NEWS

Judge reprimanded for inappropriate comments

Andrew Wolfson
@adwolfson

Jefferson District Judge Sandra McLaughlin has been publicly reprimanded by the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission for making inappropriate comments that were "unnecessary, undignified and inconsistent with the presumption of innocence."

In a two-page order issued Monday, the agency said McLaughlin's comments from the bench brought her impartiality into question and violated the Code of Judicial Conduct.

The Courier-Journal reported in September that McLaughlin, 56, addressed numerous defendants at their arraignments as if they had already been found guilty; a professor of judicial ethics said her remarks demonstrated bias and that she should be removed from the bench.

The commission said it decided to issue a public reprimand only because McLaughlin had cooperated in its investigation and had no prior infractions. She did not contest the order, which said she acknowledged that she made inappropriate comments.

She did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but her lawyer, Brian Butler, said: "We are glad that the process is over. We cooperated fully and completely, and she looks forward to moving forward and continuing to represent the people of Jefferson County."

McLaughlin was re-elected in November, winning 56 percent of the vote against former District Judge Matt Eckert.

The commission said she violated one rule requiring judges to be "patient, dignified and courteous to litigants" and another that says a judge "shall perform judicial duties without bias or prejudice."

The newspaper reported that while arraigning a defendant charged with stabbing his wife after she found love letters from his girlfriend, McLaughlin told him, "She should have cut you." The defendant turned out to be innocent — he was exonerated after the Louisville Metro Police surgeon determined the alleged victim's wounds were self-inflicted.

The story reported that McLaughlin said to another defendant, who was charged with theft: "So that's your job? Stealing from people when you clean their house?"

In an interview at the time, McLaughlin acknowledged some of her remarks were inappropriate and said they sprung from "frustration" with defendants' refusal to comply with the law. "Sometimes I just want to shake them and say, 'What were you thinking?'" she said.

The Kentucky Center for Investigating Reporting said in a story posted in July that McLaughlin also routinely denied the appointment of public defenders to clients without reviewing the factors required under state law to determine if they are indigent.

From the archive: C-J endorsed McLaughlin in 2010

McLaughlin has been by far the lowest rated of Jefferson's 17 district court judges. A Louisville Bar Association poll in June found that only 26 percent of the 120 lawyers who evaluated her said they were generally satisfied with her performance. The average score was 80 percent and the next lowest mark was 56 percent.

Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at (502) 582-7189.