Judges aren't perfect. They can be accused of improper conduct and even impeached.
Judge Thomas Porteous. Of course allegations are not limited to domestic officers of the court as allegations of misconduct can occur anywhere.
LINK . Judges can even be accused of falling in love.
Judge Verla Sue Holland. However, this next story has all the hooks, guns, drugs, prostitution, undercover agents and sex. Get an extra shot of java and prepare for factual allegations that are better than any drama seen on public television.
Senior U.S. District Judge Jack Camp Jr., a federal judge in Georgia, has been arrested on drug and weapons charges. Federal agents say the suspender wearing judge has more than love stains on his chin. The judge is accused of buying drugs for a stripper from the Goldrush Showbar in Atlanta with whom he was having an affair. And during the alleged transaction, the judge was apparently packing heat.
The official charges are possession of cocaine, marijuana and Roxicodone (pain pill). In addition, the judge is charged with possessing a firearm as an unlawful user of controlled substances and with aiding and abetting the possession of drugs by the stripper. (The woman has a prior drug conviction.) So just how did this presumably intelligent judge get caught falling to the lowest common denominator? Federal agents said he fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book. He bought drugs from an undercover agent. (Not to be confused with being a client of the oldest profession in the books which also apparently played a major role in his arrest.)
Judge Camp appeared Monday in a federal court in Atlanta. He posted $50,000 bond and was accordingly released. As a result of Camp's arrest, the district's federal judges all recused themselves. Magistrate Judge Charles S. Coody of Alabama was brought in to hear the case. Federal prosecutors from Washington will handle the government's case. Camp has retained four defense attorneys. Putting aside the procedural issues and anticipated legal wrangling, a lingering question is whether it was an affair or whether it was strictly business. According to the charges, it is alleged that Judge Camp had been paying the stripper for sex since the past spring. It is also alleged that Judge Camp was fronting the woman money to buy drugs. Why?
The 67 year-old Camp's background is not helpful in determining a motive. (The former chief judge for the northern district of Georgia was appointed to the bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1987. Camp took senior status in 2008. Camp has handled many high profile cases. In 2004, he sentenced two men convicted of killing DeKalb County Sheriff Derwin Brown to life in prison without parole. He has presided over litigation concerning Georgia's request that new voters to prove their identities and citizenship before voting. In May 2009, Camp sentenced the personal doctor of a professional wrestler who killed himself, his wife and their 7-year-old son concerning prescription related charges.) So what might motivate Camp to buy drugs for a stripper?
Keeping in mind these are only allegations against the judge, one must dig deeper for a possible motive and or a defense. Camp is ably represented by lead attorney Bill Morrison and one can only presume he knows his case better than us. But the Judge's actions appear to go beyond an abuse of his position. Clearly, he got into trouble when he committed the inconsiderate offense of cheating on his spouse. After all, Judge Camp is a married man. While perhaps immoral, that was not a crime. Perhaps after the fact he considered the effect of his behavior on his family.Was he trying to protect his family from the publicity his conduct would generate? So far his spouse has remained silent but Camps lawyers claim she is supporting him.
What of the other woman? While the dancer's name does not appear in court papers, she has not been at a loss for words. She had a prior federal felony conviction on her record so her identity is not all that secret. Since she is cooperating with the FBI, they might not like the public knowing her identity. And for the sentimental romantics who think this is a remake of Pretty Woman, think again before you blame the FBI for turning the Judge's alleged lover against him. Little miss professional was apparently recording the judge even before she officially became an informant. If true, a juror might question what she originally had in mind with regard to the recordings. Would the judge have paid money or even bought drugs for this woman in order to avoid the tapes from becoming public?
The woman allegedly has been promised immunity from prosecution. That in and of itself does not make her bias. But the early recordings might make a juror scratch her head wondering whether this weak pitiful excuse for a man was "set up." When Camp bought drugs from an undercover agent, he was allegedly in possession of two pistols because he was in fear of the participants in the transaction. Apparently three transactions took place where Camp was apparently armed. The deal apparently went down in the parking lot of a suburban Atlanta nightclub, an appropriate place for terminating not only a judiciary career but perhaps also a marriage.
Update 12-3-10: Judge Jack Camp pled guilty last month to buying drugs for a stripper. U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yate's office is investigating whether any of the cases Judge Camp handled were influenced by the use of drugs or racial bias. Any defendant may request resentencing in any case handled by Judge Camp from May of 2010 to the present.
Posts
