Associate Judge Joseph Polito is under fire this week after a FOIA request from the media revealed that someone using his computer login and password tried to access 243 hardcore sites as hugeheavybreasts.com, and portofdebauchery.com. Since this was a county computer, the matter has now been referred by Chief Judge Gerald R. Kinney for investigation with the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board.

The question is, if true, what would be the appropriate punishment. The Sun Times reports that “many of the websites have names that can’t be printed in a family newspaper.”

Public employees visiting porn sites is not exactly uncommon. In both state and federal agencies, blocks have been put into place to bar such access. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alone found widespread downloading and access to such sites.

What is intriguing is that the Sun-Times says that the court never proceeded to investigate until it filed the Freedom of Information Act request. The request covered a six-month period beginning in late 2010. The investigation however showed that someone only tried to view porn “on five days in January and April last year.” Polito handles divorce cases.

With the disclosure, former parties are coming forward to allege that the judge was influenced by sexual attraction in the courtroom.

Andrew Coleman went public to say that Polito gave the opposing party a huge amount of deference — describing her as a “young woman in a tight leotard” and Polito as sitting enraptured by her appearance.

The court has fired employees for using county computers for porn. Yet, this takes us back to the question of the appropriate punishment for a judge or county employee. Even if the judge is found to be responsible for the attempted access, the alleged wrongdoing involved only five days in two months. There is no question that there is a violation here, but is it enough to demand termination?

Source: Sun Times as first seen on ABA Journal

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