[Judge] Benitez was confirmed despite overwhelming opposition from the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which rates the qualifications of judicial nominees. A substantial majority of the committee rated Benitez “not qualified” and a minority rated him as “qualified.” In 2004 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the ABA committee investigator reported that, “Interviewees repeatedly told me that Judge Benitez displays inappropriate judicial temperament with lawyers, litigants, and judicial colleagues; that all too frequently, while on the bench, Judge Benitez is arrogant, pompous, condescending, impatient, short-tempered, rude, insulting, bullying, unnecessarily mean, and altogether lacking in people skills.” …
On May 1, 2024, the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit publicly disciplined Benitez for judicial misconduct because he had unlawfully ordered a teenage girl to be shackled during her father’s sentencing hearing: “First, the shackling of a spectator at a hearing who is not engaged in threatening or disorderly behavior exceeds the authority of a district judge. Second, creating a spectacle out of a minor child in the courtroom chills the desire of friends, family members, and members of the public to support loved ones at sentencing.”
Nominated in 2004 by George W. Bush. Youth tansgender suicide rates will skyrocket under this holding, but I guess that’s lockstep the GOP’s desires: more dead LGBT.
Wait, am I missing something? This just says they have the right, not any kind of requirement. So basically saying teachers have free speach. This doesn’t seem controversial to me. It’s a cornerstone of the constitution that the current administration is trying to take away. I would be upset if they were ordered to report it… but I am also against them being ordered not to. The majority of teachers I have met, want the best for the kids. And they would only want to even bring up the subject if they thought the kid needed help in some way, and that the parents could provide. Sure there are exceptions, but tieing the hands of the majority to enable punishment of a minority isn’t the answer. In reality, if a teacher tells a parent that thier kid is using different pronouns, and the parent gets very upset, the teacher is a mandatory reporter. So if any reasonable person would think the parent may in some way cause harm, which would include inducing suicide, they have to report it. So they are already incentivized to not say anything, and in many cases could be disciplined if they did. So even though this judge sounds like a jerk, overall, he has the right idea. Teachers shouldn’t be censored.