The first "winner case" is the 2011 case of a Michigan judge, Judge Robert Hentchel, a Van Buren County judge who (I believe) deliberately humiliated a young mother, Natalie Hegedus, for breastfeeding her baby son in the courtroom.
According to information that is available on the Internet, this male chauvinistic pig is still "serving" the public, and will be "serving" until 2016.
You can see the picture of the male chauvinistic pig here.
Yet another male chauvinistic pig, judge Hentchel's boss, Circuit judge Paul E. Hamre, who "voluntarily" retired in 2013, and whose picture is available here, refused to impose ANY discipline upon Judge Hentchel because, as Judge Hamre stated, "[Judge Hentchel has] done nothing that would remotely appear to be something that I would reprimand him for".
So, Judge Hamre would not consider behavior of his subordinate judge warranting even a reprimand where:
1) a judge first issued a bench warrant for a mother to appear on "contempt of court charges" for, reportedly, "missing an initial hearing on a case from July when she was ticketed for boating too fast in a no-wake zone and failing to produce her boaters safety certificate".
With a bench warrant like this the woman had no choice but to appear.
She had a son whom she breastfed.
She had no choice but to appear with him in court, because the child developed an ear infection and the mother had to pull him from daycare.
2) Judge Hentchel, seeing a young mother with her baby in court, did the following:
- he did not call her case at once;
- made her wait until her baby became hungry and started crying;
- waited until the mother started to breastfeed the baby; and
- THEN called the mother's case, while she was breastfeeding, and
- while the mother asked for some time to arrange her clothing;
- asked the mother if she considered it appropriate to breastfeed in court, and, when the mother said she thought it is because her son was hungry and because it was not against the law, said the following to the mother:
- "my court, my rules, I consider it inappropriate", and
- reportedly told the mother that she needs to understand that in "his" courtroom, the laws do not apply, it's the "judge's law" that applies.
None of that appeared inappropriate to not one, but to TWO male judges who are put on the bench by the people to uphold the rule of law.
It is interesting to mention that people are so afraid of the power of the judge to punish them in contempt of court, even for lawful behavior, that a "nurse-in" protest by breastfeeding mothers was held OUTSIDE of the courthouse, not IN the male chauvinistic pig Hentchel's courtroom, which is not Hentchel's courtroom, but the courtroom of the People of the State of Michigan who conferred upon Hentchel the DUTY to apply the laws and adjudicate in accordance with the law in that building - and not to express to the world what he considers personally appropriate or inappropriate - if it is lawful.
The mother actually indicated in an online discussion that she wanted to feed her sick son at that point openly, but was afraid to be thrown in jail and for her son to be taken away by social services - even though the mother knew the law was on her side.
The mother's fear was repeated by other breastfeeding mothers when they staged only an "outside" nurse-in as a protest for a public humiliation of a woman inside the courtroom, and that fear is exactly what is wrong with our judicial system - the rule of men presented as the rule of law and instead of the rule of law, which people are afraid of to the point of obeying it while knowing that the judge's actions are unlawful.
I am sure that the pig would not have dared to order breastfeeding mothers, members of the public who came to observe open court proceedings, to be incarcerated or removed for breastfeeding.
I encourage breastfeeding mothers to do what is natural to them anywhere - including in courtrooms. Breastfeed your children. Do not try to be discreet. Just feed them. And let everybody else go read the law.
As to the male chauvinistic pigs, they two "H" judges, Hentchel and Hamre, put themselves down in history as dishonorable jerks. May at least that be their discipline.
On the other hand, in the state of New York, for example, there is no statute of limitations on judicial discipline, as well as on attorney discipline.
I bet the same rule exists in Michigan.
It is not late yet to discipline pig Hentchel.
My question is - why attorneys of the state of Michigan do not insist that Hentchel be taken off the bench and disbarred? The honorable profession?
Here is what the woman said on the day of the appearance:
And here is what people's comments say:
VOX POPULI, VOX DEI.
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