Earlier this week, Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kane released details of an ethics investigation petition into the conduct of Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom – a.k.a the social media-addicted magistrate who liked to spend her time on the bench scrolling through Facebook, sharing GIFs, and texting her besties.
If you weren’t aware of the depravity and unprofessional conduct displayed by Oklahoma judges on a regular basis, you’d be shocked about some of the details in the petition.
Via a Rollin’ Nolan Clay article in The Oklahoman:
A new judge exchanged more than 500 text messages with her bailiff during her first murder trial, mocking the physical appearance of attorneys, jurors and witnesses, an investigation found.
Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom, 50, should be removed from office for her conduct, the Oklahoma Supreme Court's chief justice said Tuesday.
Soderstrom and her female bailiff joked in texts about the size of prosecutors' penises, called the key witness a liar and admired the looks of a testifying police officer, Chief Justice John Kane revealed in a 47-page petition.
Yep, the judge joked about the size of a prosecutor’s penis. I guess that’s a big deal, but at least she wasn’t having an affair with the prosecutor, going on a shooting spree in Texas, or worst of all, using a pump on the prosecutor’s penis. Those are positives… right?
For what it’s worth, DA Adam Panter isn’t too happy with the judge and her bailiff joking around about his penis size. Here’s what he told The Oklahoman:
"It is now well publicized that Judge Soderstrom spent many hours of a murder trial involving the brutal beating death of a child, glued to her cell phone on social media rather than pay attention to the evidence," Panter said. "But what is … in my opinion even more obscene is that now we are aware from the allegations that Judge Soderstrom actively attempted to undermine the State’s ability to successfully prosecute a child killer. "
He called the judge's communications with her bailiff about his genitalia "especially disgusting and outrageous."
"This vulgar and offensive behavior is a clear indication of her bias against the State of Oklahoma," he said.
I don’t blame the DA for being upset. We know most lawyers become prosecutors to overcompensate for having a small penis, so that low blow from the judge really had to hurt.
In addition to texting each other about men’s penis sizes, the judge and bailiff also apparently had a thing for men setting in pink chairs.
Check out this insanity from the ethics petition:
Why are the male lawyers uncomfortable? Is it because they were being asked to pose in photos, or because the chair was pink?
Either way, one of the assistant DA’s was pretty mad at the blatant sexism on display:
First of all, you know you know you have a pretty bad idea for a cover-up when Shelley Levisay – an attorney who was convicted of a felony for bringing meth to her boyfriend in jail – won't go along with it.
Second, just how stupid is this judge and bailiff?
Once your kinky sexist power move to photograph only men in pink chairs is uncovered by an angry female district attorney, you probably shouldn’t try to cover it up. It will only make you look worse when you’re caught.
Anyway, you can read more about the soon-to-be former judge’s idiotic behavior – and specifically how it affected the murder trial she was overseeing – at The Oklahoman.
If you’re in the mood to read the entire petition submitted by the Chief Justice that calls for her removal, and some of the other juicy details inside, you can check it all out on OSCN.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
