A number of white job applicants for police officer, firefighter and teaching jobs felt the judge's ruling denied them a fair opportunity for a career.

Curtin said all those decisions – none of which were ever overturned by higher courts – were based entirely on the law, and never on his personal opinions. He said he understood why some people were angry.

"You can't make decisions in a vacuum or divorce yourself from the facts that your decisions are going to have an effect on people," Curtin said. "This is a democratic society and people have the right to complain. On the other hand, a judge has to make his decisions based on the law. If he gets 1,000 letters in favor of something and one letter against it, the good judge has to look at the thing and say, "The one fellow is right and the other 1,000 are wrong' "

And although some criticized him, many people in the community applauded Judge Curtin for attending public meetings where he talked about his school decisions with parents and educators.