Michigan has suspended Judge Wade McCree, son of the first black judge appointed to the federal appellate court in the 6th Circuit and former U.S. Solicitor general, for repeatedly having sex in chambers with a complaining witness in an ongoing criminal case over which Judge McCree was presiding.
Judge McCree was also offering his paramour to chose punishment for the defendant who was, "coincidentally", her husband in arrears for child support.
Yet, the son of a judge was not permanently removed, was not permanently barred from becoming a judge, he was merely suspended.
Nor was Wade McCree disciplined as an attorney, and continues to be, after all this scandal, "an attorney in good standing".
During the disciplinary proceedings, Wade McCree claimed he suffered from "hypomania", or uncontrollable impulsive behavior. It is interesting that he recalled that only when he was about to be taken off the bench for misconduct. How many lives he damaged with his hypomania, nobody knows.
The lawsuit by the victim (criminal defendant) against Wade McCree was dismissed without reaching the merits, on grounds of absolute judicial immunity for malicious and corrupt acts on the bench.
Close in time, in California, two judges, Scott Steiner and Cory Woodward, were recently censured, but NOT taken off the bench for having sex in the courthouse.
Judge Scott Steiner reportedly had sex in his chambers with two of his former law students and then tried to get one of them a paid position in the local District Attorney's office.
Judge Woodward had sex with a court clerk, in his chambers and in public places in the courthouse and was passing notes to her of sexual nature during court proceedings.
Both judges apparently remain in the same courthouse and can continue with using the courthouse as their dating grounds, only this time they will be more careful.
Neither of the judges was disciplined as an attorney.
Today the New York Times has reported that a federal judge in the State of Alabama was charged with an assault on his wife when she confronted him for having sex with a law clerk.
Mark E. Fuller, the judge of the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Alabama, is relegated to a position where he "does not have new cases assigned to him", but still continues to preside over cases, is not suspended and continues to receive salary and benefits as a public servant.
Mark E. Fuller was reportedly formally charged with assault in criminal court and entered a "diversion" program.
This writer has personally seen, in and out of the courthouse, SEVERAL male judges and their female law clerks in situations strongly suggesting that there was more than professional relationships between them - judging by the distance, or rather, lack thereof, the judge and his law clerk would maintain close to each other in social gatherings and in the courthouse, the way the female law clerk would brush off the judge's personal clothing worn at that time by the judge, the way the female law clerk would touch the judge... People who did not know it was a law clerk asked me whether it was in fact the judge's spouse.
Yet, had I reported THAT, I would have disbarred long time ago...
Judges can have sex in chambers with witnesses and remain "attorneys in good standing". Attorneys who criticize judges for that most likely will get disbarred, and that is the problem with our system.
I do not know how Judges Steiner and Woodward got reported in California and what is the current fate of reporters, if any, against them, but Judge Wade reported himself when he filed a criminal complaint against his paramour for stalking and she went public with his sexts, while Judge Fuller was reported by his own beaten wife. Again, no court personnel dared to report either of these judges.
In the absence of reporting because court employees and private attorneys are in fear of retribution from the system, such things continue and escalate into public scandals such as situations with Wade McCree, Scott Steiner, Cory Woodward and Mark Fuller.
Yet, since the situation seems to be proliferant, it begs a question -
is it the power getting into the judges' heads, or are they so insecure about their manly prowess and so hopeless to find anyone interested in dating them outside of the court system that they must necessarily use their power of office and their black robe to get a date?
No comments:
Post a Comment