Chief U.S. District Judge of Montana Richard Cebull is under fire for a joke that he sent to friends from his court email. The email has been denounced as racist and “compares African-Americans to dogs.” He insists that it was not for public circulation and reflected his dislike for the president, not black people.
Judge Cebull sent an email entitled “A MOM’S MEMORY.” It opened with the statement “Normally I don’t send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine.” It follows with this “joke”: “A little boy said to his mother; ‘Mommy, how come I’m black and you’re white?’ His mother replied, ‘Don’t even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you’re lucky you don’t bark!’”
Cebull says that it was only sent to six other people as well as his own private emails. It appears that one of the six other people sent it along to the media.
Cebull insists that the email simply shows that “I am not a fan of our president, but this goes beyond not being a fan. I didn’t send it as racist, although that’s what it is. I sent it out because it’s anti-Obama.”
We previously saw Chief Judge Alex Kozinski involved in a controversy over pictures and jokes sent to friends over a personal website.
The case raises the question of how to respond to such an email. Some have called for his resignation or removal. Others for judicial discipline. There are two likely ethical charges. One is the misuse of the court computer and the other is the transmission of a racist communication.
First, judges routinely use their work emails for private communications. We all tend to use office email for a variety of purposes. I do not see how this judge can be severely disciplined for simply using office email for a private communication. If Cebull is punished, what about the fact that probably 90% of judges use their office emails for private messages as the rest of us do (the other ten percent do not use email).
Second, there is the racism charge. Cebull insists that this was anti-Obama and not anti-black. It is still a stupid joke. However, I am not sure it is fair to assume that the judge is a racist from this one joke. It could simply show that he is entirely clueless and thoughtless. That is never good in a judge, but the question is whether it warrants the actions demanded against him.
Working in his favor is the relatively small number of people who received the email (though one always has to anticipate re-transmissions or forwarding of emails). He was sharing a bad and racially loaded joke with friends. We have discussed the trend toward punishing public employees for private emails, postings, and activities. Of course, a judge is required under ethical rules not to conduct themselves in a way to bring contempt upon the court. Canon Two states “a judge should respect and comply with the law and should act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.” The comment Canon 2A does seem to have some relevance here:
Canon 2A. An appearance of impropriety occurs when reasonable minds, with knowledge of all the relevant circumstances disclosed by a reasonable inquiry, would conclude that the judge’s honesty, integrity, impartiality, temperament, or fitness to serve as a judge is impaired. Public confidence in the judiciary is eroded by irresponsible or improper conduct by judges. A judge must avoid all impropriety and appearance of impropriety. This prohibition applies to both professional and personal conduct. A judge must expect to be the subject of constant public scrutiny and accept freely and willingly restrictions that might be viewed as burdensome by the ordinary citizen. Because it is not practicable to list all prohibited acts, the prohibition is necessarily cast in general terms that extend to conduct by judges that is harmful although not specifically mentioned in the Code. Actual improprieties under this standard include violations of law, court rules, or other specific provisions of this Code.
While I certainly see why this type of joke raises serious and legitimate concerns, I am not convinced that it warrants punishment beyond the current (and justified) public criticism. The judge is claiming that he thought he was sending this to a handful of friends. It would be akin to a bad joke at a party being repeated later. He clearly failed to appreciate that “the subject of constant public scrutiny and accept freely and willingly restrictions that might be viewed as burdensome by the ordinary citizen.” That would include racially-charged jokes that get out. Yet, the question is whether it warrants an actual reprimand or more serious punishment. There may be a sense that, given the use of the court computer, an admonishment is needed — just as Chief Judge Kozinski was admonished.
Cebull received a B.S. from Montana State University in 1966 and a J.D. from the University of Montana Law School in 1969. After a long stint in private practice, he served as trial judge of the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Court from 1970 to 1972. He then served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Montana from 1998 to 2001 before being nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Montana. He became chief judge in 2008.
Source: Politico
idealist, Limbaugh has had four wives yet no children. Either someone is using birth control or …………..
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there is a G*d……..
http://www.gulawweekly.org/news/2012/3/2/university-president-degioia-law-school-dean-treanor-and-oth.html Georgetown law dean defends Ms. Fluke. Maybe Gingrich can call the pope and report him.
Apropos nothing:
@CAPartyGirl (CA Party Girl) tweeted
Stripper, or strategist? Democrat strategist on MSNBC raging against Limbaugh, her name is supposedly “Krystal Ball.” Speaking of #sluts…
CA Party Girl??
That sounds like one of those ‘come on’ Twitter accounts that follow people in order to spam some sex site. It’s a feature of Twitter. One knows almost immediately from the avatar image or the name – without even seeing the twets.
But … the Twitter profile for @CAPartyGirl says
“The new Spokeswoman & Communications Director for the California Republican Party. Tweets are my own.~Jennifer Kerns”
So someone with the *very* ill-advised twitter name CA Party Girl posts that the name Krystal Ball sounds slutty. Funny.
Rush is an idiot who is making millions lying about anyone or anything on the Left.
He hasn’t used viagra his whole life as it did become available until 1998 and he is 61.
“Limbaugh has had four wives yet no children. Either someone is using birth control or …………..”
Premature ejaculation.
Massive Viagra doses get him hard, but too late.
That’s why they call him Rush
idealist, Limbaugh has had four wives yet no children. Either someone is using birth control or …………..
Elaine M n lottakatz,
“”Yes, many people are hearing what they want to hear and they have the power to enforce their self-imposed ignorance on the rest of the country””
Reminds me of churches………!
And then we have a submitted question to answer:
Which sex market in Sta Dominica (?) did Rush visit? All of them?
And from another news item. Does it stand anywhere how many Viagra tablets were consumed since presrciption was purchased?
Elaine M., excellent links/articles, thank you. Yes, many people are hearing what they want to hear and they have the power to enforce their self-imposed ignorance on the rest of the country.
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AY
🙂
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SWM, You’re right! Rush has reason to hate her on several fronts, OMG that completely went over my head. Thanks for connecting those dots.
Swarthmore mom,
To Rushbo she’s just another feminazi.
Ms. Fluke also has a backround in fighting domestic violence and as an advocate for those that have been affected by human trafficking and prostitution. No wonder Limbaugh does not like her.
Lottakatz,
“She didn’t show up as some random student or disinterested co-ed with a personal ax to grind. She has been and is an advocate for women’s reproductive justice. People that persist in just calling her a student or saying that she was a ‘stealth’ activist simply didn’t listen to what she was saying by way of stating her credentials. Imagine that.”
“Those people” only hear what they want to hear. Of course, it’s hard to listen to what someone has to say when you’re so busy spewing hate speech.
Lol Lotta…
Federal Judge’s Racist Email May Have Violated US Ethics Code
Richard Cebull’s offensive email disparaging President Obama appears to run afoul of rules for federal judges.
—By Mark Follman | Thu Mar. 1, 2012
http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/03/richard-cebull-racist-email-obama
Excerpt:
The US Code of Judicial Conduct mandates that a judge “should personally observe high standards of conduct so that the integrity and independence of the Judiciary are preserved.” It also says that a judge “should avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities”—which applies to both professional and personal conduct. With regard to politics, it says judges “should refrain from partisan political activity” and “should not publicly endorse or oppose a partisan political organization or candidate.”
Where to draw the line between appropriate and inappropriate speech by judges is a complicated matter, says Jeffrey M. Shaman, a judicial-ethics expert at DePaul University College of Law. But there seems to be little doubt that Cebull crossed over the line. “Offensive, racist speech such as this clearly diminishes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, and therefore should be considered a violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct,” Shaman told me. “Judge Cebull ought to know better, and his circulation of such a disgusting message makes one wonder if he is competent to serve as a judge.”
What might the consequences be for Cebull?
“While I certainly see why this type of joke raises serious and legitimate concerns, I am not convinced that it warrants punishment beyond the current (and justified) public criticism,” wrote George Washington University legal scholar Jonathan Turley on Thursday. “The judge is claiming that he thought he was sending this to a handful of friends. It would be akin to a bad joke at a party being repeated later.”
Turley notes that in 2009 a judicial council cleared Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th US Circuit Court of wrongdoing after an investigation into sexually explicit materials (involving farm animals) found on the judge’s personal website. But the council did officially find that Kozinski had acted with “carelessness” and was “judicially imprudent.”
In Cebull’s case, Turley concedes that the Montana judge clearly failed to adhere to a tenet of the Code of Judicial Ethics, that a judge “must expect to be the subject of constant public scrutiny and accept freely and willingly restrictions that might be viewed as burdensome by the ordinary citizen.”
Shaman sees a serious offense. “It is very difficult to predict what sanctions a reviewing authority will apply in any given case,” he says. “But I certainly think that at least a reprimand is appropriate here.”
Elaine M. posted an article immediately above that begins:
“Dear Rush Limbaugh: Birth Control Doesn’t Work Like Viagra”
—By Adam Serwer| Fri Mar. 2, 2012
I can fix that:
Dear Rush Limbaugh: Birth Control Doesn’t Work Like Viagra or Oxy
—By Adam Serwer| Fri Mar. 2, 2012
.
.
.
.
.
Sorry Elaine, I couldn’t resist 🙂
From Elaine’s link above:
“The Washington Post’s Melinda Henneberger argued in an earlier piece that Fluke may not have been the best witness for a very different reason: As a student, rather than an employee, of Georgetown, her insurance coverage would not change one way or the other…”
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I think most people have missed the boat in their characterization of her status in attending the hearing. She clearly states right at the beginning, during her introduction, that she is a “student and a past president of Georgetown Law Students For Reproductive Justice, LSRJ…”, then acknowledges her fellow LSRJ members/supporters in the hearing room and states “we as LSRJ…” and presents her testimony.
She didn’t show up as some random student or disinterested co-ed with a personal ax to grind. She has been and is an advocate for women’s reproductive justice. People that persist in just calling her a student or saying that she was a ‘stealth’ activist simply didn’t listen to what she was saying by way of stating her credentials. Imagine that. 😉
Dear Rush Limbaugh: Birth Control Doesn’t Work Like Viagra
—By Adam Serwer| Fri Mar. 2, 2012
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/03/rush-limbaugh-does-not-understand-how-birth-control-works
Excerpt:
Does Rush Limbaugh think birth control works like Viagra?
His misogynistic assault on Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke indicates that he does.
Fluke, who was prevented from testifying at Rep. Darrell Issa’s nearly all-male hearing on contraception, has been the target of barrage of sexist invective from Limbaugh over her view that Georgetown’s health plan should include birth control. Wednesday Limbaugh called Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute”, declared that “she’s having so much sex she can’t afford the contraception,” and asserted that covering contraception was tantamount to paying her for sex. On Thursday he blurted out: “If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it, and I’ll tell you what it is. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.”
Once you wade through the bile and the realization that the country’s most popular conservative radio host has devoted hours on his show to attempting to bully a woman into silence for her views on birth control, it becomes clear that Limbaugh, a man over sixty who is now on his fourth marriage, does not seem to understand how birth control works. On Wednesday and Thursday, Limbaugh repeatedly suggested that the amount of sex a woman has is related to the amount of birth control she needs to take, as though women take birth control pills every day they have sex. This is how say, Viagra, the erectile dysfunction medication works. Aside from the morning after pill*, when and how much sex you have is unrelated to the amount of birth control you need.
Limbaugh is a figure of almost religious stature among conservatives—for Republican elected officials, criticizing him is particularly dangerous—so Republican lawmakers have largey remained mum on the Limbaugh’s despicable tirades. Some conservatives have tried to defend Limbaugh, however, arguing that his analogy, while crude, gets to a legitimate concern over whether religious organizations and insurance companies should have to “finance” someone else’s “sex life.”
The trouble with this analogy is that insurance companies already “subsidize” men’s sex lives, by covering erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra. That insurance companies were already covering those drugs was part of the reason why the Employment Equal Opportunity Commission ruled in 2000 that insurance companies providing prescription coverage could not exempt birth control.
Wootsy,
Thanks for the link….. But can’t rush still be charged for being an idiot? Maybe……please…..
Elaine M.: “Another right-wing blowhard weighs in on Sandra Fluke:
Bill O’Reilly Attacks Sandra Fluke: Claims She Wants Government To Pay For Her ‘Social Life’”
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LOL, so Loofa Bill and his Viagra toting sex-tourist buddy are now both dispensing wisdom about women’s health issues to the great unwashed?
Priceless, simply priceless.
This is a textbook attack on a woman for being female and for speaking up.
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there is absolutely no question about that.
what I don’t understand is why such a misogynistic blow hard is tolerated in this country. Does anyone think that this loud mouth doesn’t encourage physical attacks against women by his’ followers’ when he spews this line of verbal attack?