Gavel of Shame
A running series on judicial misconduct — the reprimands, suspensions, and abuses of power that erode trust in the bench.
Latest in Gavel of Shame
When a Courtroom Goes Dark: A Judge’s Decline, a Sealed Record, and the Rights of the Accused
Jailed for Answering a Jury Summons: A Justice of the Peace, Four Arrests and a Public Reprimand
The Judge Had a YouTube Channel: A Public Warning Over a Livestreamed Courtroom and Conduct From the Bench
How Bexar County district judge Stephanie Boyd earned a Public Warning from the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct THE QUICK ANSWER In June 2026, the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct…
Two Admonitions in One Day: A Senior Judge, an Ex Parte Call and Slurs in the Courtroom
How Bexar County senior district judge Mark Luitjen earned two Public Admonitions from the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct THE QUICK ANSWER On a single day in December 2020, the Texas…
How An Escrow Account and Side Business Took Down a Judge
By Deandra Grant, J.D., M.S., ACS-CHAL NATIONAL EDITION — AND A WORD ON THE PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE The Gavel of Shame usually reads the public discipline files of the Texas State…
The Judge Who Steered Half a Million Dollars to Her Childhood Friend
A sixteen-year domestic relations judge from the Cleveland Celebrezze political dynasty bypassed Ohio’s random case assignment rules to hand-pick lucrative divorce work for the family friend she told colleagues she was in…