Tag: judges

‘Unprecedented in American judicial history’: Oldest federal judge vows to ‘continue to fight’ to be reinstated on bench after fellow judges have her suspended for ‘overwhelming evidence’ of decreased mental capacity

A 96-year-old federal appellate court judge whose co-workers say has been habitually confused and belligerent scored a partial win in court Monday against the panel of fellow judges she sued after being suspended. That suspension was upheld last Wednesday, and the judge is still not permitted to retake the bench.

Ronald Reagan appointee U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman is the oldest judge on the federal judiciary. Newman served for nearly four decades on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit until she was suspended in September by the Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability for refusing to cooperate with an investigation into her mental capacity.

Newman’s mental health and fitness to serve was called into question after colleagues complained that her docket dragged woefully behind an appropriate timeline, and raised concerns about the judge’s inappropriate behavior. Ultimately, an investigation was conducted at the behest of the committee and investigators found “overwhelming evidence” of Newman’s memory loss, lack of comprehension, and confusion, and said the judge was often “frustrated, agitated, belligerent, and hostile towards court staff.” They provided numerous examples of Newman’s problematic behavior, ranging from threatening to have her own staff arrested to incoherent and paranoid rambling.

Last September, the committee issued a lengthy written decision in which is said that although Newman “served with distinction” and was “the most beloved colleague on our court,” that it had “increasing doubts” as to whether the nonagenarian could properly fulfill her duties on the bench.

The committee directed Newman to undergo a 30-45-minute interview with a neurologist and a full neuropsychological examination with hours of cognitive testing, but the judge refused. Newman also refused to provide the committee with medical records from the prior two years dealing with cognitive deficiencies and fatigue. Instead, Newman offered her own medical experts, who she said would examine her for a much shorter period of time. The committee responded with a suspension.

After Newman was informed that she would no longer be assigned new cases over which to preside, lawyers filed a federal lawsuit on her behalf in which Newman sued Chief Circuit Judge Kimberly A. Moore and all the other Federal Circuit judges on the committee over their handling of the complaints about Newman’s mental capacity. In the lawsuit, Newman challenged not only the actions taken against her, but also the legal provisions that allowed the judicial committee to issue the suspension order.

Newman was represented in the lawsuit by New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), a public-interest law firm that focuses on the “administrative state.” The same firm also represented Newman in a direct challenge of the committee’s ruling on her suspension, which is proceeding separately.

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‘I have also faltered’: Judge resigns after sending wild text messages about genitals, boring testimony and ‘pretty’ cops during murder trial

An Oklahoma judge who during a murder trial texted her bailiff over 500 times including making crass remarks about the district attorney’s genitals has resigned.

Rather than face trial that was scheduled to start Monday, court records show Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom agreed to step down for the bench immediately and not seek further judgeships in the state.

“I promised to uphold the Constitution in a fair, even-handed and efficient manner,” Soderstrom wrote in part in her resignation letter, CBS News reported. “I believe that I have done so. However, being human, I have also faltered.”

During a press conference, Soderstrom acknowledged sending text messages during the trial was wrong.

“I texted during a trial. It doesn’t matter if it was a traffic case, divorce case or first-degree murder case. I texted during a trial, and that was inappropriate,” Soderstrom said, according to local ABC affiliate KOCO.

An investigation concluded that Soderstrom was not paying attention during the jury trial and apparently came to the conclusion that the defendant was innocent of murder. She was overseeing the June 2023 murder trial of Khristian Marzall, who was charged with first-degree murder in the May 2018 death of 2-year-old Braxton Danker. The child’s mother, Judith Danker, pleaded guilty to enabling child abuse in 2019, receiving a 25-year prison sentence. She was the state’s key witness in the trial.

But Soderstrom contended at Friday’s press conference that she did not give up her impartiality during the trial.

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Creepy Colorado judge John Scipione is censured for telling clerk he was in ‘consensually non-monogamous’ relationship with shrink wife and that he liked to visit ‘ranch’ that ‘catered to his lifestyle’

A former Colorado judge has been publicly censured over inappropriate behavior that included boasting about his ‘non-monogamous’ lifestyle with his sex therapist wife and failing to disclose an extramarital affair.

John Scipione, a former 18th Judicial District Court judge, was suspended without pay in August 2022 .

The following January, the Colorado Supreme Court accepted his resignation after Scipione, 54, admitted to a year-long extramarital affair with a court clerk when he was a magistrate.

He was accused of using his position as a judicial officer ‘to seek intimate relationships with Judicial Department employees or court personnel’ on at least three occasions.

The inappropriate behavior emerged as part of a sexual harassment inquiry into Scipione.

He was publicly censured for the first time on November 19 this year.

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Biden Judicial Nominee Appears Stumped by Basic Legal Terms at Nomination Hearing

A nominee for a district judgeship in Oklahoma struggled during her nomination hearing on Wednesday to define basic terms for orders issued regularly by judges.

Sara E. Hill, who is nominated by President Biden to be the district judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma, was grilled by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., on the Senate Judiciary Committee about basic legal and Constitutional terms and definitions — a practice that’s become usual for him in recent months after several nominees have struggled to pass his tests.

When Kennedy asked Hill the difference between a “stay” order and an “injunction” order — two orders frequently issued by federal courts — Hill stumbled through her answers.

“A stay order would prohibit, um, sorry. An injunction would restrain the parties from taking action. A stay order … I’m not sure I can, actually can, can give you that,” she said.

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Former police oversight commissioner’s death investigated as homicide after she’s found dead in her Michigan home

Foul play is suspected after a former police oversight commissioner was found dead in her Ann Arbor, Michigan, home by officers conducting a welfare check, the department said Thursday.

The death of Jude Walton, 51, is being investigated as a homicide. A police spokesman said there was evidence of forced entry to the home’s backdoor and “obvious signs of trauma on her body.”

No arrests have been made. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday to determine the cause of death, spokesman Chris Page said.

Police were called to the home on Chapin Street around 1:30 p.m. on Thursday after her employer said she had not shown up for work. She was last seen by a neighbor around 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Page said.

“Once officers arrived and entered the home, they discovered the body of a 51-year-old Ann Arbor woman,” a police news release states.

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Michigan Judge In Hot Water After Allegedly Making False Assault Claim

A Michigan judge is in hot water after her alleged misconduct in a bike shop.

The Judicial Tenure Commission filed a public complaint against Wayne County Judge Demetria Brue after an incident that began when she rented bikes at Mackinac Island Bike Shop in August 2019, The Detroit Free Press reported.

When Brue and her colleague returned the bicycles, she told employees there was an issue with the bike and they should not have to pay full price, the complaint states. Brue also spoke to the owner of the shop, but they were unable to come to an agreement. Brue told the owner, Ira Green, multiple times that she was a judge, the complaint states.

Brue did not respond to a request for comment.

At some point during the 20-minute discussion, Brue allegedly reached over the cash register, took the receipt out of Green’s hands, and ripped it.

After ripping the receipt, she then allegedly falsely claimed that the store owner assaulted her and appeared to play every card she had.

“You assaulted me,” she said. “Did you just assault me? You took my receipt and tore it up. I want the police. Now we need the police. I am going to call them. You snatched my receipt and threw it away and grabbed my hand and you hurt me. You touched my hand with force and violence. I am a female. I am a judge. I am here for a conference and you … I am an African American female. That was racist, and it was disrespectful and it was violent.”

When police arrived she claimed to them that she was assaulted until the officers reviewed the security footage.

She admitted that she was not assaulted and the officers assisted in reaching an agreement where the judge did not have to pay for the bike rental.

She has been accused of breaking 10 rules, including making a false statement to a police officer.

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Ohio Supreme Court Suspends Democrat Judge Over ‘Unprecedented’ Behavior

The Ohio Supreme Court has indefinitely suspended a local judge, citing “unprecedented misconduct” that includes falsifying court documents, issuing illegitimate arrest warrants, and donning inappropriate attire in court.

Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Pinkey Carr, a Democrat, was found to exhibit such misconduct that comprise more than 100 incidents over a period of about two years.

The misconduct “encompassed repeated acts of dishonesty; the blatant and systematic disregard of due process, the law, court orders, and local rules; the disrespectful treatment of court staff and litigants; and the abuse of capias warrants and the court’s contempt power,” stated the court’s per curium opinion (pdf). “That misconduct warrants an indefinite suspension from the practice of law.”

Justices agreed with the court’s three-panel Board of Professional Conduct’s assessment that Carr “ruled her courtroom in a reckless and cavalier manner, unrestrained by the law or the court’s rules, without any measure of probity or even common courtesy,” and that she “conducted business in a manner befitting a game show host rather than a judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court.”

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