Courts

6 Months Later, Still No Discipline For Federal Judge Who Handcuffed Crying 13-Year-Old Girl

This open-and-shut case continues to stymie the Ninth Circuit.

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Senior Judge Roger Benitez ordered a United States marshal to handcuff a crying 13-year-old girl to the jury box while she attended her father’s revocation hearing. The 72-year-old judge then told the traumatized child that he thought she was “awfully cute.” The Chief Judge of the Southern District of California formally notified the Ninth Circuit of what would become a formal judicial misconduct complaint against Benitez.

That complaint could well have remained under the radar but for our reporting on the incident, which prompted Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Mary Murguia to publicly disclose the matter given the media attention. As the Chief noted at the time, “maintain public confidence in the Judiciary’s ability to redress misconduct or disability.”

Well, it’s been nearly six months without any resolution. Not exactly inspiring a lot of confidence in the Judiciary’s ability to redress misconduct.

The Federal Circuit managed to very unconstitutionally pocket impeach Judge Pauline Newman in less time. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court continues to take the position that the Constitution blesses the institution with all the ethical restraint of The Purge movies. So whether courts are acting lightning fast or pointedly refusing to acknowledge corruption, “confidence in the Judiciary’s ability to redress misconduct or disability” isn’t having the best year.

Which is why a lot of folks welcomed the Ninth Circuit’s move. We have transcripts. We have witnesses. We have a judge who is highly unlikely to dispute the facts and will instead rest his defense upon the idea that his lifetime appointment includes an “impromptu forcible restraint” carve-out in the job description. How is there not a resolution yet?

According to the Circuit’s website, the first opinion addressing 2023 conduct just dropped last week, and it’s notably not the Benitez case. The website also suggests the first 2022 matter got resolved last week too. Maybe no one did anything wrong in 2022?

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There’s a virtue in taking things slow. It conveys the gravity of disciplining a federal judge and the seriousness of an investigation.

But when there’s already stated concern that the notoriety of the case required the Circuit to act to maintain public trust, it would seem as though this should at least have been the first 2023 matter resolved.

The only acceptable reason for taking this long is that the judges are divided over whether or not to handcuff Judge Benitez to his own jury box and leave him overnight as a sanction.

Earlier: Federal Judge Handcuffs Crying 13-Year-Old Girl Attending Father’s Hearing
Formal Complaint Lodged Against Federal Judge For Handcuffing Crying 13-Year-Old Girl

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HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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