Judge Fighting Ethics Charges Admits Handing Out Condom-Stuffed Acorns in Court
A judge from Intercourse, Pa., accused of handing out acorns stuffed with condoms while in the state Capitol says it’s not the first time he’s dispensed them.
Judge Isaac Stoltzfus is facing an ethics complaint stemming from the incident last September, the Lancaster Intelligencer-Journal reports.
In a deposition for the pending ethics case, Stoltzfus said he has hollowed out and placed condoms in thousands of acorns, and he gave them to people appearing before him as a judge, the story says. His aim was to raise awareness about how condoms can prevent unplanned pregnancies and disease.
Stoltzfus was charged with disorderly conduct last fall when two women complained he was handing out the acorns when he was in Harrisburg attending a continuing legal education conference. Prosecutors later dropped the charge because they didn’t believe the judge committed a crime.
The Intelligencer-Journal has more information about Stoltzfus’ Sept. 21 arrest, gleaned from the ethics complaint. Stoltzfus was collecting acorns in an area near the Capitol when two female state employees saw him. One joked that he should be paid for his efforts. At that point, the judge took two acorns from a plastic bag and gave them to the women. They were said to be “horrified” when they found condoms inside.
The judge was arrested while in the continuing education room.
