Courts

Bad Judgment Call: New York Judge Gets Removed For Making Sexual Comments To Attorneys, And More

The bar is at the floor and people still find a way to dig a hole for themselves.

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Judges have a reputation to uphold — their vocation is top tier when it comes to expectations of decorum, responsibility, and good sense. That said, you ever read one of these articles and think that the judge involved was desperate for attention? That’s definitely how I felt writing this. Cringe warning ahead, courtesy of Law.com:

The New York Court of Appeals ordered the removal of an upstate judge who had joked to attorneys about his ex-wife’s sexual preferences, among other inappropriate sexual comments, and had exposed a firearm in the courthouse.

The 6-0 Court of Appeals order, for which Judge Jenny Rivera didn’t take part, came on the heels of a determination by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct in February that Jeremy L. Persons, a justice of Guilford Town Court in Chenango County, should be removed from office.
…
According to the commission’s determination, in October 2020 while in the courtroom, Persons discussed his marriage with Assistant District Attorney Christopher Curley and Assistant Public Defender Stephanie Hanrahan, telling the attorneys that he had had a three-way relationship with his ex-wife and another woman, but the two women cut him out of the relationship.

“She likes the hole better than the pole,” the commission quoted him as saying of his ex-wife.

Who even says shit like that? That’s a line you’d expect from a straight to illegal download porn flick, not one of the people entrusted to uphold the rule of law. And on the clock, for goodness’ sake! Shame on the partner who decided singing about a trainee’s vagina was work appropriate, but he at least had the decency to not do it in the office! Former judge Persons had a list of questionable work area behaviors, actually. If making crude sexual comments and driving around with a “Boobies Make Me Smile” sticker weren’t enough for you, how’s about this bit of workplace safety?

From about December 2020 to about October 2021, Persons was observed carrying a handgun inside or just outside the courthouse, in violation of his permit to carry.

The commission said Persons’ practice while in or just outside the courthouse was to carry his licensed handgun on a hip-holster that was easily visible anytime he was not wearing his judicial robe.

On one occasion in 2021, Persons placed his handgun on the bench when Wentworth appeared before him during a session of the court, the commission said.

Given the recent showings of Chief Justice Roberts’s refusal to keep his court in order, it is refreshing to find even a shred of evidence that someone who dons the black robes actually still gives a damn about their role and recognizes that impropriety — be it apparent or plainly obvious as was the case here — should be rooted out whenever possible.

If you’d like to read the entire determination, you may do so here.

‘She Likes the Hole Better Than the Pole’: Judge Removed for Sexual Comments [Law.com]

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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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