Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Judge chastised for "racist and sexist tropes"

In this unpub'd decision from 2/8, the trial judge is affirmed, but a concurring opinion lets the judge have it: 

  • although the trial judge’s decision does not appear to have been based on or influenced by the attitudes he expressed, his comments cannot pass without censure.  In her brief, appellant characterizes these comments as a “withering diminishment of [her] dignity as a person.”  She could not be more correct. 
  • Demeaning any litigant, as the court did here, is categorically unacceptable. 
  • The trial judge’s patronizing description of [Appellant] violated both of these canons.  He was neither dignified nor respectful of this litigant, and his comment degraded the integrity of the judicial branch and diminished confidence in the court.
  • But beyond being generally demeaning, the trial judge’s fatuous comment traded on racist and sexist tropes. Nothing about [Appellant's] gender or race was remotely relevant to the matters before the court, but the trial court inexplicably interjected them into the hearing.