Criminal Court Judge Jim Lammey recently went on Facebook and posted a link to an article by notorious Holocaust denier David Cole.

The article called Muslim immigrants "foreign mud." It criticized the "integration craze" in schools. And it also said Jews should "get the f--- over the Holocaust."

The April 5th "foreign mud" post was one of numerous anti-immigration articles, memes and conspiracy theories that Lammey recently shared on his personal Facebook page.

And a local advocacy group complains that Lammey treats some Hispanic immigrants differently in court.

The state judge orders some immigrants seeking probation to register with federal immigration authorities or stay in jail. Registering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could lead to their deportation. Lammey is the only one of the 10 Criminal Court judges in Shelby County to use this practice - and he recently jailed an immigrant who hadn't signed up with ICE.

A Tennessee court rule says judges can't show prejudice on the basis of factors such as "race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status, socioeconomic status, or political affiliation . . ."

Lammey said in an interview that requiring immigrants on probation to report to immigration authorities is legally justified. And he doesn't see a problem with voicing his opinions online, since he says he doesn't talk about specific cases before him.

“I don’t see where sharing articles about (Islamic law) or third time deported people coming in and committing crimes would prejudice my ability to be fair and impartial in any case.”

Support Local Journalism:5 benefits of a Commercial Appeal subscription

Lammey handles some of the most serious criminal cases in the Memphis area, including gang-related murder trials. He has sentenced many people to life in prison. Under extreme circumstances, he even has power to sentence people to death. (He said he hasn't done it.)

In less serious cases, Lammey's judgement can determine whether a person goes free on bond or probation, or stays behind bars.

Scary mug shots, misleading memes

Now 61, Lammey is a former prosecutor who first won election as judge in 2006. His current term expires in 2022.

Numerous posts on Lammey's Facebook page became open to public view beginning in early February, according to date stamps. The judge said he accidentally switched the settings to public.

He recently met a reporter and reviewed a printout of the link to the "foreign mud" article.

“Well, I see where I said, ‘Interesting read. Some four-letter words, though,’" the judge said. "I don’t know if that meant that I agreed with it all or if it was just a reason to have a good conversation."

He said sometimes people who have other views reach out and change his mind.

The judge mentioned the time a liberal friend gave him a copy of the book "The New Jim Crow," about mass incarceration of African Americans, and he found himself agreeing with much of it.

The judge said he doesn't like that the "foreign mud" author has denied the historical reality of the Holocaust, the mass killing of Jews and others during the Nazi period.

“Well, I certainly don’t agree with that, being a Holocaust denier. My best friend — who’s deceased now — was Jewish and I wouldn’t do that.”

Many of the judge's Facebook posts are drawn from far-right web sites like Breitbart.com. Some blast Democrats. Others make unfounded claims portraying immigrants as welfare abusers, vote fraudsters or threats to civilization.

On Feb. 3, Lammey posted a meme with a mug shot of a tough-looking Hispanic man and statistics blaming "illegals" for lots of crime.

The numbers were wrong.

All available national studies show immigrants commit less crime than U.S. citizens, and research says even immigrants who are in the country illegally are less likely than citizens to commit crimes and go to prison.

In an interview, Lammey said he welcomes people in his network reaching out and correcting his online mistakes. “I like the conversation . . . I’m all for someone coming back and telling me hey, this is wrong.”

Judges running afoul of state rules

As use of social media becomes more common, judges nationwide are running afoul of ethics rules, said Charles Gardner Geyh, an expert on judicial ethics at Indiana University Maurer School of Law. It's such a common problem that the Virginia-based Center for Judicial Ethics has published a running list of judges getting in trouble for online behavior.

Many judges are older people who don't fully understand the online world, Geyh said. And some judges routinely say problematic things in private talks with lawyers and others - Facebook can allow anyone into those private conversations.

He said Lammey's Facebook posts "certainly seem to imply a sort of hostility toward immigrants. And that perception is something that is troubling."

Depending on circumstances, a state judicial conduct board could investigate and tell the judge to be more careful, he said. Or the board might go further in the case of a judge who shows consistent bias against immigrants. "Well, then you're talking about a judge who really doesn't belong on the bench."

Report yourself to feds, or stay in jail

Lammey explained the origins of his unusual practice of requiring some immigrants to report to the feds.

He said he wouldn't allow questions about immigration status in a trial, because it's irrelevant to the crime. But in 2007, a Mexican immigrant named Walter Pablo pleaded guilty in a driving under the influence case. The judge asked questions and concluded the man was in the country illegally.

Lammey said he didn't believe he could release the man on probation because probation orders require people to obey all laws, and unauthorized immigrants are not supposed to live or work in this country at all.

Instead of releasing the man on probation in 15 days as per the plea agreement, Lammey ruled he should serve nearly a year behind bars.

The long sentence was overturned by the state Court of Criminal Appeals.

After that ruling, Lammey said he came up with an alternative. He would release these immigrants on probation, but “tell them to go get right with the federal government."

He's created a special probation document that tells immigrants to register with the feds and estimates he's used it around 20 times. He used it as recently as this month.

But for many immigrants in the country illegally, "getting right with the government" is virtually impossible, immigration experts say. Walking into an immigration office could lead to detention and deportation.

"My understanding is that this judge is exercising his power as a criminal court judge for Shelby County to attempt to enforce federal immigration law and by doing so, is I think, frankly abusing his power," said Josh Spickler, executive director with Just City, an organization that advocates for criminal justice reform.

He said the judge's actions target people with Hispanic-sounding names or who are Hispanic in appearance. "It's at the very least, distasteful, at the worst, unconstitutional."

Lammey recently jailed a Hispanic man who failed to register with the feds. The man then filed an appeal to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. The defendant has since been released while the appeal is pending.

That man's lawyer, Eric Montierth, said he disagrees with Lammey's interpretation of the law, but doesn't believe he's motivated by racism. "I believe he’s doing what he thinks is right.”

Lammey said he can't talk about specific cases.

Hispanics on the roof

Lammey said he admires Hispanic immigrants, describing many of them as family-oriented people and Catholics. He said he's Catholic himself, and if he misses church in the morning, he'll sometimes go to mass in the evening, in Spanish. And he says a crew of Hispanic workers once did roof work at his house.

"I don’t make it a point to try to jack with them, because look, I go to church with them. And I’ve had them on my roof you know what I mean? And they’re hell of good workers."

He said he's concerned Muslim immigrants might want to impose Islamic law. "I just can’t see the logic in bringing in people who want to change our laws. I want people in the United States who want to be Americans. And if they’re not going to assimilate and they’re going to try to impose their laws upon us, I’ve got a problem with that."

The Southern Poverty Law Center has described the legislative effort to block Islamic law in the United States as an anti-Muslim response to a non-existent problem, and says hate groups have helped support it.

After The Commercial Appeal first contacted Lammey for comment on April 18, he made many of his Facebook posts private.

Investigative reporter Daniel Connolly welcomes tips and comments from the public. Reach him at 529-5296, daniel.connolly@commercialappeal.com, or on Twitter at @danielconnolly.