Abuse of Judicial Office -- Literally

One of my major concerns is the unbridled authority of judges who can act firm in the belief that there is no consequence for their actions. As Lord Acton said so many years ago: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Now comes a story out of Alabama that a Judge allegedly forced criminal defendants in his Chambers to expose their buttocks and then he struck them with a belt or paddle. Moreover, a fellow judge has written that the Judge: "used his office to threaten criminal defendants with jail time, penitentiary time and probation revocations if they did not engage in sexual acts with him."

While I am the first to state that the judge is innocent until proven guilty, the fact that such allegations could convince a grand jury to issue an indictment speaks to how unregulated judicial behavior has become with the obvious consequence. CNN has the full story here which, if read, belies the headline:

State drops case against ex-judge facing inmate sex charges