funds to finance family trips to places like Hawaii.

“As a public official, taking campaign funds from people who are contributing to you for your campaign thinking it’s for campaign purposes and then you turn around and use it for family vacations. I find that particularly egregious.” Boring said.

So did the Supreme Court.

Boring says what Coomer did put a temporary stain on the judiciary system.



https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlant ... QIITPHB5U/

[RTH10260]

Supreme Court Justice seeks removal of Lincoln Co. judge

KFOR Oklahoma's News 4
15 Oct 2023

Supreme Court Justice seeks removal of Lincoln Co. judge

[RTH10260]

as above

Oklahoma judge sent over 500 texts during murder trial, including messages mocking prosecutor, calling witness liar

OCTOBER 12, 2023 / 8:31 AM /
CBS/AP

A new Oklahoma judge could lose her job for sending more than 500 texts to her bailiff during a murder trial, including messages mocking the prosecutor, praising the defense attorney and calling a key witness a liar.

The chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court recommended the removal of Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom in a court filing Tuesday following an investigation by the state's Council on Judicial Complaints.

Soderstrom has been under scrutiny since July after she was caught on camera scrolling through social media and texting during the trial of a man accused in the fatal beating of a 2-year-old.

Soderstrom, who was sworn in on Jan. 9 after being elected in November, was suspended with pay pending the outcome of a hearing by the Court on the Judiciary, which will determine whether to remove her from the bench.

"The pattern of conduct demonstrates Respondent's (Soderstrom's) gross neglect of duty, gross partiality and oppression," Chief Justice John Kane IV wrote. "The conduct further demonstrates Respondent's (Soderstrom's) lack of temperament to serve as a judge."



https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oklahoma-j ... r-witness/

[Sam the Centipede]

Looked at more cynically, it also demonstrates a distinct lack of awareness that indicates she is unfit for the job. If a judge wishes to to say inappropriate things about attorneys, defendants, whoever, it's incredibly stupid to commit those thoughts to social media, text messages, or anything that produces a digital record.

Even with people you trust, it's unwise. Who knows whether they might turn on you or if someone else (their friends or family) might get hold of them and not be as enamored with your charms.

[johnpcapitalist]

Oklahoma judge sent over 500 texts during murder trial, including messages mocking prosecutor, calling witness liar

A new Oklahoma judge could lose her job for sending more than 500 texts to her bailiff during a murder trial, including messages mocking the prosecutor, praising the defense attorney and calling a key witness a liar.

Sadly, this judge can only hope to reach Number 2 in the pantheon of the Oklahoma judiciary Hall of Shame.

It's unlikely that anyone could ever displace former judge Donald Thompson's notoriety. In 2003, Thompson was charged with four counts of indecent exposure after being caught using a vacuum penis pump on the bench while trials were in progress. He was removed from the bench, convicted, sentenced to four years and disbarred then required to register as a sex offender on his release. He continued to offend after getting out of prison.

Sordid details at Medium.com.

[raison de arizona]

This is a long one, but I going to break it down for you so you can decide if you want to read the sordid story. Let me explain. No, it is too much. Let me sum up. The son of the governor in OH is on the court that decides the maps...for dear old dad. And apparently the maps are bad bad bad. But it gets worse. Lemme just slip this quote in:

But for now, what matters is that we have a case before the Ohio Supreme Court, which includes a Justice (potentially a swing vote on a 4-3 court), who was counsel on the original appeal of that case…

And…

..now-Justice Deters is NOT recusing himself from HIS OWN case.

That’s right…he’s sitting tomorrow and hearing a case HE was part of only two years ago—making the very argument then (and losing) that he will review tomorrow.

Quite the tale(s) and worth a quick read.

Here is the 25 tweet thread: https://x.com/DavidPepper/status/175493 ... 52639?s=20
Here is the Unroll of it: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1754 ... 52639.html

[RTH10260]

Illinois judge who reversed rape conviction removed from bench after panel finds he circumvented law

Associated Press
Sat, February 24, 2024 at 7:31 PM GMT+1·3 min read

CHICAGO (AP) — An Illinois judge who sparked outrage by reversing a man’s rape conviction involving a 16-year-old girl has been removed from the bench after a judicial oversight body found he circumvented the law and engaged in misconduct.

The Illinois Courts Commission removed Adams County Judge Robert Adrian from the bench Friday after it held a three-day hearing in Chicago in November on a compliant filed against Adrian.

Its decision says Adrian “engaged in multiple instances of misconduct" and “abused his position of power to indulge his own sense of justice while circumventing the law.”

The commission could have issued a reprimand, censure or suspension without pay, but its decision said it had “ample grounds” for immediately removing Adrian from the bench in western Illinois' Adams County.

In October 2021, Adrian had found then 18-year-old Drew Clinton of Taylor, Michigan, guilty of sexual assaulting a 16-year-old girl during a May 2021 graduation party.

The state Judicial Inquiry Board filed a complaint against Adrian after the judge threw out Clinton's conviction in January 2022, with the judge saying that the 148 days Clinton had spent in jail was punishment enough.

The complaint said Adrian had acknowledged he was supposed to impose the mandatory four-year sentence against Clinton, but that he would not send him to prison. “That is not just,” Adrian said at the sentencing hearing, according to court transcripts. “I will not do that.”

Clinton was accused of sexually assaulting Cameron Vaughan. The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly.

Vaughan told The Associated Press in November, when she was 18, that Adrian’s reversal of Clinton's verdict left her “completely shocked” but determined to oust the judge. She attended the November commission proceedings with family, friends and supporters.

After Adrian threw out Clinton's conviction, Vaughan said that the judge told the court “this is what happens whenever parents allow teenagers to drink alcohol, to swim in pools with their undergarments on,” she recounted in an account supported by a court transcript of the January 2022 hearing.



https://www.yahoo.com/news/illinois-jud ... 26464.html

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Methinks the judge may have done something similar in his youth, but blamed it on his parents.

[pipistrelle]

Methinks the judge may have done something similar in his youth, but blamed it on his parents.

After Adrian threw out Clinton's conviction, Vaughan said that the judge told the court “this is what happens whenever parents allow teenagers to drink alcohol, to swim in pools with their undergarments on,” she recounted in an account supported by a court transcript of the January 2022 hearing.

Straight out of, what, the 1910s?

[RTH10260]

Guilford County judge suspended after ordering magistrate to change bond for son, taking over courtroom without permission, court says

by: Justyn Melrose, Sarah Winkelmann
Posted: Mar 25, 2024 / 01:52 PM EDT Updated: Mar 26, 2024 / 05:58 AM EDT

GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — A Guilford County district court judge has been suspended without pay after multiple alleged abuses of power, including using her authority to try to get her son’s bond lowered in Wake County.

On Friday, the Supreme Court of North Carolina ordered that District 18 Judge Angela Foster be suspended without pay for 120 days.

The Judicial Standards Commission asked the court to consider suspending Foster in a filing on Dec. 21, 2023. According to court documents, Foster was accused of violating several canons of the N.C. Code of Judicial Conduct, “violations which amounted to conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute.”

The commission counsel filed a statement of charges against Foster on July 7, 2022, alleging that she tried to pressure a Wake County magistrate into changing the bond of her son, Alexander Pinnix, without disclosing that she related to Pinnix. Pinnix was being held on Wake County charges of resisting a public officer and misdemeanor breaking or entering.

Another statement of charges was filed against Foster on Feb. 23, 2023, for allegedly demanding that an assistant district attorney and presiding magistrate close administrative court so that she could use the room, which caused more than 100 cases to be continued to a later date.

The commission added that Foster was previously censured for abusing her power in 2019. According to the court, Foster was censured for “holding a hearing without notice, placing a mother in jail without cause and then lecturing the mother’s fifteen-year-old children in an effort to convince them to exercise visitation with their father.”



https://myfox8.com/news/north-carolina/ ... ourt-says/

[sugar magnolia]

If I had an employee acting like that, the result would not be suspension. What the hell does it take to get a Judge bounced? Shooting someone on 5th Ave? Or is it just reserved for dicking around with someone else's money?

[chancery]

The timeline for serious attorney disciplinary charges frequently begins with a suspension that ripens into disbarment at the conclusion of the hearing and any appeals. I would hope that something similar is going on here, and that the initial six-month suspension will be followed by a hearing and removal.

However, there's nothing in the article that suggests that this will be the case.

[chancery]

Well, I was wrong. The court went through an analysis to decide whether or not to remove the judge, and concluded that the suspension was the appropriate discipline. And that appears to be the end of it.

https://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=1&pdf=43522

Knowingly intervening in a criminal case involving her son should be inconsistent with remaining a judge. Hard to understand the court's reasoning.

[chancery]

And alas, Judge Angela Foster is a democrat, so it's unlikely that she belongs in a thread about rightwing judges.

[RTH10260]

And alas, Judge Angela Foster is a democrat, so it's unlikely that she belongs in a thread about rightwing judges.

We only have one thread for misbehaving judges, and in my post above I clipped the right wing ...

ps. you are the OP of this thread, maybe you can erase the rightwing in the title ?

[chancery]

Done.

[raison de arizona]

Of course they won't, they're a crooked to the core.

UPDATE: The Northern District of Texas — the area where Republicans have been accused of filing lawsuits to judge shop, like the mifepristone case before the Supreme Court — said it will not follow a new advisory rule about random case assignment.

: https://houstonchronicle.com/politics/t ... 381409.php

NEW: The federal judiciary has adopted a policy to randomly assign cases challenging state or federal policies in an attempt to curtail "judge shopping," when plaintiffs strategically choose where to file a lawsuit so a certain judge hears the case.
https://uscourts.gov/news/2024/03/12/co ... assignment

[bob]

A reminder:

The 26-member Judicial Conference is the policy-making body for the federal court system. By statute, the Chief Justice of the United States serves as its presiding officer and its members are the chief judges of the 13 courts of appeals, a district judge from each of the 12 geographic circuits, and the chief judge of the Court of International Trade.

That's 15 different chief judges.

But I'm guessing district court judges (who operate in the 5th) feel like won't be smacked down for ignoring this directive.

[chancery]

https://twitter.com/mjs_DC/status/1775535098898665520

Mark Joseph Stern
@mjs_DC
The 5th Circuit is so mad that the NLRB tried to transfer a SpaceX case to California that it's undertaking a personal investigation into the two NLRB lawyers who sought the transfer

https://t.co/BolktsGPCi

[raison de arizona]

I hate the 5th circuit almost as much as I hate Illinois Nazis.