Alabama Judge Suspended After Ethics Criticism Particulars Racist Mockery, Rape Jokes

An Alabama judge has been suspended right after an ethics fee accused him of mocking an Asian juror, referring to the 77-calendar year-previous governor as “MeMaw,” telling defendants they would be sexually assaulted in jail, and consistently cursing in his courtroom.

Mobile County’s 13th Circuit Decide James T. Patterson, a Republican who was elected in 2016, was suspended very last month following a complaint from the Judicial Inquiry Fee, the condition company charged with investigating grievances against Alabama judges.

The complaint, created community on Wednesday, information Patterson’s inappropriate habits around the class of several several years, which includes an incident in 2019 when he questioned a jury pool that included an Asian American if anyone spoke “Engrish,” mocking an Asian accent.

Patterson characterized his remark to the jury pool as a “stupid, stupid joke.”

“The liberals contact absolutely everyone they disagree with a racist at present,” Patterson wrote on his Facebook web page next his racist remark. “I am nothing at all of the kind.”

Patterson also built references to defendants becoming sexually assaulted in jail.

“When masking a docket for the presiding choose, Judge Patterson mentioned much more than at the time to defendants that they would be ‘butt raped in the penitentiary,’” the complaint said.

The decide also mocked Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, 77, by calling her “Governor MeMaw” in excess of the governor’s conclusion to challenge a remain-at-residence order at the start off of the pandemic.

Patterson’s previous court reporter, alongside with an assistant district legal professional, explained to the fee that the decide frequently employed inappropriate language in the courtroom, and on at least one particular occasion produced the mother of a defendant cry.

“In court, Decide Patterson has made use of the following terms: ‘f*ck,’ ‘sh*t,’ ‘bast*ard,’ ‘a*s,’ and ‘a*shole,” the criticism claimed. “According to his former court reporter, Decide Patterson made use of the word ‘a*s’ all the time in court as if it was his favorite word.”

The fee charged Patterson with inappropriate demeanor and temperament and abuse of judicial authority. He could possibly be taken out from office environment, in accordance to The Related Press.

“Judge Patterson’s perform has degraded the public’s self confidence in the integrity, dignity, and decorum of the judiciary and introduced the judicial workplace into disrepute,” the criticism said.

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