The same Montana judge who was investigated for forwarding a racist email involving President Barack Obama had perfected the art of reprehensible rants. He had sent hundreds of other inappropriate messages from his federal email account, according to the findings of a judicial review panel released Friday.
Former U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull, nominated by President George W. Bush (who else?), sent emails to personal and professional contacts that excoriated blacks, Indians, Hispanics, women, certain religious faiths, liberal political leaders, and some emails contained inappropriate jokes about sexual orientation, the Judicial Council of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found.
These emails were found to be related to pending issues of the day, such as immigration, gun control, civil rights, health care and environmental issues, the council found in its March 15, 2013 order.
The investigation looked at four years of Cebull’s personal correspondence sent from his official email account. Investigators also reviewed his past cases and interviewed witnesses.
Now, here’s the interesting part of the investigation: they found no evidence of bias in Cebull’s rulings or sentences, and the witnesses generally regarded him as a “good and honest trial lawyer, and an esteemed trial judge,” according to the report.
These rabidly racist thoughts did not influence his decisions whatsoever? How is that remotely possible?
The 9th Circuit council issued Cebull the following sanctions:
- a public reprimand;
- ordered no new cases be assigned to him for 180 days;
- ordered him to complete training on judicial ethics, racial awareness and elimination of bias;
- and ordered him to issue a second public apology that would acknowledge “the breadth of his behavior.”
The panel said impeachment was not warranted because Cebull did not violate federal or state law. Two of the judges on the council said they would have asked for his resignation.
Cebull announced his resignation March 29, two weeks after the judicial council issued its order.
The national committee ruled that Cebull’s retirement only affected the sanctions, but the factual findings and legal conclusions of the investigation must still be published.
“The imperative of transparency of the complaint process compels publication of orders finding judicial misconduct,” the national judicial panel wrote in its decision.
