Panel upholds US judge's private reprimand for affair with police officer

Nate Raymond

May 26, 20269:24 AM CDTUpdated 20 hours ago

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May 26 (Reuters) - A national judicial panel has ​upheld a private reprimand of a federal judge in the U.S. South who engaged in an ‌extramarital affair with a high-ranking police officer and had sexual intercourse in the judge's chambers within earshot of staff.

The U.S. Judicial Conference's Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability on Friday approved the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Judicial Council's February decision on how to discipline the judge, whose name and court ​location were not disclosed publicly.

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Besides the private reprimand, the judge had also agreed to apologize to former ​law clerks interviewed in the probe; forego the chance to serve as chief judge; and ⁠indefinitely refrain from serving on any Judicial Conference committees.

The seven-member Judicial Conference panel called the discipline "appropriate and proportionate" for ​the judge, who sits in a region that includes Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

While the 11th Circuit said an investigative panel ​had been "deeply troubled" by the judge's conduct, it had opted against a more severe sanction because the judge "demonstrated a strong propensity for rehabilitation and continued diligent service to the judiciary."

The allegations were first reported last year by a law clerk working for the district court judge, ​who reported that the judge had on multiple occasions engaged in sexual activity with a uniformed police officer in ​the judge’s office during work hours.

The clerk, who was later reassigned a new position, also alleged that the judge had yelled and ‌cursed at ⁠staff and once told staff members that the judge "had too many martinis the night before" at an event for a district attorney.

After the unnamed judge initially denied the allegations when first confronted by Chief U.S. Circuit Judge William Pryor in September 2025, Pryor appointed a special committee to investigate.

The investigation found that the judge engaged in an extramarital affair, attended ​a political campaign event for ​the district attorney and ⁠made false statements when the judge denounced the claims as "baseless" and "outrageous."

While the unnamed judge had initially denied the claims, the judge through a lawyer in October 2025 recanted and admitted ​to the affair, which had been going on for about two years.

The officer's police ​department during the ⁠time of the undisclosed affair was involved in numerous criminal and civil cases. While the judge was not assigned any cases in which the officer or the police department was a party or a witness, the investigative panel found that was due ⁠to "happenstance."

As ​for the political events, the investigative committee found the judge knowingly attended ​an event hosted by a district attorney’s campaign.

While the judge did so for the purpose of reuniting with former colleagues, the 11th Circuit said judges ​under the Judicial Code of Conduct must refrain from attending events organized by political candidates.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5869426&forum_id=2most#49903671)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embry_Kidd

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5869426&forum_id=2most#49903677)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britt_Grant

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5869426&forum_id=2most#49903675)

It also included “conducting testing in a chamber with a similar layout to determine whether law clerks seated outside chambers could hear sounds from within; arranging forensic testing of a couch cushion in the subject judge’s chambers,” the decision said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/26/us-judge-courts-sex-police-disciplinary.html

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5869426&forum_id=2most#49903737)