Canadian Judge Cum Porn Star Will Be Probed

The last time we checked in on Madam Justice Lori Douglas, the Canadian judge who once appeared in internet porn, the news for Her Honor was good. Alex Chapman, the computer programmer who sued Justice Douglas for sexual harassment, dropped his $7 million lawsuit against the judge.

But Douglas isn’t out of the woods just yet. The civil suit against her may be gone, but the ethics complaint filed by Chapman remains — and has been deemed substantial and credible enough to merit further investigation, from a five-judge panel….

As reported by the Winnipeg Free Press, earlier this week the Canadian Judicial Council concluded that Chapman’s ethics complaint against Justice Douglas “warrants further consideration.” This was based on a review of the complaint by Alberta Chief Justice Neil Wittman.

Here’s what will happen next:

[A panel of] five judges — all members of the council — will decide if the complaint has any merit and determine what steps to take next. That could include dismissing the complaint or ordering Douglas to apologize. In extreme circumstances, the panel can refer the matter to a public inquiry where it will be determined whether the judge should be removed from the bench.

Will the investigation involve in camera review by the panel of Justice Douglas’s porn pics? If so, that could be… awkward. Some lawyers don’t like going to office pool parties or beach outings, to avoid the embarrassing experience — for both the viewers and the viewed — of seeing their colleagues in swimsuits. This would be ten times worse, since the pictures supposedly show Her Honor “engaging in bondage, playing with sex toys and performing oral sex.”

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In happier news for Justice Douglas, a second complaint against her was dismissed. From the Toronto Globe and Mail:

In the complaint that was thrown out, an unidentified person alleged that Judge Douglas had a personal relationship with the complainant’s ex-husband, and that she should therefore not have heard their divorce case.

The CJC said that an initial review of the complaint by a single member of the council “found that there was no evidence to support the allegations, which were based on speculation, hearsay and assumptions.”

The dismissed complaint sounds pretty frivolous. Perhaps a bitter litigant, after hearing the original salacious allegations against Justice Douglas, decided it was open season on the judge — and that her reputation was so impaired that any crazy claim might stick.

Anyway, stay tuned — we’ll continue to follow this story. Also, we have yet to see the porn pics themselves; if you have them, please feel free to email us (subject line: “Justice Douglas”). Thanks.

P.S. With respect to the title of this post, we can’t claim credit for the “probe” pun. The Winnipeg Free Press got there first; see below.

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Panel of judges to probe complaint [Winnipeg Free Press]
Watchdog partially clears Manitoba judge caught up in sex scandal [Toronto Globe & Mail]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Madam Justice Lori Douglas