Complaint alleges federal judge is prejudiced, biased

A judge who spent her formative years in San Antonio and was previously considered for a spot on the U.S. Supreme Court is facing a judicial-misconduct complaint over allegations that she made “astonishingly and flagrantly biased” statements against minority groups and people with mental disabilities.

A broad coalition of groups — including an agency funded by the Mexican government (the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program), various civil rights organizations, legal ethics experts, and law professors — filed the complaint against 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Edith Jones, who in October relinquished her title as “chief judge” of that court. The New Orleans-based court is one of the most conservative in the country and handles appeals from Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The complaint alleges that at a speech on Feb. 20, 2013, to lawyers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, Jones made statements that violated basic rules of judicial ethics, including the fundamental duty of impartiality.

Among her statements:

That certain “racial groups like African Americans and Hispanics are predisposed to crime,” are “'prone' to commit acts of violence,” and get involved in more violent and “heinous” crimes than people of other ethnicities;

That Mexican nationals would prefer to be on death row in the United States rather than serving prison terms in Mexico, and it is an insult for the United States to look to the laws of other countries such as Mexico;

That Defendants' claims of racism, innocence, arbitrariness, and violations of international law and treaties are really nothing more than “red herrings” used by opponents of capital punishment;

That claims of “mental retardation” by capital defendants disgust her, and the fact such persons were convicted of a capital crime is itself sufficient to prove they are not in fact “mentally retarded”; and

That the imposition of a death sentence provides a positive service to capital-case defendants because defendants are likely to make peace with God only in the moment before their imminent execution.

“I'm very disappointed, almost shocked by those kinds of comments,” said Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “The fact that she would be so callous in this day and age to make those comments, and given the fact that she handles those issues directly, I think it's totally inappropriate, and it should be addressed through the proper channels.”

More Information PDF: Complaint of Judicial Misconduct

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