Judge of the Day: John Hagler
Last month, Judge John B. Hagler, a state court judge in Tennessee, stepped down from the bench. Here's why, from the AP:
A Tennessee judge resigned last month after making a recording of fantasies so lurid that when the tape fell into the hands of the police and FBI, they thought they were listening to a torture session and believed it might be linked to a murder case.
Police have cleared the judge in the murder case. But a hearing started yesterday over whether they must release the tape.
So, pray tell, what exactly is this tape about?
"It sounded like someone being tortured," Chattanooga police Sgt. Alan Franks testified Wednesday, offering the first details of what is on the tape.Franks said the recording was investigated in relation to a still-unsolved 1997 murder. He gave no other details on the murder case.
"The content was so shocking. I have been a police officer for 24 years," Franks said before his testimony was cut off by an objection.
Well! What does Judge Hagler have to say for himself?
Hagler said that he had done nothing wrong but that the recording had caused great embarrassment to friends, family and the courts. Hagler, who is 65 and married, has been a circuit judge in Cleveland, Tenn., since 1990 and served three terms as president of the Tennessee Trial Judges Association."The description of it as containing 'graphic fantasies' ... is an accurate and sufficient description and all any decent person would want to hear of it," the judge said in a statement.
Should we be troubled by the trend of excessively scrutinizing the unorthodox sexual practices of judges? See also Judge Herman Thomas, aka the Spanking Judge, who resigned a few months ago.
Aren't judges entitled to be a little kinky too? If judges have to worry about their personal lives being placed under the microscope, will the state and federal benches lose out on potentially talented jurists, who just happen to have a little sumthin sumthin going on under those robes?
Update: More coverage, from the ABA Journal.
Tenn. judge resigns over fantasies tape [Associated Press]
Ex-Judge Fights Release of Lurid Audiotape [ABA Journal]
(25) Comments
First post of the day at 10:45 am... way to keep to your New Year's resolution, Lat.
yeah, Lat sucks
Allow some lag time... He had to listen to the whole tape before he posted.
Let me be the Fourth to say that this article is worthless
Lazy Queen's first post is about Deviant Judge... wake me up when there is real news.
Lat is curing my ATL addiction for me... this site is SUCKING
this demands a frat stud comment!
This is EXACTLY why I read ATL. This story rules and I'll keep coming back for more.
11:22, nice post, Billy.
Yeah, who would want to read about the sexual exploits of kinky judges? How stupendously boring! How incredibly out of character for a guy whose first blog was called "Underneath Their Robes"! Why does he post this stuff?
If there isn't any really exciting news on any given day, Lat should do what the MSM does and just make something up.
Or maybe go down to Aruba and conduct his own investigation into the disappearance of Natalie Holloway.
Or do a cliche-ridden analaysis of the Iowa caucuses.
This post is anything but boring.
Gentlemen in my preparatory school often concocted lurid and deviant tales regarding sexual practices. It was not a conspicuous event.
The hating on Lat / ATL in the comments is knee-jerk, repetitive, and tiresome.
People have been predicting the demise of this blog since its inception. But here we are, a year and a half later, and ATL still exists.
"here we are"... barely.
http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/abovethelaw.com?site0=abovethelaw.com&y=r&z=3&h=300&w=610&range=1y&size=Medium
I'm just disappointed there hasn't been any Kumari Fulbright coverage yet by ATL. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080103/ap_on_re_us/beauty_queen_indicted;_ylt=Av6JKXkAqKFYNa4nm8C5YecDW7oF
I heart you, Fraternity Lothario!
12:13, the Alexa graph shows only that ATL's daily reach declined significantly in December - not too surprising considering half the world, including Lat, was on vacation during part of that month. (Look at the 3- and 6-month graphs for a better view of that trend.) Other than that, it's been pretty steady.
Look, everyone's coming back from vacation - give Lat a couple of days to find his groove. Geez.
Lat, PLEASE run something on Kumari Fulbright. The story is amusing, and she is very hot, especially that photo of her posting with a machine gun while wearing a bikini...
"'The description of it as containing 'graphic fantasies' ... is an accurate and sufficient description and all any decent person would want to hear of it,' the judge said in a statement."
Oh come on judge, in the age of the "Two Girls and One Cup" video, I think you can loosen up a bit. Now that was some disturbing stuff.
Alexa is notoriously unreliable for measuring the traffic of niche websites (like ATL).
It's much better for comparing one gigantic, general-interest website against another (e.g., New York Times vs. Washington Post).
It's not "Two Girls and One Cup." It's "2 Girls 1 Cup." Get your internet memes straight.
Kumari is very hot???? What? You've got to be kidding. She looks like a man even in the bikini. Ick! http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/01/03/Beauty_queen_tortures_former_lover
12:13, the Alexa graph is interesting. But why is the second-highest source of traffic the Philippines? Outsourced biglaw associate replacements, checking on what the real associates in the US are making? Women contacting the blogger because they want to marry a lawyer? The blogger's family?
probably republican, definitely southern, probably christian too.
oh my gosh, i had to google that 2 girls 1 cup video -- truly horrifying. where do you people find this stuff? i feel sick now. thanks.
Yeah, it's that bad.