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Eugene

(61,964 posts)
Thu Oct 19, 2023, 06:47 PM Oct 2023

New 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 state’s 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 Conduct’s removal of Putorti, and noted the former judge’s 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.”

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/new-york-judge-pointed-gun-black-man-acb11b7f8891970b367f2d8495dd54dc

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New York judge fired for pointing gun at a Black man in court (Original Post) Eugene Oct 2023 OP
This happened in 2015. SergeStorms Oct 2023 #1
8 years ?!? Liber T. Oct 2023 #2
That showed the obvious double standard, GreenWave Oct 2023 #4
--- probably need a coupl'a years to max out his pension. 3Hotdogs Oct 2023 #3

SergeStorms

(19,204 posts)
1. This happened in 2015.
Thu Oct 19, 2023, 06:56 PM
Oct 2023

And they're just getting around to removing this racist asshat from the bench now?

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