Judge […] called black juror “Aunt Jemima”
I guess it’s some kind of progress that this was even reported, and that the judge got reassigned, but still…
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This judge and many others confirm that the 1966 Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program was and is prudent:
- We Want Freedom For All Black Men
Held In Federal, State, County And City Prisons And Jails.We believe that all Black people should be released from the many jails and prisons because they have not received a fair and impartial trial.
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Hey! 
I think (and please check me on that by viewing the vid) he’s been assigned to review others’ (magistrates’) decisions; I think that may involve reviewing what’s in the associated docs, and not actually being in a courtroom. (??) Whatever the case there, I agree with you. I don’t think he should be handling anything having to do with court doings. Going further, I think he should be fired; not only is what he said wrong… it’s also the fact that he clearly was unhappy with the verdict, something that makes him — a JUDGE — unreliable.
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Not to mention, what those workers subject themselves to, keeps cholera – the enemy of all – away from the rest of us.
I wish you hadn’t said that! 
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I know, too soon… but it’s true. It’s hard to remove an elected official, and generally it’s only via impeachment, but of course, on the state or local level that’s not via the congress, but more localized bodies (and maybe via referendum in some places?).
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Ok. Headin’ back to my home world. Earth big bad! 
Ed Norton was always there for us while Ralph drove the bus. These people are the backbone.
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Interestingly(?), PA has no recall mechanism. I guess recalls are a lot less universal than I thought.
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Damn, the idea that the words “Aunt Jemima” to even pop into a persons head and then to like fucking actually utter them to describe a person … in a professional and legal setting?
I find it staggering that shit happens but really I shouldn’t be surprised.
< Sarcasm > Can we hope the injured party comes though this ok, meaning the poor white judge as I’m sure he has suffered greatly due to being … reported on < /sarcasm >
Someone got recalled a while back… and I can’t remember where (Cali, maybe), but it was a big deal, which shows that it’s not often used.
That was the Santa Clara Superior Court judge in the Stanford rape case. Per the wikis, he was only the second judge to be recalled in 80 years in California (Rose Bird, the state Supreme Court Chief Justice was merely not reconfirmed in her election back in 1986).
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I seem to remember another one, but maybe that’s it… maybe it wasn’t a judges race… Either way, I think the important take away is that it doesn’t happen often, so when it does, it’s remarkable.
Hey, I proudly count a street sweeper driver, a recycle truck driver, a wastewater operator and two forestry workers among my friends. I’m fully attuned to the people that actually make a first-world country tick.
We’d be better off as a nation if middle-class people didn’t believe themselves to be “above” those who work to serve the public. (I’m conspicuously not including police here, as they only work to serve themselves and the monied class.)
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And not for nothing, but it was a genuinely harmful recall in that instance. We may not like the particular decision (and I most definitely did not), but in the big picture the pressure on judges goes one direction: to make sentences more punitive and more carceral. Hence, in part, is what results in some of the highest incarceration rates in the world. No judge ever gets public pressure for being too “tough” on crime, so the only real danger judges face is in being seen as too soft on crime, instead of encouraging judges to use their discretion for lesser sentences.
This judge happened to have a reputation of handing out sentences of something other than just dropping the hammer on defendants (which is why the public defender and many defense attorneys opposed the recall) and has undoubtedly been replaced by a judge who is eager to stay on the right side of the pitchforks and hand out maximum sentences like they were candy.
California likes to recall governors as well.
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Maybe I’m thinking of 2003 recall of Davis that put Arnold into office?
So now I’m wondering if in our more partisan atmosphere, we’re going to see even more of an increasing in using recalls and impeachments to get elected officials out of office more and more? For US presidents, we had 1 impeachment in the 19th century, but 2, nearly 3 since the 1970s (and only because Nixon stepped down).
Here are recall attempts (not just gov, but any elected official) for Cali:
https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/recalls/complete-list-recall-attempts/
Seems like as you get later into the 20th century, it gets used more across the board? But Davis was the first successful recall of a sitting gov in Cali…
Sorry, just random musings…
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Yah, we have a lot of “props” (ballot initiatives) every election also, because CA’s constitution can be changed by referendum. A lot of direct democracy going on here, for better and for worse. It’s mostly for the good, but it’s also easily manipulated (see: Prop 8 where the Mormons managed to get gay marriage banned briefly) and also subject to mob fear (see the infamous Prop 65 that puts ridiculous “cancer” warnings on freaking everything and has made CA a laughing stock).
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Yeah, absolutely. For the most part, in recent years, Cali has been rather progressive for the most part, though prop 8 is a good example of rolling back progress or attempting to do so. In that case, though, the courts did right, by declaring that denying gay citizens the right to marry was a violation of equal protection (and then the Supreme court in 2015 made it national)… I think as long as a political system has strong protections for individuals for equal rights and due process, that can’t be violated by someone trying to get a vote that restricts the rights of others.
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