Ask Me Help Desk - Can this judge be sued?

Can this judge be sued?

I have a few questions regarding something that happened in my town.

A man has a long list of traffic violations and other things.
He ends up in jail for assaulting someone and then after getting out he was back in for stabbing the same person. He was on probation during these events. After the last one he was supposed to be in jail until his court date on July 21, 2010. He was in jail without bond until then. Then the judge decided to set bond for $300 and released him to his ex girlfriend who had a permanent restraining order on him for trying to kill her. So he was out for a few weeks before he decided to kill his roommate on July 20, 2010. Now he sits in jail until his court date in December of this year. It seems what the judge did was wrong here and should suffer consequenses but lawyers say that there is a case there but they don't know how to label it. Also, there aren't any lawyers willing to take the case for certain reasons. I just want to know if there is something to go off from here or if it is worthless to try?

Unless you can show that the judge did something criminal - like take a bribe to let this guy out on bail - you have virtually no legal recourse. You can try to get the judge fired for incompetence, but I don't see a lawsuit doing much in this case. See: Judicial immunity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thank You, just to clear something up first, I didn't think about what I had said. It wasn't a matter of suing the judge or anything like that but to get him off the bench. Just seems like he shouldn't be allowed to make the same mistake twice. I will go on to read what you provided. Thanks again ebaines.

Quote:

Originally Posted by adam_89

I just want to know if there is something to go off from here or if it is worthless to try?

Hello a:

Some judges are elected... Others are appointed... You can certainly put together a campaign to have him removed and/or NOT re-elected.

excon

Vote him off the bench is the best recourse this town can do. Or you can collect a lot of signatures from the town citizens and present this to the Chief Judge down at the courthouse and see what he says or what he would suggest be done about this. Sometimes Judges try to give folks a "break" and it ends up blowing up in their face figuratively like this Judge did. Or possibly the local jail may have been at their legal capacity and could not "make room" for another perp no matter how horrible this guy was. We don't know and you don't know as you weren't there to see what the circumstances were why he was not held and was released. What a horrible true story.

Thank You very much for the answers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by adam_89

He was in jail without bond until then. Then the judge decided to set bond for $300 and released him to his ex girlfriend

Hello again, adam:

There's a couple of issues that weren't addressed here... It's very easy to Monday morning quarterback, and vilify a judge for his decisions. In my view, assuming the judge acted within his discretion, that is something we SHOULDN'T do. That is, unless we criticize them equally when they make the wrong decision in the OTHER direction... And, we don't...

Here's an example of the other direction... Recently, here in my town, an exconvict OUT ON BAIL, murdered four cops while they were sipping their morning coffee. When one reviews the behavior of ALL the judges who dealt with him in his past, there's a lot to dislike... Certainly, the judge who let him out on bail made a mistake... But, also mistaken, was the judge who originally encountered the defendant as a teen aged, uneducated, black, first offender in the deep south, on a relatively minor charge, who sentenced him to 117 YEARS... No matter what he did, I can't get past a 17 year old doing 117 years...

Say what you will about me, I'm not sure WHICH judge is the bad guy here...

The other factor we need to consider, is that bail is a Constitutional right. Judges need to balance the safety of the public, with a defendants right to bail. That is NOT an easy line to follow. To suggest that a judge should be sued, and or disciplined for "judging", isn't something we should do.

excon

Up here in good old Ohio land in the next county they are releasing prisoners from jail and are only allowing so many prisoners per Judge. That means if the Judge sentences someone to jail he has to let someone else go in order to make room as the jail is worse than overcrowded - it's at it's legal capacity and the Sheriff cannot legally accept any more prisoners. So don't expect to go to jail for very long in that county (if at all).

Thank You again for the answers. Now, in my town well in a town nearby, a guy who was 40 yrs old had sex with an 18 yr old guy and in the middle of sex the 18 yr old died. I say in the middel because the 40 yr old continued to have sex with him after he died. Then afterwards, the man threw his body in a dumpster and now they are looking for his body at my work which is besides the point. Anyway, he has a million dollar bond. That seems reasonable because I doubt that someone would bail him out for 1 million dollars.

I think they should post bail for a habitual offender a little higher so they can't get back on the streets as easy. $300 seems a little easy to get ahold of to get someone out of jail with and it obviously was for someone.