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In what must have been a very slow day for Las Vegas judicial accountability committee, a judge was accused of undermining the trust in the judiciary for typing out curse words on a personal instagram, posting a picture from a hot tub and telling a defendant that police can be dangerous. Almost as if he knew we’d need a reminder on what actual judicial misconduct looked like, Alabama judge Gilbert P. Self volunteered to teach us with his example. From ABA Journal:
The presiding judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Lauderdale County, Alabama, has been charged with lying to a grand jury and using public funds for personal purchases and his son’s employment.
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Self is accused of spending public money for a couch; alcoholic beverages; eyeglasses and vacations, including skiing, cycling and beach trips. He is also accused of using public money for events that he didn’t attend in Reno, Nevada; Duck Key, Florida; and Mackinac Island, Michigan.
Self has since made right on his self-described “honest but correctable mistakes” by repaying all of the money used to buy the hodgepodge of things he shouldn’t have. Remember, if you’re a judge in need of some liquidity, you can’t just borrow the money from the court. You have to accept it under the table for over 25 years, preside over cases you have a financial interest in or work out some sort of agreement where you jail children over a law that doesn’t exist. America isn’t some banana republic — we have rules here.
Indictment Accuses Judge Of Using Public Funds To Employ His Son, Travel, Buy Couch And Alcohol [ABA Journal]
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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