A former state trooper and Guadalupe County Judge Michael Thomas Wiggins, 58, was almost late for a conference of judges this week . . . he had to make bail to be released from jail on a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge.
Wiggins was arrested after police detected “an overwhelming odor of marijuana” in the judge’s room at the local Hilton hotel in College Station. Wiggins was due to attend the V.G. Young Institute: School for County Commissioners Courts.
Wiggins was arrested with possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana and police report that he admitted that he was smoking pot.
The arrest for a misdemeanor does not always lead to the removal of a judge from the bench or a resignation. However, it seems likely in this case. Judges are occasionally charged with DUI but do not always leave the bench.
Do you feel that 2 ounces of marijuana should be grounds for removal?
Here is his court bio:
Mike Wiggins was elected Guadalupe County Judge after winning the Republican Primary Runoff on April 11, 2006. He was sworn into office on January 1, 2007, becoming the 31st Guadalupe County Judge. And, he is a native Texan!A retired Texas DPS Sergeant, Wiggins has served his State for thirty years; the last fourteen years were served here in Guadalupe County where he was responsible for the DPS operations, he received extensive budget experience with the Texas State Legislature and was responsible for the local emergency management operations. He received his Police Administration Diploma from Northwestern University, and continuing coursework from St. Edwards University and Lamar University.
Active in many civic organizations, he was a founding board member of the Seguin Outdoor Learning Center and the Guadalupe County Children’s Lodge; he has served as president of the DPS Officers Association; past president of the Seguin Little League Board; an active board member of Buck Fever, Committee Chairman of Bass Fever; a booster member of Seguin Sports; an active member of the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce and the Seguin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
In his campaign for County Judge, Wiggins pledged to provide a new level of leadership, guidance and direction of the County, to advocate for emergency services, seek federal funding, and continue to support and preserve the ranching and agricultural heritage of Guadalupe County.
Source: San Antonio as first seen on ABA Journal
Dffkf
They should follow up for other people also and how they are involve with community and stuff and show how they guy who does braek in to store also is involved with things yqh
Putyournosedown, do you REALLY think it’s okay for a judge to be stoned while at work?
The Judge should not be removed from his position. …..puff, puff, pass, your honor.
Reblogged this on THE HEMP PRESS and commented:
Ouch! Texas hates Pot Smokers. Now they have a Pot Smoking Judge? Oh, the IRONY!
Who are we to judge the judge? So what if he smokes pot, he is an idiot for getting caught. If I was in his position I’d probably smoke too just to be able to relax and reduce the stress for a little while. Just because he was smoking before a conference doesn’t make him a bad person, he was probably trying to make his experience at the snoozefest more tolerable. At least there wouldn’t have been as much food gone to waste. Lol can we get on to the important news now?
The single reason that it MIGHT be right to remove a judge (and most of you missed this) is that he was getting high before an official duty, a conference of judges.
That’s putting aside the irony of a Republican judge doing it at all AND electing to go to work high.
No one should be removed for pot. Not him or the people he has removed.
He does however have to live by the same laws that he is sworn to uphold.
Let him keep his job, looks like he’s good at it. 2 ounces or less is nothing.
Now, I am very pro legalize, HOWEVER.
I think a bigger question should be, How many people has this judge sentenced to harsh marijuana possession laws? How many families has be broken up on a first time arrest. Before judgement is passed on him, someone should look at how he has judged others.
I’m just saying.
Considering the aggression, violence, and child abuse committed by so many others who are not made accountable, this guy appears better than most Texas judges. After all, the Texas Judicial Review Commission failed to act on the complaints against child beating Judge William Adams in other child abuse situations. http://thepatriotdad.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/judge-adams-homicidal-hullucinating-psychotic-babysitter-is-ok/
We really need to have a more responsive grievance process against Judges in Texas.
Shano,
I can speak from experience….that the exhaust fans in even the nicest hotels are not worth a damn….I have heard of smoke alarms being set off …..
The judge should know by now that the exhaust fan in the hotel bathroom is very useful at times.
in comal county you can get 6 months in jail, 18 mos probation or a $2,000 fine for an empty pipe, on your first offense. What is this judge going to get?
Should 2 ounces of marijuana be grounds for removal?
Well, that depends. If the judge has never sentenced anyone to jail for possession, it shouldn’t even be grounds for arrest.
But if he HAS ever sentenced anyone to jail for possession, then he should draw 20 years, minimum.
“Now, I’m not a lawyer, but I wonder how the government can purport to the public that Cannabis has NO medical value, while at the sametime holding a patent explicitly saying that some of the main ingredients in Cannabis have myriad medical benefits. On top of that, how is a government allowed to hold a patent? Beyond that, how is anyone allowed to hold a patent on a plant designed by nature?”
———————————————-
sorry to be the killjoy but this refers to chemical compounds and derivitives…..so don’t go sending your kids to the merry marijuana spa just yet….and of course he has to go, if he was a decent judge it is a shame but it ain’t legal yet.
mespo–“. . . but not about the absolute right to ingest anything you crave.”
There was a time in this country when that was true; a time before vested medical establishment interests decided that only Drs could decide what drug were dispensed and to whom, all of course, for a small fee.
“Do you feel that 2 ounces of marijuana should be grounds for removal?”
No, not even 2 pounds would be enough as the prohibition against marijuana is absurd.
what, no dead hookers?
County court judges in Texas are an odd animal. They are judicial officers with jurisdiction over probate and original jurisdiction over class a and b misdemeanors and concurrent jurisdiction with higher courts over certain civil cases under a specified jurisdictional amount. They also serve as the chief administrative officer of the county in which they hold office. It sounds to me like Texas has a very complicated judicial system and one that ignores the American concept of separation of powers. But oh well that’s a function of federalism. It also appears to be very efficient at least in areas like capital punishment. I have no public opinion on how good the system is at actually handing out justice however.
The question at hand is most interesting. Should this fellow leave office because he was possessing and smoking pot? Texas treats possession of marijuana as very serious offense at least after the arrestee’s stash exceeds two ounces. Notice that this poor guy spent the night the local cross bar hotel. Here in California were I live and practiced law he would get a citation and the cop would get his pot. Or the cop would just get his pot and not issue a citation. I suspect that the Texas culture vis a vis marijuana in the 21st century is much like California’s was in the 1940s and 1950s when the common wisdom in my state was only “colored people and mexicans” smoke pot…and they were mostly musicians. It was something good white folks didn’t do…..or at least the shakers and movers in the local society believed good white people didn’t smoke pot.
I don’t believe the judge should get sacked. He should go to marijuana smoking classes like we have in California and learn to cover his own ass in Texas when he’s imbibing the sacrament. There is a liberty interest here and the entire Drug War is a collosal waste of money. Let him keep his job.
Does he not look like he’s wearing a ‘Guy Fawkes’ mask (from V) in that little insert pic? That pic seems to be from the Guadalupe County home page from the posted link. That should have been a tip-off to the cops and voters right there 🙂