Pennsylvania Judge Accused of Repeatedly Making Racist Remarks from Bench Resigns on Eve of Miscondu
Pennsylvania Judge Accused of Repeatedly Making Racist Remarks from Bench Resigns on Eve of Misconduct Trial
JERRY LAMBE Nov 19th, 2020, 11:15 am
Judge Mark V. Tranquilli of Allegheny County.
On the eve of his misconduct trial before the state Judicial Conduct Board, Allegheny County Judge Mark Tranquilli resigned from the bench, his attorney told several local news outlets Tuesday evening.
Tranquilli faced six counts of judicial misconduct—almost all of which stemmed from his using racist language towards Black defendants and jurors—and was scheduled to be tried on Wednesday afternoon. Tranquilli’s attorney Matt Logue told KDKA that the judge’s resignation means the misconduct trial will no longer take place.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, Tranquilli was placed on administrative leave after former public defender Joe Otte filed a complaint detailing how some of the judge’s more offensive conduct—including referring to a Black juror as “Aunt Jemima”—sparked an investigation into Tranquilli and resulted in the charges from the Court of Judicial Discipline.
The first charge stemmed from the judge presiding over a 2015 custody case in which both of the parties were Black. Tranquilli allegedly said he did not care about the parties or their children, referring to himself as a “butcher,” and told the parents he would “split [their] baby in half like Solomon and sleep like a baby at night,” according to the Court of Judicial Discipline complaint.
More:
https://lawandcrime.com/awkward/pennsylvania-judge-accused-of-repeatedly-making-racist-remarks-from-bench-resigns-on-eve-of-misconduct-trial/
= new reply since forum marked as read
