Posted on 11/19/2006 9:36:58 AM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A 3rd District judge whose berating of a deer hunter in court prompted a Web site for her ouster and was not re-elected is being placed on administrative leave.
Judge Leslie Lewis' will be on administrative leave for the remainder of her term in office. Lewis has spent the past week off from scheduled hearings, following the suggestion of fellow judges.
Lewis had the option to remain on the bench through the end of the year.
Lewis gained notoriety shortly before the election when a video of her berating a man in an illegal hunting case was posted on the Internet.
While the case involved poaching, which is illegal, Lewis said she was prejudiced against "people who kill deer" and recused herself.
Chief Justice Christine Durham issued an order Friday granting Lewis' request.
Applications for Lewis' seat are being accepted until Dec. 15. A 3rd District nominating commission will recommend five candidates to Gov. Jon Huntsman, who will pick one and send the nomination to the Senate.
Good riddance.
Judgement Day for Judge Leslie Lewis
November 6th, 2006 by Cliff
For Utah Judge Leslie Lewis, tomorrow is the day the judge shall be judged.
In a time when judges are seldom removed from their bench, it seems Lewis may have better than average odds of joining the ranks of those few who have been. Falling under very public scrutiny in the last few weeks, the voters in Utah’s 3rd District have more information to base their vote for the judge on and none of it is good. And to add to the recent rash of information on the internet, The Salt Lake Tribune urged readers to vote ‘No’ for her in their November 1st edition.
I wrote about the February incident Lewis was involved in when she had a spectator taken into custody and held in cuffs for 20 minutes for expressing his dislike of her opinion on hunting. I mentioned that it wasn’t the first time she had been in trouble. Judge Lewis is currently being investigated by the Utah Judicial Council and has been on two previous occassions.
Lewis is currently being investigated for reducing the sentence of a convicted sex offender. She apparently discussed the sentencing with the defense in a phone conversation, deciding to reduce the sentence without notifying the prosecution and not following court procedure. This is far cry from the ethical behavior of a judge.
One of the other incidents involved a reporter during a murder trial to whom she was “rude” and “insulting”. The other incident happened when a reporter requested a transcript of a hearing involving a twice convicted child molester who Lewis put on probation. The reporter was reportedly threatened to be arrested for contempt of court. Again, these are behavior very unfitting for a judge.
Lewis has also came under fire for refusing to let a father baptize his eight year old daughter into the LDS Church. The mother had refused while the father wanted the baptism. After saying that it had to be something agreed upon jointly, she added her own experience of baptism at an early age and ruled the girl would decide for herself at the age of twelve.
People, this is clear evidence that Judge Lewis is a joke as a judge. She has let her own personal beliefs play more of a role than what she should as is evident in the case with the hunter and the baptism. She has shown leniency when it comes to convicted sex offenders and child molesters. She has repeatedly had outbursts in her own court which she claims she likes to run with order. To me, that is enough reason that she shouldn’t retain her seat.
It seems Judge Lewis is on the way to being as much of a problem as the people she judges. Now it is up to the voters of Utah’s 3rd district to see if they give her the chance to see if that’s the case. Judgement day is tomorrow, let’s see if the judge likes being judged.
Where is the vid?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp1KKAQCINc
What the hell?
Take your severance paycheck, get on your broom, and blow out of town, witch!!
First I heard of any of this. Wow.
Yet another case of PBMTSS...
(Post Bambis' Mama Traumatic Stress Syndrome)
Bye, bye, Bambi.
Rehab.
No kidding, she's showing all the mental capacity of somebody with substance abuse problems. If she's not getting high or drunk, she might as well start.
Talk about a Barbie on the bench. How did she pass the bar?
The irony. It sounds like a Steven King novel.
The Utah legislature is packed full of RINOs, so a bunch of the more liberal members must've seen something in her they liked.
I'm glad she's gone from the bench. We don't need her kind sitting on the bench in this country. We are at the point as a society where we must monitor the conduct of this nation's judges and be ready to bring the power back to the people. I believe judges have taken power from the people that they were never intended to have.
Big time. If I remember correctly, Utah has jettisoned two or three other wack-job judges in the last few years. That's good, that is exactly what needs to happen to these idiots. For the sake of justice, they should be working as dishwashers and table bussers for minimum wage for the next 5 years but I guess you can't have everything.
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