Judge Mocks Defendant’s Obama T-Shirt: ‘He’s Lucky To Get Out Of Here Alive’


Jefferson County District Court Judge Sandra McLaughlin was reportedly caught on tape mocking a defendant’s Barack Obama t-shirt, saying the man was “lucky” to get out of the courtroom “alive.”

According to the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, Darryl Broaddus appeared before Judge McLaughlin last summer on drug-related charges. Broaddus’ shirt not only displayed the image of President Obama, but also the phrase “Let’s Do It Again,” a reference to his 2012 re-election campaign. Within earshot of the defendant and the courtroom, the judge twice said that Broaddus’ Obama t-shirt was “not helping” his case. The judge, however, didn’t end her comments there:

“Did you see his t-shirt? Barack Obama, ‘Let’s Do It Again.’ That was a double whammy. He’s lucky to get out of here alive.”

Judge McLaughlin has a history of controversial comments in the courtroom. Last October, she accused defendant Wesley Taylor of “selling dope to little children.” That assertion was false: Taylor was arraigned on a drug possession charge, and he was not accused of selling drugs to anyone. When burglary and drug defendant Ronnie Gravel appeared before her just a week later, Judge McLaughlin sarcastically said that “He still needs to burglarize so he can maintain his drug habit. So everyone feels good and safe with him out in the public.” Gravel not been convicted of either charge, and the case against him was later dismissed.

Judge McLaughlin hasn’t limited herself to controversial comments in the courtroom either. In at least four cases, she denied defendants the right to a public defender. Just this past summer, a procedural mistake that the judge made caused a conviction to be set aside due to the fact that she violated a defendants due-process rights.

According to Raw Story, McLaughlin is the lowest rated judge in Jefferson County by “a wide margin.” The assertion comes from the Louisville Bar Association (LBA), which reports that just 26 of the 120 lawyers surveyed expressed satisfaction with her performance as a judge. McLaughlin is up for re-election this year, and claims that the low rating is due to the fact that Defense Attorneys “just declared war on a tough judge.”

Scott Furkin, executive director of the Louisville Bar Association, contested the judge’s claim, saying “membership is open to all attorneys in good standing with the state bar association.” He added that the association has “a good cross-section of both prosecutors and defense attorneys.”

[Image via KYCIR]

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