Courts

This Judge Asked A Sexual Assault Victim If She Closed Her Legs

Yeah... this judge probably needs to be sanctioned...

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The Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct filed a complaint earlier this week against Superior Court of New Jersey Judge John F. Russo Jr. The complaint alleges Russo was “discourteous and mistreated the victim” appearing in his courtroom. The woman in question was in court seeking a restraining order against the alleged perpetrator, who was accused of a variety offenses including physical and verbal abuse, threatening to burn her house down, threatening to take her daughter away from her, and forcing her to have sex with him.

During the course of that hearing, the defense asked the woman about the alleged assault, and Russo took over questioning and things took a turn for the inappropriate:

RUSSO: Do you know how to stop somebody from having intercourse with you?

WOMAN: Yes.

RUSSO: How would you do that?

WOMAN: I’d probably physically harm them somehow.

RUSSO: Short of physically harming them?

WOMAN: Tell them no.

RUSSO: Tell them no. What else?

WOMAN: To stop.

RUSSO: To stop. What else?

WOMAN: And to run away or try to get away.

RUSSO: Run away, get away. Anything else?

WOMAN: I — that’s all I know.

RUSSO: Block your body parts?

WOMAN: Yeah.

RUSSO: Close your legs? Call the police? Did you do any of those things?

This is beyond the pale. Someone needs to get this judge some sensitivity training, stat.

As reported by BuzzFeed, Judge Russo says he’s looking forward to the opportunity to respond:

“Judge Russo looks forward to having a public hearing so that he will be able to respond to the allegations which have been lodged against him,” Russo’s attorney, David F. Corrigan, told BuzzFeed News on Thursday. “Both Judge Russo and myself have the greatest respect for the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct and the process and therefore we believe it will be inappropriate to make any comment at this time,” he said.

This isn’t Judge Russo’s first brush with controversy. He’s currently on administrative leave for not submitting to a mental health evaluation after a series of incidents Ocean County Assignment Judge Marlene Lynch Ford say demonstrated “extreme emotional immaturity”:

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These incidents included Russo allegedly throwing a file at his law clerk and asking her if all her children were from the same father. Ford also complained about Russo’s “juvenile” behavior of having a “poop emoji” picture hanging in his chambers.

Russo responded to the allegations by filing a workplace discrimination lawsuit against Ford and his other bosses by claiming that they treated him unfairly because he has a son with disabilities.

Regardless of Judge Russo’s maturity, one hopes he never speaks to a victim like that again.

headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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