Race & Ethnicity
Related: About this forumNew York judge fired for pointing gun at a Black man in court
Source: Associated Press
New York judge fired for pointing gun at a Black man in court
BY MAYSOON KHAN
Updated 6:27 PM EDT, October 19, 2023
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) An upstate New York judge who pointed a loaded handgun at a Black man during a 2015 court hearing was removed from office Thursday by the states highest court.
Justice Robert J. Putorti was a Whitehall Town and Village Court. He repeatedly emphasized the race and stature of the litigant when recounting the episode, sometimes boastfully, according to an independent review by the New York State Court of Appeals. Putorti had said he aimed the gun at the man because he approached the stand too quickly, crossing a stop line for litigants.
In one instance, Putorti described the defendant to another judge as being 6 feet 9 inches tall (206 cm) and built like a football player. In reality, the man was only 6 feet (183 cm) and 165 pounds (75 kg), the decision noted.
The high court affirmed the state Commission on Judicial Conducts removal of Putorti, and noted the former judges description of the defendant exploited a classic and common racist trope that Black men are inherently threatening or dangerous, exhibiting bias or, at least, implicit bias.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/new-york-judge-pointed-gun-black-man-acb11b7f8891970b367f2d8495dd54dc
SergeStorms
(19,312 posts)And they're just getting around to removing this racist asshat from the bench now?