Courts

You're Supposed To Bang Your Gavel, Not Flash Your Gun, Former Judge

The fewer cowards in black robes, the better.

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995442Judges take up an important role in our society. They are fundamental conflict mediators and, via sentencing, police those who violate the law or dare to be poor and can’t afford good lawyers. But sometimes, judges just straight up act like cops — racial profiling to boot. Thankfully, that didn’t end well for former Judge Robert J. Putorti. From the ABA Journal:

A New York judge has been removed from the bench for brandishing a loaded gun at a litigant and then describing the incident in an exaggerated and racial manner.

The litigant, who is Black, posed no threat to anyone, according to the opinion. He was 6 feet tall and weighed 165 pounds. Putorti had said after the incident the litigant approached the bench too quickly, causing him to brandish the gun that he kept attached to the underside of his bench using a magnet.

Putorti had said he subjectively feared for his safety but acknowledged that he had no reasonable basis to think that the litigant was about to use imminent deadly force. He also acknowledged that he was not justified in brandishing the gun.

The “feared for my life” cliche still gets traction nowadays?:

Putorti later showed his cousin’s article to another judge, telling her that he drew his gun on a “big Black man” who was “agitated.” At a magistrates’ meeting in 2018, he said he once pointed his gun at a “large Black man” who came too close to the bench.

When Putorti’s supervising judge questioned him about the incident, Putorti said the litigant was “a ‘large Black man’” who was about 6 feet, 9 inches tall and was “built like a football player.”

Is a 6’9″ tall football player in the room with us right now? Because this is what 6 feet and 165 pounds actually looks like:

@_sirlemony_

Do I have to eat more or lift more? #fyp #foryourpage #xyzbca #fitness #lift

♬ original sound – John Queen

Far more Shaggy than Roy Mbaeteka. Because he’s what an actual Black 6’9″ football player looks like:

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Using words like “large” and “football player” to describe the first guy is less believable than Donald Trump being 6’3″ and 215. Right up there with thinking that a birdwatcher is an imminent threat or that skittles, a hoodie, and iced tea are deadly weapons. It still blows my mind that the most widely circulated image of Trayvon is him in a hoodie and not wearing his fucking NASA jumpsuit.

 

We need fewer judges like Putorti. None, actually. Wishing him a very good If You’re Scared, Go To Church. This is also an open invite for any judges who look at a lanky Black defendant and see a Black Brute to hang up their robes for good.

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Judge Removed For Brandishing Gun He Kept Attached Under Bench With Magnet [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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