Judiciary
Outspoken Arkansas Appeals Judge Loses Election
Posted May 22, 2008, 07:21 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss
An appeals judge in Arkansas who fought for the right to criticize President Bush has lost his re-election bid.
Wendell Griffen “lost decisively,” the Associated Press reports.
Last year a state judicial discipline panel dropped charges against the outspoken Griffen for remarks made outside the courtroom.
The ethics complaint had cited Griffen for comments on current events, including his criticism of the Iraq war, the government response to Hurricane Katrina, and President Bush’s nomination of John G. Roberts Jr. to be chief justice.
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Posted by John Wesley Hall - 1 month, 4 weeks, 22 hours, 18 minutes ago
Wendell is an excellent judge, but this election might prove that, just because a judge has a First Amendment right to speak, that right should not necessarily be exercised. As he recognized himself after the results were in, the public likely does not want its judges speaking out about social issues.
Arkansas needed an African-American judge with his life experience on the bench. Hopefully his judicial career is not over.