Posted on 02/10/2009 8:28:38 AM PST by stan_sipple
A Connecticut Superior Court judge charged with drunken driving and using racial slurs while arguing with police officers was suspended Monday for 240 days by a judicial review panel. Judge E. Curtissa Cofield, who was confirmed as Connecticut's first black female judge in 1991, had apologized to the state Judicial Review Council earlier in the day, calling the night of her arrest "one of the worst experiences of my life." Cofield was arrested the night of Oct. 9 after her car hit a parked state police cruiser in a construction zone on Route 2 in Glastonbury, Conn. Police say she told them she hadn't had any alcohol, but she failed a sobriety test. Urine tests later that night showed she had a blood-alcohol level of twice the legal limit of 0.08. She also argued with state and Glastonbury police officers. A surveillance camera at the Glastonbury police department captured the exchanges on video, which shows her using the N-word, calling a black state trooper "Negro," threatening that trooper's job, referring to a female officer as "little girl" and "Barbie" and using other offensive language. "When I watched the video, I did not recognize myself," Cofield told the council. "The woman I observed that night is not the woman I am."Judge Susan S. Reynolds appeared to stump Cofield when she asked why Cofield's comments were not racist. "Why is it not racism .... hmmm. I think for crimes like bias you have to have intent," Cofield said. "All I can say is I was really intoxicated. ... I can't explain it. Why is it not racism ... I don't know. But if it is or someone perceives that it is, I apologize for that."
(Excerpt) Read more at law.com ...
Yes, although plenty of people who hit stopped cars just pull away and speed off. It would be interesting to know if she tried to do that — I wouldn’t put it past her. I once observed from an apartment window in Queens, NYC, a car sideswipe a stopped fire truck (with lights flashing, as it was on a fire call), and then proceed to sideswipe a few more parked cars as it tried to get away. NYC firefighters put a stop to that — hauled the guy out of his car and pinned him against it, until police arrived.
The main gist of my comment was that they are raising more hell about her arguing with the officer(which is common with many drunks)than about here driving drunk!
“Her car” just did that by itself, I guess - or so one might ascertain from the “facts” presented in the article.
I wonder why the story did not say: “...she drove her car into a parked state police cruiser”.
Yup.
Your post doesn't really make much sense. If you mean to be offensive there is no reason to say N-word instead of the real thing. Standing in public shouting N-word is likely going to be just as offensive as using the real thing so you might as well use it. The reason it would be as offensive is that shouting anything in public in that way is offensive.
On the other hand if you are trying to be offensive, calling someone an "N-word" might get the reaction you are looking for, but it might just get you laughed at. What it won't be is politically correct.
The reason N-word is used instead of the real thing is the same reason F-word is used instead of the real thing. To avoid needlessly exposing children to the word, even though most kids above the age of ten know both already, still it's best not to encourage them to use them. It has nothing to do with political correctness. It's something people in polite society do as a courtesy.
It depends on how it is used. After all it simply means "black" in Spanish. If you are doing a research paper and use Negro it's kind of fallen out of style, especially since the official language of the country is English, not Spanish, but I doubt you would be called racist. If however you used it as a way to address someone who was black and you used it in an insulting tone of voice like this woman did, then it most certainly is racist. Her use of the terms “barbie” and “little girl” to address a white female officer were also racist in their connotations.
BTW I am about the least PC person you will ever meet, but that doesn't mean I go around using language that I know might offend someone. It's simple courtesy to avoid using terms that might offend someone, that is unless you intend to offend them, and then courtesy goes out the window.
It's the thought that counts.
I, personally, don't give a rat's behind what kind of slurs she made to the officer but find it extremely bothersome that this so called "superior court judge" was driving around drunk. Also, she is black, so how can she have made racial slurs to a black cop?
Yes, I thought the "N" word was a term of endearment among the melanin-enhanced.
To top it off they use the word Negro as an example of a racial slur. When did that become a "racial" slur?
Maybe it sounds too much like "the word which whites cannot say" + O?
You do understand sarcasm?
As in: Sarcasm is a form of speech or writing which is bitter or cutting, being intended to taunt its target.?
I give up.
Some people will be offended if you hung them with a new rope.
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