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Judge Allegedly Tries To Prevent Story About Him Wandering Around Courthouse In His Underwear From Getting Out. Obviously, We Have To Discuss.

There are so many unanswered questions.

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Yellow boxer shorts underwearWhen it rains it pours — at least when it comes to alleged ethics violations for one Kentucky judge. Judge James T. Jameson was already temporarily suspended after he was accused of misconduct related to an ankle-monitoring program, but now he’s facing even more allegations.

According to new allegations from the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission, Jameson also tried to intimidate witnesses in the ethics case against him and attempted to use his influence to kill a news report about him. That news story is pretty interesting…. Apparently the public radio station at Murray State University, WKMS, made a pubic records request for security footage and the judge made overtures to station manager Chad Lampe to make sure that footage — and story — never got out. As reported by ABA Journal, the underlying story is that Jameson would roam the halls of the courthouse in his underwear:

According to the ethics complaint, Jameson “asked Mr. Lampe to confirm that the news station was not going to run a story about the camera footage of you walking around in the courthouse in your underwear.” The university provost contacted Lampe a day or two after Jameson’s phone call seeking more information about the records request.

WFPL spoke with WKMS news director Derek Operle about the incident. The courts’ administrative office had denied the request for the video footage, and Operle decided not to appeal before Lampe contacted him about the judge’s call.

Lampe repeated the judge’s explanation for being in his underwear, and it was “of a highly personal nature,” Operle told WFPL. It was “not something really that rose to the level of a news story,” he said.

I HAVE SO MANY MORE QUESTIONS. What “personal” explanation for walking about a courthouse in undergarments DOESN’T rise to the level of a news story? The math ain’t mathing here.

But that allegation, which will literally keep me up at night, isn’t the only new allegation against Jameson.

The other new allegation against Jameson claims that he intimidated witnesses in the ethics proceeding and instructed his judicial staff to “blatantly violate the law” by refusing to cooperate with a subpoena by the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission. Later, he asked his staff to send him documents that they intended to produce, so he could review them first.

And remember — this round of ethic troubles is not the first issue for Jameson. Buckle up, the original allegations are a lot:

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The initial ethics charges alleged that Jameson used his influence to choose the provider for the ankle-monitoring program and used the prestige of his office to promote the program as a means to raise money for a substance abuse treatment facility that he was spearheading.

He was also accused of directing authorities to arrest people for allegedly violating terms of the program before a proper arrest warrant was issued. He also ordered people to participate in the program and didn’t allow them to use different monitoring services, according to the charges. And he was also accused of pressuring people to participate in a particular drug treatment program because of his personal connection with it.

The charges also allege that Jameson pressured a lawyer who appeared before him to file an ethics complaint against another lawyer and sought the firing or reassignment of a sheriff’s department employee who reviewed courthouse security footage based on an unsubstantiated belief that the employee leaked it to the media.

He was also accused of using the influence and prestige of his office to pressure lawyers and others to fund and support his political campaign. In some cases, he went “as far as saying that certain monetary contributions were not sufficient,” according to the ethics complaint.

For his part, Jameson has “strongly disputed” the allegations.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. 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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