Update: A Cross-Dressing Judge Hangs Up His Heels - For Good
There was some ambiguity about the professional fate of Robert Somma, the Boston-based bankruptcy judge who was arrested for drunk driving while wearing a black cocktail dress, fishnet stockings, and high heels. At first he said he was resigning. But after a groundswell of support, Judge Somma reconsidered his resignation.
We were hoping for his return. Sadly, it looks like that won’t be happening. From the Boston Globe:
US Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Somma, who resigned after his arrest on a drunken driving charge in February and then tried to rescind his resignation, will not be coming back, federal court officials said this afternoon.“The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and Judge Robert Somma have agreed that he will not resume service on the United States Bankruptcy Court for Massachusetts but is leaving to pursue other endeavors,” the Office of the Circuit Executive said in a one-paragraph statement.
We wonder: Was Judge Somma strong-armed into staying away from the bench, by those killjoys on the First Circuit? Stay tuned. Somma’s lawyer, Robert Carpenter, told the Globe that “we may have our own statement to come out next week.”
As for those “other endeavors,” we’re curious. Will he become a widely acclaimed drag performer? Or move to Florida and become a television judge? Or maybe combine the two, and become America’s first cross-dressing TV judge?
P.S. We’re all in favor of drag performance. In fact, we’ve been described as “the blogging equivalent of a very talented drag queen” — one of our favorite compliments ever.
Update: Judge Somma is now in private practice in Boston. See here.
After drunken driving arrest, bankruptcy judge agrees to leave [Boston Globe]
Somma: On the Bench or Off? [Legal Blog Watch]
(0) Comments
Comments
I am first, all others are second or worse
I am second; all others are first or worse.
I am third; all others are first, second, or worse.
fuck you guys; grow up; do you have nothing better to do with your lives than to come on the message boards and talk nonsense?
I for one think that this guy must have looked pretty hot in heels and a dress.
-E. Murphy
Good for you, Lat, for having some thick skin. I'm glad you're making money.
It sucks about Clement turning down the ATL writer gig you offered him for that GULC job, huh?
WGWAG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_McConnell
Sen. Mitch McConnell and Dept. of Labor Secy. Elaine Chao
RE: McConnell and Chao:
That is not WGWAG, but reverse WGWAG. Reverse WGWAG occurs frequently, and is not considered noteworthy by any authority on miscegenation. As a matter of fact, when I went to boarding school, several of my WASP male chums would frequently date Japanese exchange students. Such an occurrence was always given short shrift.
- NE Prep school guy
"very talented" ? Don't believe everything you read, Lat.
Judge Somma was well respected within the bankruptcy bar in Boston, and he will be missed.
Well played, 2:49. It was no big deal.
I am so sad. I am still at work.
It is sad that what is obviously a very colorful character has been weaseled of the bench. The courts could use more, not less, people like Judge Somma.
What's got the 1st circuits panties all in a knot?
Dang. No winners here, none at all.
My two-sizes-too-small heart goes out to Judge Somma; I think people who are happy are not generally arrested in the circumstances he was found in.
I think negotiations were close to the vest; I haven't heard anything about what really happened.
--ET!
(hmm, maybe I should start polishing up my resume...?)
The suicide rate for men who have some type of transgender or gender dysphoria is difficult to measure, but has been estimated at 20-30 percent. Substance abuse rates are also grossly disproportionate to the general population or the even the legal profession. Some jurisdictions now protect gender identity expression in the same category as sexual orientation. No one chooses to have a gender identity that is to some degree or another at variation with their birth-sex: It is not a frivolous choice, but an in-born hard-wired characteristic, which traditionally invited ridicule and punishment (even execution). This story, like recent constitutional amendments against same-sex marriage (the first time in US history state constitutions have been amended to deny people rights as opposed to protect rights), remind us of the waste and danger of intolerance. It is sad that a judge who appears to have been respected in the courtroom, working for the government for less than what a first year lawyer who appears before him makes right out of school, is driven from the bench due to the fact that he is exposed as falling somewhere on the spectrum outside of accepted male gender expression. It is a loss of a good judge for a bad reason.....let us just hope this person does not end up on the wrong end of the statistics.....and also that an equally experienced bankruptcy lawyer can be found to replace him at a salary many bankruptcy lawyers in private practice would balk at taking....
Crimes against fashion aside (that man has NO right to be wearing fishnets - have you seen his legs?) I don't believe driving under the influence is typically considered a statement of gender expression. Do you, 8:51?
The more important question is, why did Phil Telfeyan lock down his blog so that only people he invited can see it?
The man is morally bankrupt. God wants him to retire.
I'll bet you fuckers can't resist a reply.
Divljan Shatterhand Steele doesnt look so bad...