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Judges are meant to enforce the law. The role is a little paternalistic, but in theory they generally don’t go overboard with it. Your odds are a little more sketchy in reality. A Tennessee judge, aiming to keep kids in school, leaned way more vinegar than honey in his approach. This was met with what you’d expect — a reprimand and his name on the front page of ATL. Legal Profession Blog has the story:
The Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct has reprimanded a general sessions court judge who had appeared on a school’s Instagram page in judicial robes declaring his intent “to really crack down on truancy problems” in the school district.
He had a specific remedy that every unexcused school absence that a kid has in school they are going to do seven hours of community service at our local recycling center.
He went on to describe Friday nights there as a “highly unpleasent [sic] experience” and further indicated that a truant’s parents might get 10 days of jail time.
The court found that the posts violated a number of provisions of the Rules of Judicial Conduct. The judge took full responsibility and offered no excuses.
Judges are generally removed from their school days, but I get the feeling that returning to class being known as “Trash Kid” isn’t going to do wonders for motivating showing up to homeroom. On top of that, one of the leading factors of truancy is a lack of parental supervision. Newsflash: it is very difficult to be there for your kids when they’re behind bars. Another factor, financial instability. Do you really think a truant kid will be better off in a house where mom or dad has 10 days less worth of wages, if they’re not fired to boot? As it turns out, strictly enforcing truancy laws can end up making both children and parents worse off.
Hopefully this sobering moment teaches Judge Steven Randolph a lesson. Also, isn’t Tennessee generally a small government state? Few things say government overreach like a judge going on Instagram shouting about how ready he is to order kids to unpaid labor and cart their parents off to jail. If you want to do something ridiculous to get the public’s attention, do it the way a judge is supposed to: cite a Bible verse to signpost how ready for theocracy you are.
School Days [Legal Profession Blog]
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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