Bias On The Bench

A juvenile court judge in Tennessee was censured for his treatment of litigants who were "illegal aliens, children of illegal aliens, or perceived by [the judge] as being illegal aliens." Among the actions taken were declaring children as abused and neglected in cases where no such claim had been made. When advised that such determinations were improper, the judge declared that juveniles he suspected were in such status were "unruly" and jailed them. He also made comments comments that suggested that he predetermined cases and told attorneys to pursue appeals if they wished to challenge his rulings. (Mike Frisch)