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Judge of the Day: Joseph R. Wall, You Can Find Me at The Club

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 1:35 PM - By Marin

Baby Mama Poster.jpgIf you’re sick and tired of paternity tests on every episode of Maury Povich, join the club — the baby mamas club, that is. In a decision by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, the court ruled that the trial court’s use of the term “baby mama,” along with other comments about the African-American defendant’s habits, could lead to the reasonable perception that the defendant’s sentence was impermissibly influenced by race.

A quick review of the exchange between the trial court and the defendant reveals that the trial court judge (the Honorable Joseph Wall) is a jerk. But damned if he isn’t a hilarious one:

THE COURT: Where are you working now?
THE DEFENDANT: I’m unemployed right now.
THE COURT: You’re unemployed still?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Have you gotten a job since January?
THE DEFENDANT: No, sir.
THE COURT: You’re kidding.
THE DEFENDANT: No.
THE COURT: What do you do all day?
THE DEFENDANT: I just stay at home with my daughter and that’s it.
THE COURT: Where is her mother?
THE DEFENDANT: At work.
THE COURT: So the mother works and you sit at home, right?
THE DEFENDANT: Yeah.
THE COURT: And watch the child?
THE DEFENDANT: I got all types of things goin’. My personal family.
THE COURT: Where does the baby’s mama work?
THE DEFENDANT: Metro Market.
THE COURT: Did she finish school?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Is she going to college, too?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Where do you guys find these women, really, seriously. I’d say about every fourth man who comes in here unemployed, no education, is with a woman who is working full-time, going to school. Where do you find these women? Is there a club?
THE DEFENDANT: No.

Wait, it gets better… after the jump.

Apparently not satisfied that there was not, in fact, a central depot where baby mamas congregate to pick up losers, the court persisted:

THE COURT: You’re sure?
THE DEFENDANT: I ain’t find her at — she not the club [type].
THE COURT: Oh, she’s not the club type.

Later in the sentencing, the trial court stated: “Mr. Harris sits at home, gets high while his baby mama works and goes to school. I swear there’s a club where these women get together and congregate.”

Although the appellate court did not conclude that the trial court’s references to clubs and baby mamas were intended to be offensive, Judge Brennan summons her years of case study and studious practice to produce a single, bulletproof dissent:

“Baby mama” does not refer to any particular race. It is currently a trendy pop-culture term for a single mother, as evidenced by the recent Hollywood movie (released on DVD in 2008) titled Baby Mama, involving Saturday Night Live actress, Tina Fey, playing the role of a white single mother.

Finally, a judge after my own heart. Judge Brennan: two-way me.

Court’s “baby mama” remark leads to resentencing [WisBar]
State v. Harris [Wisconsin Court of Appeals]

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Posted in: Judge of the Day, Pregnancy / Paternity, State Judges

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