A judge who wore blackface makeup, handcuffs and a jail jumpsuit at a Halloween party will be suspended for six months, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled Monday.
The justices voted 5-2 to suspend Judge Timothy Ellender for a year without pay for dishonoring his position, but to defer half of that penalty. Ellender will lose more than $50,000 in pay, one judge noted.
Ellender, who is white, testified the costumes worn by him and his wife - she was dressed as a policewoman - were meant only as a joke to show he was her prisoner. The party's host, Ellender's brother-in-law, was dressed as Buckwheat.
The justices agreed Ellender did not mean to insult blacks. Nevertheless, they ordered him to take a sociology course "which will assist him in achieving a greater understanding of racial sensitivity."
Galveston Co Daily News articleThe justices voted 5-2 to suspend Judge Timothy Ellender for a year without pay for dishonoring his position, but to defer half of that penalty. Ellender will lose more than $50,000 in pay, one judge noted.
Ellender, who is white, testified the costumes worn by him and his wife - she was dressed as a policewoman - were meant only as a joke to show he was her prisoner. The party's host, Ellender's brother-in-law, was dressed as Buckwheat.
The justices agreed Ellender did not mean to insult blacks. Nevertheless, they ordered him to take a sociology course "which will assist him in achieving a greater understanding of racial sensitivity."
Oh yeah, that's gonna help. Best wishes and sympathy to the black people of Louisiana.
Remember Judge Ellender? I posted about him way back when...
...[Judge Timothy C.] Ellender has drawn criticism in the past for keeping a shotgun in his courtroom and giving out unusual sentences.
He sentenced a man convicted of accidentally killing his best friend to regularly place flowers at the victim's gravesite. He sentenced a youth with chronic speeding violations to clean up trash from a bayou using the judge's pirogue, a flat-bottom boat similar to a canoe.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
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