Alabama judge Tracie Todd convicted on judicial ethics charge, suspended
A judicial panel convicted an Alabama judge of violating ethics rules by failing to return to work and serve without pay following her conviction in an earlier ethics case, court documents show. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tracie Todd was given a 120-day suspension without pay in an order filed Monday following a trial that lasted five days over three months before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary. Todd was convicted last year of violating orders of an appellate court and, as punishment, ordered to work for 90 days without pay beginning last December 6, news outlets reported. Rather than reporting for duty at the courthouse in Birmingham, Todd remained for most of the period in Chicago, where her husband and children live, evidence showed. Todd, who testified in her own defense, claimed she worked remotely while in Chicago and couldn’t return to Alabama because of illness and COVID-19 quarantines that restricted her from travel. The court could have permanently removed Todd, and one of her lawyers, Edward J. Ungvarsky, said the decision to only suspend her for four months represented a vindication. “Judges, lawyers, and court personnel consistently testified that Judge Todd displays the greatest of integrity, honesty, and compassion,” Ungvarsky said. The Court of the Judiciary convicted Todd in December 2021 of violating judicial ethics by disregarding decisions by higher courts and inserting her own opinions into rulings, including one that declared Alabama’s death penalty statute was unconstitutional. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals and the Alabama Supreme Court overturned the decision. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Alabama judge opposed to death penalty set for ethics trial
An Alabama judge accused of violating judicial rules with her opposition to the death penalty went on trial Monday on ethics charges that could result in her removal from office. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tracie Todd, who was suspended with pay after investigators accused her of wrongdoing in April, became embroiled in the debate over capital punishment and issued erroneous decisions that violated orders by higher courts, according to charges filed with the Court of the Judiciary, which hears complaints against state judges. Todd, who ruled the state’s capital punishment law unconstitutional five years ago, made public comments and took actions that showed she was improperly embroiled in the issue and lacked the “detachment and neutrality” required of a judge, alleged the Judicial Inquiry Commission, which investigates complaints and files charges. “Judge Todd abandoned her judicial role to become an advocate,” commission attorney Elizabeth Bern told the nine-judge panel in opening arguments. Todd also was charged with improperly barring a prosecutor from handling cases in her court, questioning a defense lawyer about political contributions, and conducting her own investigations. Todd’s attorney, Emory Anthony, said the judge followed her understanding of the law in ruling the state’s old death penalty sentencing scheme unconstitutional. He suggested the case was fueled by dislike of Todd in the district attorney’s office. “The only thing she attempted to do was her job,” Anthony told the court. The charges date back years and involve matters that should have been considered by appeals courts, not judicial investigations, Todd’s defense claimed in court documents. The allegations amount to a violation of Todd’s First Amendment rights, the defense argued. “Punishment for legal rulings or as a prescription on freedom of speech are not the intended uses of judicial disciplinary powers,” the defense said in written arguments. Judicial investigators said the state’s right to file appeals didn’t mean additional actions weren’t required against Todd. They referred to her in a nearly 100-page complaint as “a judge who continued to fail to respect and follow clear directives and rulings of the appellate courts — even after the law was set forth in pleadings submitted to her.” Todd is a Democrat who first took office in 2013. The complaint that resulted in judicial ethics charges was filed by a former Republican district attorney, court documents showed. Todd, who handles cases in Alabama’s most populous county around Birmingham, made national news in 2016 when she barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against four men charged in three killings. She questioned a state law in place at the time that allowed judges to override the jury’s recommendations of life without parole and sentence people to death. Since then, the law was changed and judges must follow the jurors’ suggestion. In her 28-page ruling, Todd called the previous practice a “life-to-death override epidemic” and questioned Alabama’s judicial elections, which are held along partisan lines. “There is a time and place for diplomacy and subtlety,” Todd said. “That time and place has been expunged by the dire state of the justice system in Alabama. It is clear, from here on the front line, that Alabama’s judiciary has unequivocally been hijacked by partisan interests and unlawful legislative neglect.” The complaint against Todd said she went too far. “Despite her arguable intent to accomplish what she perceived as noble purposes, (for example) elimination of the death penalty (at least in its current form), of selective prosecution, of racial discrimination in imprisonment, etc., her intent to achieve a noble purpose does not excuse apparent disregard of the law or her failure to maintain competence in the law,” judicial prosecutors charged. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Judge rules Alabama death penalty mechanism unconstitutional
An Alabama judge threw out the state’s system for imposing the death penalty the same day Florida lawmakers passed a bill to revamp a similar sentencing mechanism. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tracie Todd sided Thursday with defense attorneys who had cited a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that Florida’s law was unconstitutional. Juries recommend sentences in Alabama and Florida death penalty cases, but judges have the final decision. The Florida Legislature on Thursday passed a bill that would overhaul that state’s law. Prosecutors argued Alabama’s law was different in key aspects, but Todd disagreed. Todd’s decision bars prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against four men charged in three slayings. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange says his office is reviewing Todd’s order and expects to file an appeal. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
