Weird Judges
People tend to view judges as a fairly generic bunch. Judges tend to contribute to this view by adopting “judicial airs” when the take to the bench. Up close, you see that judges are still the people they used to be before they became judges. I remember when I was in law school, the judges I worked around seemed larger than life and imposing. Basic fear made it easy to always treat a judge with appropriate respect. Now that I have been at this for a while, seen people my age and younger take the job, respect is more a matter of habit (and sometimes, effort).
But a look at the headlines most weeks will remind us all that judges, under the robes, are still all too human:
“An Alabama judge has rejected an attorney’s objections to his judicial robe, which has the Ten Commandments embroidered in gold on the front.” Link. This is not good. I support people taking different views on the subject, but when the courts say you cannot display the 10 Commandments in an official setting, a judge should follow the law on the job. judges are often required to do things that they would personally object to. I do not think the bench is an appropriate place for civil disobedience.
Then there is the Louisiana judge who was suspended for a year for wearing “blackface” makeup, handcuffs and a jail jumpsuit to a holloween party. Link. This was offensive and distasteful. I would have been offended by it if I was at the party. But, he was at a private party, off the bench, on his own time. Maybe those who elected (or appointed, I am not sure which) him should reconsider whether he is an appropriate candidate for this office, but I do not like it when an employer, any employer, seeks to impose discipline on an employee for legal conduct outside the workplace. What he did was not illegal, just offensive. The judge can reduce the penalty to 6 months if he undergoes some type of racial sensitivity training. What this decision says is: you do something in private that we do not agree with, and it can cost you your job. Many people will support this discipline, because they do not like the behavior. I do not like the behavior either, but I question employing this type of standard. What if a judge was discovered to be gay, would this feature of his private life subject him to suspension and “retraining” if the authorities decided they did not think judges should be gay?
