An Alabama ethics court came to the unanimous decision to remove a state probate judge from office after he was accused of violating several ethics guidelines, including making various racist and sexist remarks in the workplace.
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NBC News reports that the courtโs decision to discipline Judge Randy Jinks came after a days-long hearing that featured testimony on how his behavior created a hostile work environment and evidence of misconduct, like this:
Among the evidence presented to the court was a recording of Jinks repeating a meme in his office about the nationwide racial unrest in 2020 in which he said, โYou sons of bโโโ are going to need something to burn down after Trump gets re-elected for a second term, sons of bโโโ.โ
โAlthough the complaint alleges โracially insensitive demeanor,โ this Court is of the opinion that Judge Jinksโ conduct rose above racial insensitivity,โ the court said in its final judgment, which also ordered Jinks to pay for the costs of the proceeding.
Per NBC, Jinks was suspended in March after more than 100 allegations against him were detailed in a 78-page document issued by the stateโs Judicial Inquiry Commissionโa body that reviews complaints against judges and decides if the case needs to be presented to a governor-appointed panel for further action.
As you can probably guess, further action needed to be taken in this instance.
More from NBC:
The commissionโs complaint detailed accusations of racist and sexist conversations that employees claim Jinks initiated, including talking about pornography and a video of a woman doing a striptease. Some of the employees alleged that Jinks, who is white, also made disparaging remarks about George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement, Black people who came into the office and the officeโs sole Black employee, a clerk.
That employee, Darrius Pearson, had testified that in May 2019, when Jinks saw his new car, he said that he, as a judge, couldnโt afford one but asked, โWhat you doing, selling drugs?โ
Upon learning of the courtโs decision Friday, Pearson said, โMy heart skipped a beat,โ adding that it was โimportantโ to hold the judge accountable.
The courtโs ruling, which you can read here, didnโt find that Jinks was guilty of displaying uncouth behavior for every allegation leveled against him.
But he did enough to be removed from the bench, which is something that NBC reports rarely happens to judges in Alabama. Unless youโre Roy Moore, who is someone you really donโt want to be keeping the same company with.
From NBC:
Amanda Hardy, Jinksโ attorney, said in a statement Saturday that he had never previously been accused of being racist, but โonce he entered politics and became the first Republican to hold that office, that all changed.โ
โJudge Jinksโ remarks were taken completely out of context and cast in a light calculated to besmirch the judgeโs character and further the accusatory employees attempts to remove him from office,โ Hardy said, adding that โcloser scrutiny should have led to a more measured response to this case.โ
Hardy told NBC that Jinks is deciding whether he should appeal the decision before Alabamaโs Supreme Court. Until then, looks like heโs leaving his robe and gavel behind for his replacement.
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