Judge Decides ‘Media Frenzy’ After Arrest Doesn’t Require Him to Quit

Judiciary

Judge Decides ‘Media Frenzy’ After Arrest Doesn’t Require Him to Quit

Posted Apr 3, 2008, 05:55 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

A well-respected Boston bankruptcy judge is reconsidering his decision to resign after a flurry of publicity about the circumstances of his arrest for drunken driving.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Somma had submitted his resignation after media reports that he was wearing a cocktail dress and high heels at the time of his arrest. He later pleaded no contest to driving under the influence.

Somma’s lawyer, Robert Carpenter, told the Boston Globe that hundreds of lawyers had written letters supporting his client. Somma said in a letter to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly that the encouragement had changed his mind about resigning.

“That outpouring of support has led me conclude, contrary to my initial belief, that the media frenzy occasioned by this episode would not be an impediment to my continued service as a judge," Somma wrote.

He is currently in discussions with the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals about his status as a judge.

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Posted by anonymous - 6 months, 1 week, 4 days, 16 hours, 10 minutes ago

Is it the DUI or the cross-dressing that is the issue here? Is this his first DUI? I think this judge needs AA and some serious counseling before he goes back on the bench. I wonder if I ever appeared before him in Boston?

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